Posted to alt.trucks.chevy, rec.autos.tech, alt.autos.4x4.chevy- trucks
Subject: Help!!! Advice needed, 4.3 liter engine head gasket in a 96 Astro van
Background...
I've been volunteered to help repair a close friends Astro Van... as I understand it his wife popped a head gasket, smelled something funny, and had enough sense to get it home quick... drove it gently maybe a mile and a half. The beast has just about 100,000 miles on it.
I've done some rebuild work, but mostly on foreign cars... three Volvos (a '62, a 81 and a 91), one Opel (71), three Datsuns (71, 86, 73), one Toyota (85), one '79 Ford F250 with a 400ci engine and helped work on a 81
454 Chev Suburban.Help !!! I would really appreciate any pointers on what tools I'll need to take with me, and what I'm getting into. I'll be driving 200 miles from my place to his place (from Pasadena Calif - northeast of Los Angeles to El Cajon - San Diego area) picking up a head gasket set and any needed parts, and crashing on his couch while we do the job. He's very sharp, a software engineer and is going to help (he said "I'll hand you the tools, the sandwiches, the iced tea, and help turn wrenches, but you've been inside an engine before, I've not").
Tentatively, plans are to pull both heads, get a local machine shop to do a valve job and any surfacing, then reassemble.
Problem is I've never even SEEN the engine compartment of an Astro van, never laid eyes a 4.3 engine at all, and while I've done head gaskets and valve jobs on a half-dozen vehicles (starting with a 1953 Chevy six, then a 1957 Buick nailhead V8) I have NO f@#% idea on what is involved in a 4.3 engine or in a Astrovan.
What would anybody who has done this before wish they'd known before they started?
What special tools will I need to take with me?
What should I watch out for? I don't need any awshits on this job. Every other job like this that I've done has been in my garage with my rollaround toolbox handy. This one will be with what I have with me, and what will fit in my car trunk.
Anything else I should plan on doing while I am inside the vehicle? Maybe change the fan clutch?
For example, on the 91 Volvo when you are done replacing the water pump you've done 90% of what is involved in replacing the timing belt, so for another $40 and 30 minutes you can do that too...
A second example... On the same car the alternator brushes go at about 120,000 milesand you can swap them in 15 minutes for $35 and not even have to remove the alternator from the engine.
What other suggestions do the group members have?
What should I be asking but am not?
Is there a web site that gives a procedure? (Something like what I'd find in a shop manual... ie.
1) remove hood, 2) remove master cylinder, 3) remove intake manifold 4) remove valve cover 5) remove head bolts yadda yadda yaddaBTW the reason we're doing this (my driving down and doing it for him) is that he's family, mechanically uneducated and convex broke (i.e. flat would be an improvement) and there is no way that he can afford to have it done. I'm fronting the costs and doing the work, and we are NOT going to be using cheap parts or doing half-assed work. He will pay me back when he can.
Thanks in advance...
Mike Morris
Background...
I've been volunteered to help repair a close friends Astro Van... as I understand it his wife popped a head gasket, smelled something funny, and had enough sense to get it home quick... drove it gently maybe a mile and a half. The beast has just about 100,000 miles on it.
I've done some rebuild work, but mostly on foreign cars... three Volvos (a '62, a 81 and a 91), one Opel (71), three Datsuns (71, 86, 73), one Toyota (85), one '79 Ford F250 with a 400ci engine and helped work on a 81
454 Chev Suburban.Help !!! I would really appreciate any pointers on what tools I'll need to take with me, and what I'm getting into. I'll be driving 200 miles from my place to his place (from Pasadena Calif - northeast of Los Angeles to El Cajon - San Diego area) picking up a head gasket set and any needed parts, and crashing on his couch while we do the job. He's very sharp, a software engineer and is going to help (he said "I'll hand you the tools, the sandwiches, the iced tea, and help turn wrenches, but you've been inside an engine before, I've not").
Tentatively, plans are to pull both heads, get a local machine shop to do a valve job and any surfacing, then reassemble.
Problem is I've never even SEEN the engine compartment of an Astro van, never laid eyes a 4.3 engine at all, and while I've done head gaskets and valve jobs on a half-dozen vehicles (starting with a 1953 Chevy six, then a 1957 Buick nailhead V8) I have NO f@#% idea on what is involved in a 4.3 engine or in a Astrovan.
What would anybody who has done this before wish they'd known before they started?
What special tools will I need to take with me?
What should I watch out for? I don't need any awshits on this job. Every other job like this that I've done has been in my garage with my rollaround toolbox handy. This one will be with what I have with me, and what will fit in my car trunk.
Anything else I should plan on doing while I am inside the vehicle? Maybe change the fan clutch?
For example, on the 91 Volvo when you are done replacing the water pump you've done 90% of what is involved in replacing the timing belt, so for another $40 and 30 minutes you can do that too...
A second example... On the same car the alternator brushes go at about 120,000 milesand you can swap them in 15 minutes for $35 and not even have to remove the alternator from the engine.
What other suggestions do the group members have?
What should I be asking but am not?
Is there a web site that gives a procedure? (Something like what I'd find in a shop manual... ie.
1) remove hood, 2) remove master cylinder, 3) remove intake manifold 4) remove valve cover 5) remove head bolts yadda yadda yaddaBTW the reason we're doing this (my driving down and doing it for him) is that he's family, mechanically uneducated and convex broke (i.e. flat would be an improvement) and there is no way that he can afford to have it done. I'm fronting the costs and doing the work, and we are NOT going to be using cheap parts or doing half-assed work. He will pay me back when he can.
Thanks in advance...
Mike Morris