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I want to say thanks to all the members on this forum who take the time to share their knowledge . You guys have helped me with many repairs. This is my first post because I can't find anyone with this issue. I recently swapped the head on my d15b7 for a d16y7 . I kept the 1.5 IM and gasket. I realized there is a coolant leak coming from between the IM and the head . I tried to clean both surfaces as good as possible but I noticed that the leak is coming from the upper corner on the passenger side where there is no bolt . I'm wondering if I shouldve used a d16 gasket instead ? By the way I didn't use any gasket sealer now I'm thinking I might

 
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Ok update for anyone who can help, just finished pulling the IM and I found that I had put the gasket in wrong . Yeah , I know, so I reclean the surface and put the gasket in right and guess what ? It's still leaks ! This time from the same passenger side but under the thermostat housing side . It's not gushing like before but leaks enough. Now I'm starting to think the head is warped. Is it possible for the head to be warped? On the IM side? Or should I just replace a new gasket ? Not much difference between the d15b7 and the d16y7 gasket. Please help .

 
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The easiest thing to try would be a brand new gasket. They're super cheap (I'm talking like they start at $3 bucks on rockauto.com) and you don't have to remove the head to give it a try. If that doesn't work, then yea, you might want to look into the head being warped.

Here's an easy trick to tell if any mating surface is perfectly flat, block side, intake side, any side... Take the head off, then get a flat piece of glass. It can be a window pane or your old lady's glass coffee table top lol... it really doesn't matter as long as it's flat. Set the head on your workbench or wherever and spray one side of the glass with water so it's dripping wet and then sit it on the mating surface you're checking. If you see large bubbles or spots where the glass isn't contacting the mating surface you'll know it needs to go down to the machine shop for a shave.

Also, when you put the studs back in the head, make sure you just put them in a quarter turn past snug. If you want to make sure they're all in there at the same depth, 9lb-ft is plenty for a stud. Don't torque them way down. It's a good way to strip the threads. You can use threadlocker on them if you prefer, as well. When you put the IM nuts back on the studs, make SURE you start in the middle and work your way out. Torque them to spec (which I think is 17lb-ft, iirc). If you just torque them down left-to-right, you run a high risk of warping that mating surface again. Basically, just take the same care putting studs/nuts back on the manifold sides as you would with head bolts... the entire head is aluminum, after all.

Hope this helps you in some way.

 
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Before you go pulling the head, take the manifold back off. Get a new gasket since you have probably crushed the compression rings in the water area too much.

Check the manifold for cracks in that area. I had neglected to follow the tightening sequence for the manifold on my old piece of junk EX and cracked the manifold right next to the water tube.

The tightening sequence is:
The middle (hard as #@$& to reach) bolt first.
The one to the left (USA driver's side) of the middle next.
Then get the one next to the middle on the right.
After that it's just left, right, left, right until you're done.