gonna need some help on this!!!!

[12Ounce]

Yes, make a cardboard keeper, you can use the new gasket for an pattern, and keep up with the position of all bolts on the front cover, valve covers, and the oil pan. Some of these bolts have extended stud-tops for holding extra things ... and you will never "remember" exactly where they go unless you use some helping device.

[ldelisle]

again thanx great advice was wondering how i was gonna remember.....lar

[12Ounce]

I'm getting very senior and repeat myself badly... may have covered this before:

The camshaft caps are supposed to be marked by the manufacturer for location and orientation. But usually some/all are poorly marked. Before removal, I always confirmed that the marking is in place ... if not, I use my engraver or Sharpie Marker to make sure I know where and how each cap is located.

I may have covered this before ... but I'm getting very senior and repeat myself badly ...

[ldelisle]

Don't worry about repeating it can only reiterate the importance. I'm having a real hard time with the exhaust system and i can't get the oil drain plug out. Got rained out today, tomorrow i'll try to get the main pipe off then i can remove the oil pan. Also it looks like i'm gonna have to remove the #3 engine mouth i can't get the power steering pump pulley off with it in the way. Wish me luck hope tomorrow is a good day................lar

[12Ounce]

If you are working outside, keep plenty of WD40 on hand to spray naked metal to slow up rust. Even if you keep things covered with a tarp, bare steel will rust quickly if unprotected.

As I have said before, just expect bolts and studs to break anywhere around that exhaust system. You can repair whatever breaks once you have everything apart.

I don't know which is the #3 mount. Is that the one up high on the front on the engine that connects to the inner RH wheel well/shock tower? If so, OK, I had to remove that one also ... but that is the only one I removed.

You have to do a little "dance" with the RH exhaust manifold and the alternator:
Step One: loosen and remove lower exhaust connector pipe assembly.
Step Two: loosen and remove RH exhaust manifold from RH head. You can't remove the manifold from engine box yet ... but you can hang it up for working clearance.
Step Three: Now you can remove the alternator and bracket.
Step Four: now you can remove the RH exh manifold.

[12Ounce]

As you drop the oil pan ... expect those two rearmost bolts to be almost impossible to reach with socket wrenches. I replaced those hex head bolts with Allen style cap screws when engine was reassembled.

The drain plugs should never be installed that tightly ... only 20 ft lbs, or so, of torque. You may want to carry the oil pan along as you have the heads repaired. A good cylinder head shop can inspect and repair that aluminum plug hole if any repair is needed. You don't want to leave damaged threads there for later problems.

[ldelisle]

My God 12 you sound like you've done this a time or two, i gotta say right and right again. I'm on my 3rd can of WD but haven't broken and bolts yet....and the exhaust is history didn't remove it completely yet, cuz the stupid manual don't tell you to remove the crossmember til way latter and i wanted to ask you if there's a trick to removing the O2 sensor first. I also got the oil pan off today. There was some water in there, didn't see any metal but the bottom has some pitting or some kind of deposits in there, i may take the whole thing somewhere if you have a suggestion. your right about the #3 mount.....i'm gonna start on that tomorrow, and i haven't got to the manifold dance yet, but its funny the book doesn't mention that either. Have i mentioned you were right about the 2 back bolts too, i honestly don't know if i could ever gotten this far without your help, and if i screw up and don't say it enough please accept all the praise, admiration, and appreciation. again thanks. I'm gonna try to include some pics of how i did the oil pan bolts again this was just a super idea, did i say thanx yet?
Well if it worked the first one is the cardboard i outlined and numbered in removal order and then cut an x with an exacto knife, the 2nd pic is it loaded up works well and when i re-install i can bring it right under there with. the 2 bolts in the middle are the transaxel bolts. very good day today hope tomorrow goes well.........thanx again....lar

[12Ounce]

You should remove that body crossmember ... its not a big deal and will give you more working room. After that you should be able to unscrew that oxygen sensor pretty easily.

What do you mean about the exhaust is "history" Removed already? Rusted/corroded?

What do you mean about "taking the whole thing somewhere"? The whole oil pan? ( OK .. to remove the plug you mean) The whole engine? (NO!) My oil pan had a thin steel plate near the bottom ... does yours? I removed it to do some extra cleaning ... kinda a waste of time.

Water in the oil pan pretty well confirms the head gasket being the issue.

DID you hear usual mechanical sounds when you did the compression testing ... as the engine was being cranked? DID anyone try to crank the engine after it "blew"? What happened? DID the engine crank over and then lock-up? My concern is that the coolant found its way to the top of a piston and then someone cranked the engine over ... possibly causing damage to the piston rods. If so, we will take care of whatever. (Please answer each question in this paragraph.)

Keep up with whatever you pick or wipe out of the oil pan ... good that it is not metal ... could it be gasket material ... or totally foreign material of some sort?

You're doing good work so far ... those cardboard keepers look great ... you're making good progress ... don't lose hope. Whatever is damaged can be repaired or replaced.

The book doesn't mention the "dance" because the book expects you to remove the RH wheel and shaft to be able to remove the alternator ... not necessary!

Did you ever find if you have a Dover in your area? If not, what other auto MACHINE shops do you possibly have?

[ldelisle]

Yeah i'm going for the cross member today and the alternator, damn your good that wheel question was next on my lips. I got a little cocky but i was just saying that the exhaust was out of the way for the time being. Yeah i was talking about taking the oil pan in with the heads to a shop. There is no dover down here that i've found i think there might be one in orlando or jax. i asked a guy at one of the auto stores and he recommended someone, i might use them. I'm just not sure what the price should be, and he only recommended them because the city used to use them. Not exactly a prime recommendation in my book. No unusual sounds whenever i cranked it, about 3 hrs after it quit, and not on the comp test either. I'm guessing the tow guy tried it to but all he said was it had zero comp. When it went i was doing about 70 and i heard a little sound like pufft and when i looked down the needle was pegged and white smoke was coming from the exhaust and engine compartment, i pulled over and not sure if it stalled but i did shut it off. Got any insight as to the w/p drive pulley, after i do the alt and the a/c comp i'm going over there, and i still don't have a clue. It looks like it has a 3/8 drive in it, but i don't see any way to get it off, maybe i'll go buy the special tool and try it.....well i off to work i'll investigate the oil pan a little better today i didn't see anything in the bottom of it but it was getting dark and i was in a hurry........thanx again.........lar

[12Ounce]

Quite frankly, I don't remember that much about the water pump pulley. Maybe someone else will chime in. Did the pump come off the head, or block, without the pulley being removed ?? ... I think so, but am not sure ... just too many months ago and the car is not here for me to look at and refresh my memory. I have various gear pullers ... therefore whatever pulley needed removing, it was not much effort.

I do remember assembling the engine not knowing the old water pump was toast ... it leaked like a sieve ... and I bought a repair kit, but a whole replacement pump would have been as cheap and easier to deal with.

I strongly advise you to stick with Dover, even if you have to ship it and deal with them over the phone. The local shop may not know about the subtle differences between a Mazda head and cam setup and the one used on Ford applications .... and there is a difference! Dover only works on heads and cams and they are very reasonable in their charges.

If there was no unusual noise, I'm betting there was no damage in the lower end.

A good idea may be to put the oil pan temporarily back in place with a couple of screws, pour a qt or two on new oil down in the pan ... and crank the engine over a few revolutions (by hand, if necessary). This will help to push any water out of the pump and out of the various oil arteries. You could use clean kerosene if you wanted to.

[12Ounce]

Because I did not remember exactly, I called Dover for an update on price of cylinder head repair for this engine: Approx $360 for the pair of heads. This includes:
All new metal valve guides, new best quality valve stem seals.
Cleaning heads and checking for cracks in heads.
Resurfacing head bottom surface.
Refacing valves and resurfacing valve seats ... and fitting the two together. (If new valves are required ... they are priced each separately.)
Reassembling whole head to assure the stack-height of the valve and seat matches the lift of the cam lobe ... leaving each hyd lifter to operate in true mid range. (Cam must be included with head).
.
.
... so let's say $400+ including shipping and taxes for the heads. This will be the single most expensive and important part of your engine repair... assuming you reuse the piston rings and crank bearings (I would). You've got about $350 yet to spend in gaskets, head bolts and water pump. For less than $800, you will have an engine with new life.

[ldelisle]

that sounds real reasonable i'll give the net another look for them. You were right about the oil pan there was some silly little metal plate in there is there anything i can use to clean it with, i was thinking either mineral spirits or maybe vinegar. I've also looked at the pitting again, could it be specks of metal heated so much that they stuck to the bottom of the oil pan? I checked the prices at rock auto and the complete engine gasket set and a water pump and the 2 drive belts were around 300, but my ex has a cousin who works for napa says he can get me all the stuff at his cost, so i may go that way. Maybe i got you confused the drive pulley i was talking about is on the cam shaft so i guess i have to remove it to take off the valve covers. I didn't do much today i think i pulled something in my chest yesterday. i still can't get that oil drain plug out i think the bastards superglued it in there or something....what do you expect for a 14 dollar oil change.....lar

[12Ounce]

BTW, just for later info ... take a couple of digi images of the pulley centers on the cam pulley and the pulley on the water pump. I remember one or both of them are just "friction fit" on the shafts and you will wonder how far to push the pulleys onto the cam or pump shaft when reassembling. The images will help.

[12Ounce]

I know all about that "pulling in the chest"! Just wait 'til you get to those head bolts ... you will use muscles that ain't seen action in years! I almost lay myself up every time I work on an engine.

[ldelisle]

k... i will get some pics.....the w/p itself looks like it could be friction this drive one is kinda funny it has a 3/8 drive hole in the center i stuck my ratchet in there but was scared to put too much torque on it. yeah when i was doing the exhaust hell a couple of times i picked myself right off the ground. i was looking at a 1/2 in drive set the other day wonder if that would help, as for the oil pan plug i think thats gonna have to be drilled out.......lar