[Chingon]

So I've decided to replace both head gaskets, and ordered the whole gasket kit by Felpro. I've also ordered a new water pump and thermostat. I have two questions:

1 - Cam Synchro, obviously this needs to come out right, so do I just mark it's position at TDC for #1 and put it back there when I'm buttoning up?

2 - RTV gasket maker stuff - where do I use it? Head gaskets are installed dry. What about intake manifold gaskets? Thermostat? Water pump?

Thanks in advance...

 

[Chingon]

Yeah, I'm 90% certain - it pushes coolant into the expansion tank as soon as I fire it up, and quicker if I rev it (engine cold).

I already replaced the cam synchro, but I had trouble getting it exactly right. I might be off by ~10 degrees max maybe? It runs fine, so I think I got it right but maybe I should invest in one of those alignment tools anyway...

 

[Chingon]

That diagram was awesome man, thanks for that!

As for other signs, my coolant is brown - lots of sediment. I did the Clinton flush last year and again this year. Heat is fine (or was before leak was getting worse). I could hear the heater core making weird noises like bubbles were passing through the system.

Took the hood off and figured I'd pull the air cabin filter - looks original!

One more question - I drained the coolant from the radiator, but I know I'm supposed to drain it from the block as well. Is this the block coolant plug (on the front side - don't think I can get to the one in back)?

Looks like it has red loc-tite on it. Guess I should clean it off and re-loc-tite it before reinstalling it...

 

[Chingon]

BTW - that picture is actually taken upside-down. Kind of hard to take a picture with my phone there...

 

[Chingon]

Definitely taking lots of pics along the way, and already started the baggie thing.

I'm wondering if I should also replace the EGR valve now too while I have the intake off? I've got 96k miles on the car and it looks original...

 

[Chingon]

Definitely. I got the upper intake and most of the wiring harness off yesterday, but put it down for awhile (no hurry here).

I think I'll have the heads planed just to be thorough (the bump in compression would be nice too!) I think I'll even try my hand porting the heads a bit with my dremel just for shits and giggles. I'll probably paint the valve covers while I have them off too...

 

[Chingon]

Finally took the heads off and just took them to an engine shop to get vatted and milled (probably didn't need to be milled but I won't mind the bump in compression, plus it's only $20!)

I didn't see any obvious leaks on the head gaskets? How do the pistons look for the average 97k mile Vulcan?

 

[Chingon]

I think one or two pistons looked a little oxidized. I'll get better pics once I clean it up. Coolant in the block looked green and clean, but I recently flushed/clinton'd it...

 

[Chingon]

Well I got the heads and valve covers painted, with the heads torqued down. Now I need to reinstall the pushrods/rockers. Is this still the correct procedure:

Dip each pushrod end in oil conditioner or heavy engine oil. Install the pushrods in their original position.

Before installation, coat the valve tips, rocker arm and fulcrum contact areas with Lubriplate® or equivalent.

Rotate the crankshaft one full turn (360 degrees) until the lifter is on the base circle of the cam as shown in the accompanying illustration (camshaft position A).

Install the rocker arm assemblies and tighten the rocker arm fulcrum bolts to 6-11 ft. lbs. (7-17 Nm) to position the rocker arm seats.

Rotate the crankshaft clockwise 120 degrees to camshaft position B as shown in the accompanying illustration. Tighten the rocker arm fulcrum bolts to 6-11 ft. lbs. (7-17 Nm) to position the rocker arm seats.

The fulcrums must be fully seated in the cylinder head and the pushrodsmust be seated in the rocker arm sockets prior to the final tightening.

Final tighten the rocker arm fulcrum bolts to 20-28 ft. lbs. (26-38 Nm).

If the same valve train components are used a valve train check is not required.If new components were installed, measure the clearance with the valve tappetfully collapsed on the base circle of the camshaft lobe. The measurement should be 0.085-0.185 inch (2.15-4.69mm). Refer to the accompanying illustration if necessary for the valve clearance measurement.

 

[Chingon]

Slowly but surely - I'm liking the painted heads/valve covers! If I wasn't starting to get impatient I would have painted the new water pump, lower intake and misc. brackets...

 

[Chingon]

It's a 2002 SES Vulcan. I've got it mostly back together, but ran into a problem when I broke the EGR tube and had to do an EGR delete. I hope to have some time to work on it Sunday - hopefully finish it!

 

[Chingon]

The EGR delete debate has raged, but so far the only people with proof who have posted up are the ones that have done the delete and have not thrown any codes, nor suffered any engine/sensor failures.

My state just looks for CEL's basically, they don't even crawl under to check for cats...

 

[Chingon]

:angry:

Well I finally buttoned everything up and once I figured out the EGR Delete issue I've been on the road ~100 miles. Careful miles, just testing everything out. I got home after a decent commute (engine was warm, never showed signs of overheating) and came back out to a puddle of coolant under the vehicle. I smelled coolant slightly through the vents, but I attributed this to having been opened up and burning stuff off the headers, etc.

Took a video and the coolant expansion tank was a little low. Rev'd the engine and coolant was circulating - see video:

Maybe this is a minor "burp" from fresh coolant? Maybe it's the slight weirdness I had with the Dorman cap? (Seem to spin without tightening until I snugged up the internal cap and then it tightened until "click".)

I just hope all this damn surgery wasn't in vain.