Quick question head removal and timing chain cover..

[mattrosersv]

I am attempting to remove heads today and trying to figure out if I need to remove timing chain cover. Looking at the casting I would hazard a guess on 'yes', but can't remember from when I did the cam 18 months ago.

Would appreciate guidance (and any other tips that come to mind) -rear head bolts look a bit tight for clearance...

Car is a 96 5l Serp

Cheers,

Matt (now off to fight with last remaining manifold bolts)

[spend]

You don't have to touch the timing cover to get heads off. It does help to drain down the block, but if you have drain taps fitted they can do the same. Thats just a case of minimizing coolant getting into the engine when you lift the inlet manifold & heads though.

Don't be stumped by breaking sockets when you crack the head bolts if they are the stretch variety BTW Make sure you have a good 5/8" impact socket & long.. bar so you can pull with some control.

[mattrosersv]

Cheers Spend!

I'll finish my bacon sandwich and go and get on with it. Block drained already, heavy duty sockets on standby.

[haircutmike]

Why is this oh so familiar!

You mention the head bolts, should I be renewing mine?

Matt, bacon sandwiches are mandatory prior to bolt removal!

[roysum]

Quinny said:

If you haven't got 5/8, then 16mm will fit just fine.... But make sure it's a HEX impact type socket rather than a multi point type....

I managed to split a normal socket right down the side when I did mine....could have been worse as it felt like the thread being stripped

Long reach and normal are helpful, as are a range of short extension bars...

Also when undoing, always if possible Pull towards you rather than push away... Much more controlled that way

Quite a relief when they all come out in one piece. They are soooo tight ! I think it's one of the rear passenger side ones which is the PITA to get purchase on.

R

[spend]

DO de-torque them in sequence BTW and start the pattern with the rear outermost ones. Don't be tempted to loosen any until you have cracked all of them on a head.

[mattrosersv]

Slight setback. My impact socket set skips from 15mm to 17mm. A fruitless visit to Halfrauds where the only option was the Vortex prof set at 70 quid. Left this on the shelf as the smaller sockets are very wide and I was not sure if this would hinder the more difficult to reach bolts.

Gave me a chance to clean up/prep everything else for reassembly.

Will be on the hunt /scrounge for a suitable socket tomorrow am.

Thanks all for the comments.

[haircutmike]

Matt.

Make sure you have a 3" or thereabouts 1/2" extension and a decent breaker bar or you will struggle!

[spend]

Some of the outer bolts by the exhaust ports are shrouded by the head casting, so consider the wall thickness of any sockets you get, I use thick strong ones where they fit & keep the thinner ones for where they are necessary. Personally I always prefer 5/8 as they are slightly smaller than 16mm - 25.5*5/8 = 15.875, & every little helps.

[NaCl]

I would suggest undoing the ones where you need to use the thinner walled sockets first. If you leave them to last, there will be extra pressure on them as they are holding the heads down on their own!....again...every little helps!

[mattrosersv]

Thanks for advice all.

Bought large breaker bar, 3 inch extension and 5/8 impact socket. One head off, will don the other when I sober up.

Having done this once there is absolutely no way I would attempt it without this gear.

[spend]

Refit with ARP studs, they are much nicer to work with, better clamping, and reusable upto 20 times...

The stretch bolts scare the hell out of me