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185 head removal

Discussion in 'Engine and Drivetrain' started by Mafix, Mar 8, 2007.

  1. Mafix

    Mafix Owner Staff Member Administrator Donated!

    from TW2 at Alltrac.net
    Removal of the head with the engine in the car is relatively easy for anyone who is reasonably mechanically minded and can follow the BGB (big green book- Toyota repair manual which can be found at www.celicatech.com) This write up is for removing the head with the engine in the car and partially rebuilding/porting the head which I did myself.

    Tools required:
    1. A good socket set, preferably 1/2 inch. I also have a 1/4 set and some 3/8 drive bits with different length extensions to get at difficult bolts.
    2. An offset 14mm ring spanner, preferably with a 15mm ring at the other end to pass a 1/2 inch breaker bar into.
    3. A range of normal spanners.
    4. Magnetic finger.
    5. Inspection mirror helps.
    6. Safety glasses for getting under the car.
    7. Jack stands.
    8. Range of screwdrivers.
    9. Adaptor for head bolts preferably to 1/2 inch drive.
    10. Torque wrench with 49Nm being the most important (head bolts). I have a small one from 5-25Nm and a larger one 40-200.
    11. Heaps of degreaser, rags and brass (wont scratch) brushes for cleaning stuff.
    12. Valve spring compressor if dismantling head.
    13. Misc- knife, pen, paper, gasket scraper, micrometer, feeler tool

    14. Upper gasket set from Toyota, new head bolts (stock ones are not reusable) or ARP studs can be used as an upgrade instead (these are reusable).
    [​IMG]
    This is the style of valve compression tool needed. The important part is the end on the left, the ring needs to be 25mm, some come in 30mm which will not fit. The other point to note is both ends need to have enough clearance to get around the head which this one did not until I modified it.
    [​IMG]
    [​IMG]
    [​IMG]
    This is the extension you will need to get the head bolts out. I am sure there is a good reason why toyota could not just use a standard bolt of some kind.
    [​IMG]
    Micrometer for measuring shims.
    [​IMG]
    Feeler tool for measuring shim to cam clearance (valve lash)

    It is helpful to have at least a single garage. I had a double garage which is great to lie everything down in the order removed from the car. I labeled every bolt or group of bolts as they were removed by simply putting them on some paper stating where they were from and how many bolts there were. I also wrote down anything unusual for instance when I lost a washed into the lower timing belt cover so I would not forget to retrieve it later. Most of the hoses spring back to their original locations when everything is put back together. I only bothered labeling the throttle body ones just in case.
    [​IMG]
    Everything was covered in crap, I am suprised the TVIS even worked.
    So the BGB can be followed for the most part especially the first half or so. Jack the car up and put the front on jack stands as high as necessary to comfortably get underneath to work. Remove the front tyres for better access. Things which the BGB mentions that are not necessary to do are removing the oil filter, pressure switch and oil cooling assembly. Also the water bypass pipe(s) does not need to be removed, it can simply be unbolted from the head but left in place. The air tube on the rear of the intake manifold can also be left, as can the TVIS/TVSV stuff. Not mentioned in the BGB are all the items on the firewall. I unbolted a few extra things here and there to get more access to certain things- AC idle up and the cruise control.
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    For those who haven't removed the turbo before, this is what all the oil lines etc look like. Since mine is clocked down I changed all the water lines.
    [​IMG]
    Here is a shot through the RHS tie rod hole. The purple thing is the TVIS vacuum canister. You can leave all that crap on the head just remove all the vacuum lines which go to the bypass pipes etc. I found that I could put everything back together through this hole but I needed to get under the car when pulling it all apart.
    [​IMG]
    You should end up with a mess like this.
    [​IMG]
    A stock unmodified head.
    [​IMG]
    More shit everywhere.

    The more or less most painful and frustrating thing about this whole job is the intake manifold supports which go from the lower intake manifold to the block. They have very very limited access and are very hard to remove. They are only torqued to 25Nm so should not be too tight but mine were almost impossible to get undone. It is only possible to fit spanners in there which are not very practical for tight bolts. I ended up sawing the stay closest to the centre of the car in half with a hacksaw blade. After removing the head it took a large force with the 50cm breaker bar to actually get it off so there was no way it was going to happen with a 12cm spanner. If you give up also and need to saw them in half, the hacksaw blade can be passed in through the right hand side of the car tie rod hole and you can reach it with your arm extended all the way over. Wrap the blade in electrical tape where you are holding it to make it more comfortable.
    [​IMG]
    I hate this thing so much.

    As far as the timing belt goes, follow the BGB but beforehand remove the power steering belt and engine mount. It will make getting tools down the side of the engine for the tensioner etc much easier. The PS pump can be removed by simply taking out the lower of the 2 bolts which hold it in. It can then be swung toward the front of the car to release the tension on its belt. If you remove both parts of the engine mount on the RH side of the car ensure you return the part attached to the block before putting back the metal guard which sits behind the cam gears. It does not need to be bolted back in yet so it can still be moved around but otherwise I have never been able to get it back in or out without it.
    I chose to do as much of the head rebuild as possible to save money. I had my local shop do the valve seats, grind the valves, wash the head and mill the head gasket surface flat. I removed the cams, shims/buckets, valves, oil seals, seats etc and put it all back together myself to save some money. It is time consuming but not very difficult. The important thing is to have the correct valve spring compressor. You can also make one with a large clamp and some creativity. I bought a cheap one which was not the correct one for this head and had it modified to work as the “properâ€
     

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