Originally posted by ZetecNinja:
Originally posted by ZetecNinja:
Originally posted by Stryker:
Originally posted by ZetecNinja:
ok I'm about to attempt to change my headgasket.

is there any advice you guys can give me? things to look out for? where to start first? how to make it as easy as possible? level of difficulty?

i'm scared.




clean the piston tops as best you can when you get in there. start at the top, remove the valve over, TB, intake mainfold, Exhaust manifold (possibly, not sure on those last 2 though...never done one on a tour.). then get at the head. dont forget to remove assorted hoses and stuff. your "oil" and "coolant" (more accuratly decribed as cooil and oilant seeing as they will be all mixed together) will basically be a light brown sludge...depending on how bad it blew anyway. but from what you described to me, you were losing compression so fast that the motor couldnt stay running...

level of difficulty: 6/10...(thats IMO, i havent ever done one a contour)



i could already see the brown lookin oil just from pullin up the dip stick...is anything gonna come out of the hoses I disconnect? guess it doesn't really matter anyway but I don't want any surprises...

i need a damn ford service cd

edit: oh yea does anyknow the socket size i need for the valve cover/intake manifold/exhaust manifold/etc...they all appear to be the same size. I tried a 3/8 socket and it was barely too small ...I'm thinkin the next available size up is what I need? I'm borrowing tools so I need to tell them what size I need.






it should be the metric "equvalent" (slightly larger). yes, your coolant hoses will have all kinds of nasty [censored] in them...drain the coolant system and leave it empty while you do this. then after you fix the gasket, try this:


open the drainplug at the bottom fo the radiator.

have someone pour water through the coolant tank with the plug off. when the water coming out of the drainplug is clear, your system is clean. then button her up and add coolant. make sure your headgasket is fixed before you do this. coolant is bad for the inside of an engine, but water is infinently worse. if you do this and your head gasket is not fixed, you are still leaking water into the cylinders. tap water+metal=rust.


ill repeat myself: MAKE SURE YOUR HEAD GASKET IS SEALED BEFORE YOU FLUSH THE SYSTEM.

but to answer your question: whast in your hoses will look alot like sewage and will smell about as good.

Regards, Cole. Relegating to troll status sometime this week. New Whip: 1990 Lexus ES250. Old Hotness: 1995 GL MTX Zetec *IN TRIAGE* "I had a little friend once, but it dont move no more... "