scout113

iTrader: (3)

OK gang, scenario.


03 VIII 75k miles has had a very small oil leak for a while but I do oil changes about every 2k miles and the oil levels are always fine, its just unsightly seeing a couple drops every day or two and the undercarriage dirty. Take it to Mitsu and their EVO guy says the head gasket is leaking and its $1700 in labor and $270 or so for head gasket kit. No Bueno.

So I am here searching to see if anyone has a good write up on head gasket installation. I have found the service manual section on it here

http://www.lilevo.com/mirage/EVO%208...003800-11A.pdf

And along with some other write-ups done by other I feel I have a good handle on it and my buddy, who has some good car knowledge, agrees we shouldn't have any issues ourselves since we have the weekend off and our own garage with plenty of tools.


Facts-
Car has cams and ARP Headstuds, stock turbo/header/intake manifold/fuel rail/injectors


Here is my battle plan, and this is where any and all advice is welcome.

Conduct the pre-removal steps outlined in the manual, however there are some my buddy feels wont really be necessary i.e.

-draining the oil(just give it time to get to the bottom of the pan)
-completely remove the radiator assembly(maybe just for extra space)
-crossmember bars and bars underneath the car(since we're not removing the block)
-starter removal(looks attached to nothing we removing)

WHAT WE WILL DO is remove all the intake piping, drain the radiator, remove the strutbar, take out the battery and remove the timing belt after we use a marker to mark where the timing is.

Next we plan on
-remove all electrical connectors in manual
-remove the plugs, valve cover

AND HERE'S WHERE WE MIGHT DO THINGS DIFFERENT!!

What we plan on is to leave the exhaust header and intake manifold attached to the head, crazy I know. We are planning on unbolting the exhaust manifold from the turbo hotside, to help avoid possibly breaking a nut off the header. So once that is disconnected along with anything else connected to the intake manifold we plan to remove all three pieces at once. (or we may actually decide to remove the intake manifold and just remove the head with attached header)

Then we will replace the head gasket, inspect the head for any scarring or damage, clean everything up and start putting it back together, including the new turbo to header gasket.


Now for the critics. I know this may seem, sound like or IS an unorthodox method, in which case please let me know here or with a PM. However, I refuse to believe I am the first one to attempt this or a similar way that differs from the by-the-book method. Truth be told, I recently returned from overseas, have money to spend on the repair cost, but I want to try this myself so I can expand my knowledge. And if it turns out I cant do it, I'll bite the bullet and have the mechanic finish it.

So there it is, into the proverbial shark tank. Please comment, give me your advice, warnings, ideas, anything.

If and when I do this I will definitely take pictures and document so I can post a proper how-to later. Thanks.

-Matt

heel2toe

iTrader: (41)

I do not see the benefit to leaving the manifolds attached to the head. The exhaust manifold is a piece of cake to get out so just remove it. As for the intake manifold the bolts are tricky to get to however you are better off removing them and and leaving the intake manifold in the engine bay that way you dont have to mess with all the sensors vacuum lines etc.

4doorstreetbike

What who told you a oil leaks are head gasket problems..

scout113

iTrader: (3)

Originally, I thought the issue might be a leak in the oil feed line for the turbo. However when I brought it to the dealer, their evo tech said small leak coming from the headgasket. Additionaly, after running the vehicle, you can see small traces where oil is escaping between the head and block on the front right corner of the engine.

The reasoning behind not removing the header and instead disconnecting the header from the turbo is a fewer number of nuts/bolts to remove as well as the fact that the bolts/nuts on the exhaust header are all rusted(stock header) and the bolts/nuts on the turbo hotside should be easier to remove. But yes, we will probably just disconnect the intake manifold and leave it in the engine bay.

white8

iTrader: (14)

The exhaust manifold bolts come off suprizingly easy! reason for the starter haven to be taken off is because u need to remove 2 bolts out of the oil return line coming from the turbo. one of them is accessable but the other one isnt unless you have freakishly small hands. i strongly advise taking the radiator out so that u dont mess it up or put a hole in it from removing the manifold/turbo once you have the oil return bolts out the unbolt the turbo from the block and you should beable to pull the manifold back far enough to get the head off hope this helps...

scout113

iTrader: (3)

Would you recommend soaking the header bolts in like PB Blaster or something first? The header has never been removed before and the bolts are rusted on there, I just dont want to run into issues with that.

As far as the starter and oil return line goes, is the return line attached in anyway to the head or anything else I'm trying to remove? Is is it just to allow you to unbolt the turbo from the block? My thinking is that if I unbolt the header from the turbo hotside, all I'll have to go is lift up once the head is unbolted from the intake manifold and block. This would eliminate the need to remove the starter, oil return line, unbolting the turbo, and obviously worrying about the header bolts.

Thanks for the input White.

evoracing

iTrader: (6)

Do you guys know where to get the headstud tool?

06EvoIXmr07

iTrader: (22)

Is taking the starter off only for the VIII's because i removed my oil return with out removing the starter.

heel2toe

iTrader: (41)

Removing the header bolts should not be an issue if you are patient. Soak the nuts with some pb blaster/ penitration oil of choice. You will only need to remove the oil feed line connected to the head. Slip out the exhaust manifold leaving the turbo in. Then leave the intake manifold in there.

javicracer

iTrader: (82)

this sound fishy, first of all if your car is not overheating, is most likelly you dont have a blown head gasket.

javicracer

iTrader: (82)

it will be easy if you remove the exh mani, then you can remove the intake mani once the head is off the car. Make sure you use a straight edge on the block so you can check if the deck is warp. Also resurface the face of the head before installing it back in the car.

evoracing

iTrader: (6)

Hey man do you mind making this more of a step by step...I will be doing this soon and I'm not exactly sure how. Dealership charged entirely to much so I want to try this myself.

white8

iTrader: (14)

NP! I like helpin out...I just removed my manifold with 75,500 miles rusty as hell with the stock turbo and this stuff has never been touched! the exhaust manifold bolts are the easiest. those 4 bolts on top of the maifold will break off inside the turbo so i dont advise messing with those with that kind of mileage. the two bolts on the radiaor side snapped off inside my stocker turbo when i was replacing it with an fp black 2 days ago luckily i dont need that turbo anymore. and yea you have to remove the oil return line but i was thinking if u want to just drain the oil to make it ewasier u could disconect the return line off of tghe drain pan so u dont have to remove starter to remove it from the turbo... thats what i would do otherwise you'll run into other problems if u tyr to take shortcuts

white8

iTrader: (14)

well i know the evo 9 turbos have a little different set up so i'm not sure but the starter only took about 30 seconds and some muscle to remove so it was worth it then to waste time finding a better idea to get to the bolt.

scout113

iTrader: (3)

Thanks again White. Now with removing the starter is that to give you access to the part of the oil line bolted to the head or to the turbo or both? The picture isn't too clear in the manual.


Thanks for all the information so far guys. From the sounds of it here is what is sounding like the best plan of action.

-following all my prior steps listed at beginning
-removal of valve cover
-unbolt the exhaust manifold from head
-unbolt oil line from head(remove starter if necessary)
-unbolt intake manifold
-remove head and clean it

Obviously there will be some extra steps in there as there always are.

As for the guys asking if it is even a headgasket leak. Like I said you can see where there are trace amounts of oil coming out of the front right corner where the head and block are connected, located near the turbo.

One other thing I forgot to mention is that before I remove anything major, I'm going to check the torque on the headstuds. Am I wrong in assuming that if the aren't tight enough there is a small chance that the head is lifting up enough to let out oil? Because I dont think the car leaks when its not being run.

Think about this, I beat the hell out of my car so if I park it somewhere after driving I might see a single drop or two, but if I park the car somewhere for a day or two, Ill usually only see a few extra. Leads me to believe that if the gasket doesn't have a small leak, that my hard driving is causing a slight head lift, which leaks oil and stops leaking when the car is off. Ok, done ranting. Thanks again guys.