Well this isn't a truck engine since it's a 1.9L engine. But anyhow, the head gasket apparently is faulty as the car will produce large plumes of white smoke that smells sweet. So I decided to remove the head to replace the head gasket, but one of the cylinder head bolts broke as I was removing it.
So I have a head bolt with about half of its shank still in the head, which is holding the head to the block. I can't get the gol dern head off now! The bolt is all rusty and seems to be stuck in the head. I tried prying on the ends of the head, and I can get a hair of movement but I guess this is just the head flexing and it is still stuck tight to the broken piece of bolt in the middle.
How in tarnation shall I get this cursed spawn of satan apart?
I sprayed penetrating oil down on the broken bolt of course. I also tried twisting the head, but maybe its got dowels preventing rotation, as it sure aint rotating.
The first time I pulled the heads on my flatty (which also uses studs) I thought it was going to take forever! I used a lot of P B Blaster and made little wooden wedges that I tapped in slowly all around the head. It slowly but surely lifted off. I pulled my heads off without removing ANY of the studs. so a broken stud SHOULDN'T impede the removal of the head. It just takes time and patience.
steve's right, soak in pb blaster at least overnight, it will come off. sometimes light tapping with plastic mallet will cause enough vibration to work pb into rust.
Patience is your friend. Soak it. Then wait a while, then soak it again. The wedge idea is one way, and you have to be careful not to go overboard on a single wedge, before tapping on the wedge at the other end/side. Once you get it off the dowels, you will be able to twist it.
You could use a pair of cold chisels as wedges. At either side of the head, near the broken bolt, you could come in from both sides with the chisels, gently tapping a few strokes on each side, then going to the other. You will soon know if you need to let it soak some more...
tom
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Good ideas with the wedges. Unfortunately the engine is still in the car, so I have less working room, as this is a "Wrong wheel drive" car (aka Front wheel drive). It's raining now but when it stops I'll try the thin wedges to gently force it, then put in string in the spark plug hole, so I can turn over the engine and the piston should push up on the head. I'm optimistic about the two forces working together.
It's an aluminum head which seems to corrode up to steel quite badly.
Well I got a couple of thin wedges, about four inches long by a quarter inch thick tapering to a sharp edge. By hammering them in each side and using the rope in the spark plug hole I raised the head about a quarter inch, but it is still thoroughly stuck in this new position. I'm spraying it regularly and tonight I pulled the head back down with the surrounding head bolts to hopefully loosen the rust holding the parts together.
I'll get a bunch of small squares of aluminum plate to use with the wedges to work it higher and higher. I don't have much time to work on it, and it's outside in rainy weather so probably won't get it done soon. I'm pretty much resigned to resurfacing the heads after driving the wedges in. Oh, and I can't turn it much because of other brackets bumping it, and the broken head bolt is actually freely turning in the block threads.
The main thing is that I've got movement so the rest is just work.
I guess the 'torque to yield' bolts yielded, eh? Good to hear you've got it moving. I'm guessing this is an Escort, FWD, and you are leaning over the radiator support to do this work. I feel for your back, as I've been there and done that, not quite as bad as yours.
tom
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It's not how hard you work, it's how much you get done. Simplificate and add lightness
Thanks Tom,
You are correct, it's a Mercury Tracer, basically an Escort. I did drive it onto wheel ramps to make it a more pleasant working height, but it does make for a little soreness in the back.
This time, it was quite easy to lift the head up with the spacers and shims. I put the shims in the middle of the head and then tighten a bolt opposite the stuck bolt, thus using the bolt to lever the head up on the stuck bolt. So it quickly raised up and using the shims and prybars, I got the head off.
The stub of broken bolt was protruding an inch and a half from the block, and I was able to unscrew it with my fingers.
Now I see the head has a crack running from the exhaust seat in the bad cylinder to the water jacket... I'll drop by the machine shop and see if they think it's salvageable or I need to find a replacement. I'm not out of the woods yet.
The piston tops look like they've had a few small rocks go through the engine, kind of funny!
There were many an Escort/Tracer sent to an early graveyard because of their Italian-cast aluminum heads. They are sensitive to overheating and crack at the hint of getting hot. It cost about $300 for a re-man head, and then there was $400-500 labor on a vehicle worth maybe $2k. It apparently didn't make sense to repair a perfectly good vehicle (in all other respects) to a lot of people.
That said, you can sometimes get the head repaired, as you indicate. Re-man heads for that engine today are probably less than they were, as they seem to be sitting on the shelf due to lowered demand. But, you never know.
I would probably replace the water pump and thermostat while you have it this far apart. Cam belt, too. They are hard to do in the car without removing the pulley on the nose of the crankshaft.
Good luck.
tom
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It's not how hard you work, it's how much you get done. Simplificate and add lightness
I stopped by my favourite auto machine shop on the way home from work tonight but it was closed. It's only a one man operation and I know it's been slow, I hope it's not out of business. I might investigate the remanufactured head.
This will be the second Escort/Tracer I've repaired a leaky head on. In both cases the cars were excellent, economical vehicles that shouldn't get scrapped (or so I foolishly thought).
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