| header gasket leak [message #107916] |
Wed, 08 December 2010 13:03  |
jayrabe
Messages: 509
Registered: June 2009
Location: Portland, OR
Karma:
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Senior Member |
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Finally summoned the courage to do this job, and it was indeed as people had said - pretty easy. Huge thanks to all the GMCers who offered tips and encouragement, and especially to Jim Hupy for his phone consultation.
Ended up getting a Remflex gasket and put in new grade-5 bolts with anti-seize. Got a bottom tap to clean the threads, but could only get it into one of the 5 holes due to the header in the way. Could only get the torque wrench on one of the bolts, so torqued it to 15 and estimated the rest.
Whole job took less than two hours, and that included a trip to Napa! After this learning curve I could probably do it again in an hour. Short test drive and getting on the gas, as much as Portland's wet streets would allow, had no sign of leak noise at all. Very cool. I'm starting to feel like a mechanic! well, apprentice anyway.
Discovered that the shop that fixed the leak in May did not use a gasket on reassembly. Jim tells me that's not unusual. There was some evidence of some sealant, but not much, so cleaning it was easy, well, other than the awkwardness of body position and viewing angle with the header only dropped down about an inch. Had to use a mirror and flashlight to see what I was doing.
All in all not too bad a job. Definitely going to build a set of boards to span the engine compartment per suggestion! Should have done that first!
Thanks and thanks again to everyone. 
J
76 PB
Portland, OR
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