Once again I blew a head gasket (same thing happened with the cars original motor), so now I'm trying to figure out my cheapest way out.

Does anyone know how hard it is to remove and install a set of heads and a head gasket on a VG30E? And, do you think someone with little mechanical experience would be able to pull off a job like this?

 

Yeah you could probably do it. Maybe grab an FSM just incase


oh yeah, dont even bother with 3/8" crap on the head bolts
Then again my 3/8" 10mm allen/hex socket did work with air tools sooo...

 

so what would you suggest for the head bolts for someone with out air tools

 

breaker bar and a jack handle/other cheater bar

then again its alot easier with the engine in the car, since it doesnt really move vs. taking it apart on a table .

FWIW, I'm doing a VG headgasket this weekend aswell

 

3 engines gone? Cars aren't really for you. Thats the first VG engine no frst time I heard that anyone has destroyed three VG's. What are you doing to them? High neutral reving or seeing if it can run w/o it's timing belt?

Sorry if that sounds harsh but I'm in flame mode,

 

are you replacing the bolts and using a torque wrench when you do the job?

 

I would love to see you say that to a guy on here who is on his 3rd VE.

 

I'm on my 3rd VE30DE. Are you saying I don't know about cars?

 

or at least not how to maintain them

 

Or at leaast drive them hard enough.. You saying I don't know how to maintain my cars now?

 

Shawn, what in the hell are you talking about? Are you even sure a 10mm allen socket in a 1/2" drive will even fit down in there???

So should he bother or not?? Because you just contradicted yourself to hell and back in two sentences.

 

Yeah Jeff that's exactly what I'm saying.

To get to the other point is that taking off some heads and a head gasket should be fairly easy if you know your engine.

 

You are saying I don't know about cars? I probably know alot more than yourself.

 

Should, but I'm not entirely certian since I only have a 3/8th. My socket was from Schucks and was the powerbuilt one, but I went to sears and compared them and the diameter of the body on the Craftsmen 1/2" drive 10mm hex wasn't much bigger. The 1/2" drive might not work with the cams still on, but if you take the cams off it will clear without a problem.

ugh Thats because at first I was thinking about the 3/8th extensions I broke taking off the heads. But then after I used a 1/2" extension with a 3/8-1/2" converter it went pretty smoothly.

 

Yes, just barely.

 

Umm, you can't get the heads off of a VE WITHOUT taking at least one of the cams out.


Still confusing. I broke a cheapo 3/8" drive socket on my heads but only "bent" a 3/8" drive Craftsmen. So it's very clear that one buys a GOOD quality 10mm socket. Which should have been the point in the first post.

 

I will not question that because I have only owned my car and any other car for atleast 1 year now. I am 18 years old and the max is my first and only car. You are much more experienced in cars and in everyday life than I am. So to that I am an amateur. So I apologize if you feel offended but you still suck if you can blow 3 engines that are known to be close to bulletproof.

 

EXACTLY who said the VE30DE or the VG30 was bulletproof?? They aren't. ESPECIALLY with the amount of miles they are getting on them. And especially when the engine's history is in question.
And in this case, it seems his mechanic kept repeating the same mistake

So I too apologize if you feel offended by this next statement. If you don't know a god dammed thing about cars and or engines, you shouldn't be commenting on the subject.

 

Age has nothing to do with it. I'm barely 19, this is still my first car. Think of a better excuse

 

So how did you go through two VE's anyway Jeff

 

#1) Neglect from the previous owner. ie... no oil changes resulted in a loss of oil flow though the engine = pop goes the rod end caps though the oil pan.

#2) Not too sure yet. Engine actually runs but it has low compression on the #5 cylinder and smokes quite a bit. Probably just a cracked piston ring. A very good canidate for a rebuild. I had a spare motor that has lived it's life on semi-synthetics all it's life and had only 65k on it so I just popped this one in 2 days. (with help from Shawn). I custom welded a 4 -gen hi-flow cat and welded in a new flex section(on the Cattman Y-kept breaking/leaking on me). Since the flex and cat are different dimensions, it wasn't a straight cut weld. So that actually took longer than the engine transplant.

 

if you just wanted to fix it right away and only replace the gaskets and such it won't only cost 70-100 dollars depending on the headgasket kit you buy. i found one on ebay for 75 that has been working for me pretty well. however with mine i had the head checked for flatness which will cost quite a bit extra. i'm not sure how safe it would be to throw the heads back on without getting them checked out for flatness and such.

 

To check the head to see if it's warped:

Remove it and clean it as good as you can. ie.. GENTLY scrape off the gasket material and then GENTLY remove all the residue. Then finish it up with a LIGHT sanding with a 320 or more grit.
Then find a true straight edge and put it across the head like an "x". peer down and/or use a feeler guage to see how much/little it's warped.

 

The one time where an engine flush might actually have been good for the engine.

 

I found a rather large hunk of oil crap inside the water pump housing. Not sure if engine flush would remove that. Sometimes you can't bring an engine back it it's been neglected for so long. It was always down on power. My two newer engines would kill my old one for power. So something was wrong with this one from before I even got my hands on it

 

Spunds like the lifter galley when I got my camaro originally

Sure you can it's called a rebuild

 

Evrything but my engine has been replaced... I just hope it stays that way...

 

I'm on my 3rd VE... and my 3rd SE... I rolled my first SE on a dirt road (one of the times I was going under the speed limit)... My 2nd SE is sitting in my back yard (Due to rust problems, suspension problems, and coil pack problems) waiting for my current SE to break down so it can be driven again... My 3rd SE is running strong... but I think the clutch is on its way out (time for a lightened flywheel too)...

 

sheesh you guys are too dedicated,
if this motor blows
the car goes.

For me it's easier and cheaper to get another car than dump in another motor on this one.
Heck, I was just given a 93 Sable for free. (that'll be up for sale shortly I hate fords)

 

I'd never had an engine apart and I pulled the heads on a VG. No big deal It took a while, but now I could build on with my eyes closed. I used a breaker bar and a 10mm hex for the head bolts. No biggie.

 

Thanks for the info so far everybody, you guys are the first telling me that its even posilbe to use the same heads, I was planning on getting a set at the junk yard and using them on my block with a new headgasket, which I think I'm gonna have to do because I've driven my car at least 10-15 miles since the headgasket blew.

Somebody told me that one of the most complicated things would be adjusting the timing, where would I be able to find out exactly how to do that. And is there anything anyone can think of that I should do or not forget to do when removing or replacing heads, I don't mean the obvious stuff like tightening the bolts either.

 

this was a duplicate post

 

Oh and I didn't forget about terd

Are you sure your even 18 you sound like your still in middle school, why would someone "suck" because they've had the misfortune of having a few engines go bad on them, you don't even know the stories behind why my engines went bad. For your information, I wasn't even driving my car when the first and second engines went bad. The first one, my brother was driving and according to him the car overheated and as he went to pull over the car shut off and didn't start again after. The second one somehow lost alot of oil (probably through a small, slow leak that I never noticed) to the point it one day warped the valves. This last engine, I was driving, but the strange thing is my temp gauge was showing normal but my engine was so hot that my radiator cap at some point blew off, and all the water that didn't go into the engine shot out everywhere else.

 

I meant to ask Jeff92se what a feeler gauge exactly was.

 

What Jeff is talking about:



each one of the little feelers is a specific thickness, or thickness range.

 

I wasn't using that as an excuse I was using it to prove a point. That is why I said I will not question his statement. I know that he has a past experience with cars and has a good knowledge of them. For this to be my first car and I have only owned it for months then age does play a part in this due to experience.

What Jeff stated was right and I truely agree with it. I know a few things about cars and engines but from what I have read about the VG engines a lot of people keep saying that they are near bulletproof due to the fact that the longivity of their lifespan and maintence was alway kept at a low (in stock form). My maxima has 230K miles on it and the engine was never touched for any type of major work other than my tranny.

Smeagol - You spelled my name wrong it's not terd it's turd (off of South Park) I will apologize for my comment made because I was under the assumption that you ruined the car because you said just f**ked my third engine. At first I was going to reply you're nasty but I decided to flame (bad idea). I'm not 18 yet but will be next month and going to college.

Quick question Smeagol does your car have a overheating problem?