2.3 Head Gasket September 07, 2005, 08:45:52 AM Anyone changed a head gasket on a 2.3 N/A? My Ranger daily driver took a dump on me yesterday so now its time to tear into it. Shop wanted to charge $300 to do it...I think I'm gonna do it myself. Any advice? Quote Selected
Re: 2.3 Head Gasket Reply #1 – September 07, 2005, 08:58:21 AM Get a new timing belt an tensioner.It's pretty easy, just make sure you get all the out of the head bolt holes and make sure both mating surfaces are clean.You'll probably need a new set of head bolts depending on what type is in there. If they have 12-point heads, you can reuse them. If they have 6-point, they are Torque-to-Yield and cannot be reused.Set the engine to TDC before you pull it apart to help minimize confusion with that later.Depending on the age of it, a new t-stat might not be a bad idea either while you're in there. Quote Selected
Re: 2.3 Head Gasket Reply #2 – September 07, 2005, 09:34:37 AM QuoteGet a new timing belt an tensioner.It's pretty easy, just make sure you get all the out of the head bolt holes and make sure both mating surfaces are clean.You'll probably need a new set of head bolts depending on what type is in there. If they have 12-point heads, you can reuse them. If they have 6-point, they are Torque-to-Yield and cannot be reused.Set the engine to TDC before you pull it apart to help minimize confusion with that later.Depending on the age of it, a new t-stat might not be a bad idea either while you're in there.Yeah I was just thinking about the timing belt deal...might as well replace it since its coming off anyway. You think it would be a good idea to have the head checked to make sure its true? What really sucks about this whole deal is that my '01 F-150 is down at the moment as well with a rear wheel bearing out so I'm daily driving my T-bird 30 miles one way to work ( 3.00 gallon gas and 3.73 rearend don't work out too well for fuel economy) until I get the Ranger running. Oh btw my girlfriend dumped me too. At least my dog is still alive...my life is starting to sound like a country song. Quote Selected
Re: 2.3 Head Gasket Reply #3 – September 08, 2005, 09:32:11 AM Did you overheat it? It's an iron head..so it's rare for them to warp. They're more likely to crack than warp.How did you blow it? Thinking about it, it seems very odd to me that an NA 2.3 head gasket blew.... Quote Selected
Re: 2.3 Head Gasket Reply #4 – September 08, 2005, 01:12:43 PM yah. those things never go... seen blocks crack before a headgasket blew.. Quote Selected
Re: 2.3 Head Gasket Reply #5 – September 08, 2005, 06:26:36 PM just changed the headgasket in my tbird took me most of the day to do it. make sure everything is clean (even your hands) and make sure you run a tap down the head bolt threads. Quote Selected
Re: 2.3 Head Gasket Reply #6 – September 13, 2005, 11:57:09 AM Yeah it was leaking around the oil passages in the rear of the head. So initially I had an oil leak. Then it went ahead and blew. It was not your typical symptoms of a bad head gasket with smoke or the smell of burning antifreeze. I replaced it over the weekend and it was indeed the head gasket. I didn't have the head checked but I probably should have...the truck didn't get that hot so I think its OK. The truck has 146,000 miles on it and I gotta say the pistons and cylinder walls looked extremely good. Hopefully it will go another 146K. Quote Selected
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