Has anyone done this?
I'm thinking of replacing my heads with the engine in.
I know it's not that difficult to take the engine out but I don't have a hoist or engine stand.
Money is tight so instead of spending £150 on a hoist and stand I thought I might tackle the job with the engine in.
Not much room but it looks doable?
Any tips on doing this,even comments on how stupid I am are welcome

Cheers
Rich

 

I honestly would try and get the engine out mate horrid job to try with it in,can you not just hire one for the day to remove the engine.

 

brave if you try it with the engine in. bite the bullet and get the engine out IMO

 

Ok thanks,need to have a good think as I can see plenty of tears doing it with engine in!

On a side note,I fitted a oil pressure gauge today and readings were 6bar cold and reading between 5-6bar when driving,I only drove for 5 mins as I was smoking from under the bonnet,got it back home and saw I'd not tightened one of the connections! Lost about 2 liters and covered the drive in oil(missus won't be impressed )
Does this nice high reading mean my bottom end is ok?
I know my heads aren't as my valve clearance is way too tight.

Going to do a compression test tomorrow but I expect if I get a low reading this will be due to the valves not closing fully?

 

I've seen it done quite recently, didn't look that bad to be honest.

 

When I was checking the valve clearance on the LH head today I did think that it was doable.
Need to have a good think,also need to sort some heads out,hopefully should have some sorted soon tho

 

A cylinder leak down test will be a good indication. Usually you can hear where it's leaking

 

Oil pressure is good, similar to mine

 

I will have a look into how to do this and what the results would tell me,cheers.

At least I have some good news then
Still not 100% sure if this tells me that my bottom end is healthy?
The knocking is still there and the cars not driving well now,but no metal bearing pieces in the oil and good oil pressure has to be a positive?

I did expect the valve clearance to be to big causing the knocking but now I'm confused as they are too small,would this cause knocking?
Fecking nightmare

 

Yes it would cause knocking as you are likely to be tou ching the piston with the valves. I wouldnot be driving it until the cause is found....

 

Pull the engine, it'll be much easier torquing the heads back up etc.

 

Cheers,I was let down with the heads I paid for,unfortunately they were sold already
So we are going to pull the engine out and re-shim my heads.

 

I agree, you will see what your doing, the job will be cleaner. If you struggled to fit one pipe without it leaking are you confident you can do the head gaskets with 100% reliability?
Plus I would be doing bearings at the same time too, no way would I have the heads off without doing the bearings.

 

yes having doing a rebuild I can imagine how hard it will be to torque then properly using the torque by angle method. do it right, do it once.

 

I don't think you would have to split the block and do the main bearings unless a head gasket had gone and possibly caused damage,but I won't be removing the heads now anyway and the engine is coming out to re-spec my heads,at least I know my heads are STI V3 head where as the heads I got let down on were a gamble anyway,probably did me a favor tbh

 

Ouch, no need for the snide comments.....

It was totally out of my control as explained to you from the start, and I refunded you the exact same day I found out so you could source another set if required.....

 

Apologies.
I was just a little pi55ed off at the time,you did ring,explain and refund quickly
Just been let down(not your fault) tipped me over the edge.
After some advice and I had chilled out a bit I now realize the best option is to re-spec my heads.

 

I appreciate that it is frustrating and it was frustrating for me too. No need for the public slating though considering in my opinion I went over and above what was required travelling back and forth etc to help you out. Im sorry it didn't work out but I could not have possibly done any more than I did.

To be fair I didn't even ask for any money until I had found the item....

Anyways, we've had our say now hurry up and get it fixed

 

I didn't mention any names to be fair,just that I had been let down on some heads I'd bought.
It wasn't meant as a public slating but I understand I didn't go about venting my frustration in a good way,I can see how this would cause offense.
I do appreciate the trouble and the extra mile you went to help me out.
Hope you can accept my apology.

 

It's all good mate. It can all get on top of us when things don't go to plan.

 

hmm took me a month or more to find clean low mileage ver8 sti heads with
NO cracks in them for my build last year , nearly went round to the tuners address and set light to my own car lol very very frustrating

 

What year car do you have now Rich?

I don't know the reason why, but, IIRC David @ API and most other places I think, wouldn't just replace the head gaskets on older classics as they tended to do the bearings not long after.

Since you've got the engine out and the heads off, it would be prudent to split the block and refresh the bearings, IMO.

 

^ Provided it's the original as it left the factory engine.

 

That's good cold oil pressure but it's hot idle you need to see what oil pressure you have , needs to be 2 bar or over to test if big ends worn

 

Yes, new head gasket gave better compression which then would shoot out the worn bearings not long after

 

Cheers, Fred.

 

Cheers mickywrx
Car is a V3 sti and the short engine was forged and done aprox 30k
I don't want to take the heads off now,we are going to pull the engine out and re-shim the heads as my test showed very tight valve clearance.

@The Rig,good oil pressure when hot,tested and I'm getting 5-6 bar so hope this shows a healthy bottom end

 

Have u found out what the noise is pistons or rings can make knocking sound as both mine and friends have had pistons and rings cook even on forged builds
Are you getting oil blow by mine could been 27 deg timing at 1.4 bar seems way to high

 

It's not using excessive oil or smoking,hoping that re-shimming the valve clearance will cure the noise.

 

Well the engine came out pretty well,all went to plan and fairly quick to say we've not done one before.
Check valve clearance on both heads and all need re-shimming,also found out where the gear oil leak was coming from,input shaft seal.
Will order the seal tomorrow and merlin24 is helping out with shims.
Cheers for all the help and advice so far,hope this will finally sort out my problems.