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I have a 2000 dx with 233k miles. anyway i changed the coolant the other day and tried to "BLEED" the system, but bubbles keep coming out when i attempt to bleed it. I raise the front of car, remove radiator cap and run engine for at least 20 minutes with full heat on. anyway after i put the cap on and start car again, I rev engine and i can hear the water cycling through the system?!?! I dont have any coolant in the oil as far as i can tell and it does not overheat. every once in a while it has a little rough idle at a stop light after its been running for a while..... any ideas? i'm just really picky and would like to fix a problem before hand. thanks for any help.

 
Rep Power: 813

more than likely combustion gas is seeping into the coolant. there is a tester at the auto store that will tell you for sure but thats what it sounds like. rough idle is from a small coolant leak into the cylinders that causes minor misfires. same happened to me. and it will keep burning coolant eventually getting worse.

 
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ya i figured. when i replace it, is it necessary to replace the head bolts too?

 
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i think its a good idea. there are also specific bolt tightening torques and sequence which you will have to look up in the manual. my book is only for 01-05 engines.

 
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For 6th gen's (96-00) the torque specs are 7.2 ft/lbs (barely tighter than finger tight). The torque pattern is middle, top left, top right, left, right. (Haynes repair manual from advanced auto parts.. definitely a worthy buy)

 
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^^ no, 7 ft/lbs isn't enough for head bolts

it's more like 45 ft/lbs.

Head bolts some people say replace some say don't bother.

It's a personal choice. Personally for me if it's the first time the head has been removed and installed then I would just keep the original head bolts. More then that I would probably buy new ones.

 
Rep Power: 813

the 7ft/lbs he prolly meant for the valve cover bolts. make sure to take the head to a machine shop before replacing the gasket. if the head is warped, you will just blow the new gasket too.

 
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so i just replaced the head gasket, it all back together for the most part. I'm stuck on trying to get the timing belt back on the cam pulley. am i going to have take the crank pulley off and just redo the whole timing belt?

 
Rep Power: 191

You do not need to remove the cam pulley and replace the damn timing belt, its cheap insurance to prevent making all that work a waste. Its like $50 bucks or less. You never reuse a timing belt when doing a head gasket unless its near new. As for reusing the head bolts I would not do that either, they stretch when you torque them down, and with heat cycling over the years of driving they get weaker reusing them is a bad idea period. (16 years of auto experience has taught me that) Did you get the manual for the car to teach yourself the proper sequence and torque values? If not then break down and buy one they are around $16 in the US and $20 here in canada. (we get raped on mark up for auto parts here compared to the US it pisses me off).

 
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this is sound advice, a perfectly flat surface is the best way to ensure the job gets done right.

 
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well i just replaced the belt and tensioner and started it up, it didnt want to start at first. after a few tries it started, then after about 5 seconds or so, the engine starts to rev pretty high, but i turn the engine off before i can see what it does. I double checked the timing again. and its all set perfect. so any suggestions?

 
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also, when i check the timing, the 1st and 4th pistons are at the very top. but when i turn the crank pulley one full turn, the cam gear is upside down, but still lined up with the notches on the side. so my question is, do i have my cam gear set backwards? when i put the timing belt on it, it was pointing upwards like its was supposed to be.

 
Rep Power: 191

after putting the belt on you need to do 2 full rotations by hand to make sure that the timing marks line back up, if they do not then you are out 180 degrees, if they do then you are on for timing and should be good. Reset it back to its timing marks and then do that before trying to start the car, if you are out 180 you can do damage. I don't even think it would start if it were out 180. How high did it rev when you started it?

 
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nevermind, i was just being a worry wart, it had a little hiccup when starting for some reason. runs perfect now, thanks for the help.

 
Rep Power: 191

good to hear I hope it works out well for you.

 
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well my main issue is still not fixed. the car idles completely fine warming up, once it reaches operating temperature, it has a very low and rough idle. i tried to "bleed" the cooling system. no such luck. my tb looks perfectly fine, when i had the head off i also cleaned the iacv. it also has brand new spark plugs. so any ideas?
Also when i was bleeding the system, i took the radiator cap off and let it run for about 1 hour with full heat on,and no bubbles came out. during this period the temp gauge stayed in between cold and operating temp. then i turned the heater off and it came to operating after about 20 seconds and the idle became rough. So why does it only do it then? im so irritated with this. PLEASE HELP!!

 
Rep Power: 191

it could be your 2 wire coolant temp sensor reading off from what it is supposed to, have you checked the resistance on it when its warmed up fully?

 
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no i havent, is that the little probe that goes into the passenger side of the head? how would i go about checking the resistance?