head gaskets

[keithhays@hotmail.com]

  I have a slow coolant seepage from my left side head gasket. I am planning on replacing both head gaskets. I am a auto technician and feel confident about the job. I am just wondering if anyone has any advice or heads up things I should be prepared for. Any advice appreciated! Keith

[keithhays@hotmail.com]

forgot to mention...it is a 98 GL1500C Valk.

[Hoser]

Assuming you mean a valve cover gasket, it's a piece of cake.  Headgasket, not so much.  hoser

[Jeff K]

I have a slow coolant seepage from my left side head gasket. I am planning on replacing both head gaskets. I am a auto technician and feel confident about the job. I am just wondering if anyone has any advice or heads up things I should be prepared for. Any advice appreciated! Keith

Are you 100% sure there is a head gasket leak? I have seen plenty of them that had hose or tube leaks on top of the motor that ran down the block and looked like they were leaking from the head gasket between the timing cover and the head. That said, I have also fixed a few that had corroded between the head and the block on the right hand side of the motor.
It's not a big deal to change. Just be careful with valve timing, back off all the valves before you start to be safe.

[Robert]

+1 Jeff

[eric in md]

my bet its top hose  or o ring in water system

[keithhays@hotmail.com]

thanks for the advice! it is so slow that I only recently found where it looks like the right head gasket. I've been smelling coolant for 2 years but has not leaked enough to add yet! It does seem to getting a little worse. I only used to smell it in very cold weather; now I smell it all the time at stop lights, etc...I will try to verify the exact spot before condemning the head gasket.
And yes I meant head gasket, not 'valve cover gasket'!

[Black Dog]

Another place to check, is the thermostat housing...  Two tubes are attached (#'s 5 & 6 in the pic), and I along with others, have found very slight leaks there...  Tapered 'O' rings (#'s 11 & 12) were the culprit in my case.



Good luck with the fix 

Black Dog

[keithhays@hotmail.com]

thanks again, I will check these o-rings and hoses very closely. You all may have saved me from un-necessarily removing the cylinder heads, Keith

[Gunslinger]

+1 on verifying that it truly is the head gasket before you dig into it.

Back to the original question, Dropping the heads isn't the end of the world.
Last year we replaced the motor in my '97 Tourer and due to too many hands, too much drink made a simple mistake that ended up seizing the left cam. Long story short, and for reasons that are too lengthy to go into here, fortune smiled on me and we had a spare set of heads. Anyway, If memory serves me right, it took about 4 hours to drain the coolant, drop the heads, mount heads, refill and warm it up to open the thermostat and top off. That included much crying, whining, and b*^ching from me knowing our trip was ruined before Dale reminded me that wasn't helping to fix the problem. (Thanks Roadkill!!!

On a side note, we left for Frisco the next afternoon.