My experience of changing head gasket - Saxperience

BillBob · 23rd April 2009, 13:03

Having just done the head gasket on my Saxo 1.1i (TU engine) I thought others may find my experiences useful.

How do you know the head gasket has gone?

In my case there was ‘mayo’ in the oil filler cap and a huge oil leak that ended up emerging near the crank pulley.

What do I need to do the job?

A workshop manual (you can get manuals for the TU engine on the Web)
A good socket set and spanners
An E14 E-Torx socket (£9 on ebay for a set)
A torque wrench
A 4mm Allen key
Molegrips
A new head gasket (go to ebay and buy a complete gasket and bolt set)
A new belt and tensioner if it has not been changed for a while (ebay again)

To get the head off

Drain the water and disconnect the battery

First loosen then remove the alternator belt and pulley then the cam belt covers. The top one is easy. I would recommend that you put a jack under the engine then remove the engine mount. This makes access to one of the bolts possible (but still tricky). I had to forcefully bend the cable clip to fully remove the cover

Lock the engine using a bolt and a drill

Loosen the tensioner and remove the belt. Good chance to check the water pump.

Remove the air filter and assembly.

Make a careful note of all the connectors and pipes then disconnect them. The water pipe clips can be removed with Molegrips. Don’t forget the pipe and connector underneath the inlet manifold. The petrol pipes and air pipes have spring clips that can be prised open with a screwdriver.

Remove the 3 nuts on the exhaust downpipe. I did not remove the other pipe mount, underneath the engine.

Disconnect the HT leads from the coils and remove the cam cover.

Remove all the head bolts in the sequence shown in the manual. Use the E-Torx socket and do not be tempted to use an 11mm socket. I made this mistake and sheared the head bolts. Remove the rocker assembly.

Make sure everything is disconnected (I may have forgotten something) then rock the head to break the seal. Prepare an area to take the head, ideally on some soft surface such as wood. I found a good technique to remove the head was to put a plank of wood on the battery then put one foot in the engine compartment near the crank pulley. Lift the head off in one clean pull and rest on the plank. Get your leg out of the compartment and place head on soft surface.

Remove the old gasket and check the block. It should be obvious if the gasket has blown. Mine had blown the oil seal at the cambelt end. Be careful not to disturb the liners by turning the engine. There is loads of advice on the Web on how to clean the surfaces, just be sure you do not use any sharp metal tools as these with cause damage.

Now carefully turn the head over and check. Be ready to catch the oil. Again, clean it up.

If everything looks OK, fit the new gasket on the locating pins and carefully replace the head. If you left the exhaust bracket fitted, ensure the exhaust gasket is in place as you refit the head.

Refit the rocket assembly then the head bolts. I used new bolts that came with the gasket set. Put some grease on the thread and head and carefully insert and tighten finger tight.

Tighten using a torque wrench as described in the manual then the main tightening to the prescribed angle. Again use the E-Torx socket and do not be tempted to use an 11mm socket. I found putting a dot of Tipex on the bolt gave a good indication of angle. You will need a long extension on the socket handle to get the required torque.

Put everything else back together. Retension the timing belt as described in the manual. Don’t forget to remove the engine locks once the belt is fitted. The pipe clips for the petrol and other pipes can be refitted using molegrips. In addition I used a small screwdriver on the larger clips.

Now the tricky bit, bleeding the cooling system. This took me ages until I got the knack. Remove the 3 bleed points from (1) the top of the radiator, (2) the 4mm allen bung in the thermostat housing and (3) the plastic screw cap near the water pump. Now get a plastic drink bottle and cut off the bottom. It should fit neatly into the radiator cap hole. Start to fill with coolant. When it comes out of (1) refit then repeat for (2) and (3). Then give the pipes a good squeeze and see if you can get bubbles out of the filler.

Start the engine and ensure the coolant is flowing. I let it idle for 2-3 mins then checked the heater was blowing hot air. Take for a short drive and check the radiator is getting hot.

If you have all the right parts and tools then I reckon it’s a 3-4 hour job.

JamesR^m · 23rd April 2009, 22:41

Without a doubt should be a sticky, very very useful!

Well done mate

a1sparky · 28th November 2012, 12:33

Thank you for this i have to do mine as i think mine has gone

i got to put a new fuel filter on today as she not runnin right and now seen oil on the floor looks like its comming from the head just behind the alternator, just done the rocker cover gasket now this

littledon · 24th February 2013, 18:08

i have done all this and put the car back together. she turns over but just wont fire up. I have checked all connections and all seem fine. any suggestions on what may be the problem

yr51ocw · 24th February 2013, 18:10

have you done a compression test, tested for spark when cranking and checked for fuel?

jay9119 · 24th February 2013, 18:55

check the crank sensor for some reasion i unpluged it then pluged it into the top of the gearbox

Andy_206gti · 18th January 2016, 10:26

I'm going to be changing my head gasket this weekend, but I checked my header tank this morning it was full of thick, grey gloopy oil/water.

What's the best way to flush this out of the water system? Is there a special flush product you can buy? Will the radiator or heater matrix be knackered now?

I will be buying engine flush to help get rid of all the contaminated oil.

Cheers