How do i change the head gasket in my 3sgte

[millsi]

well i thought i might tackle this myself. never done anything like it before. (doing valve shims in my roadbike is as far as ive gone) but want to give it a go.
couple of questions
1. do i need to remove the cams to get to the head bolts?
2. if i do is there a certain position that i need to have the cams in before i pull them out, and is there a certain order to undo the cam holders (the bike has numbers for each holder bolt)?
3. also what is the order to do up/undo head bolts?
4. will i need any special tools? (i will be buying a torque wrench)
5. where can i get the torque specs for cam bolts/head bolts etc.

any help would be appriciated. or if there is anyone in townsville who could give me a hand that would be great!

its a gen 2 3sgte and is fitted to a hilux 2wd.

i will be taking the head to a workshop to get it pressure tested and checked for straightness b4 it goes back on.

[SilverGhost]

well i thought i might tackle this myself. never done anything like it before. (doing valve shims in my roadbike is as far as ive gone) but want to give it a go.
couple of questions
1. do i need to remove the cams to get to the head bolts?

I managed to get them all out without needing to remove the cams. The heads on the bolts arent actually that big. You will need a 12mm star key adaptor (name?) for them.

2. if i do is there a certain position that i need to have the cams in before i pull them out,
and is there a certain order to undo the cam holders (the bike has numbers for each holder bolt)?

Its good practise to have the engine at 0 degrees TDC for cylinder 1 so you have a point of reference when putting it all back together again. There are key ways on the end of the cams for the gears, and marks on the gears themselves that should be matched up with the timing belt.

I believe the order for cam bolts is start in the top left hand corner and work your way around in a circle till your in the centre and re-do...the bolts should be undone in several stages i.e. a little bit at a time

3. also what is the order to do up/undo head bolts?

IIRC you start from the inside and work your way out to the corners. Again this needs to be done in atleast 3 stages to stop the head from warping. i.e. dont completely undo them all one at a time! There are 10 bolts in all. To be absolutely sure Lance has a link to the full BGB manual for the ST185 which contains the same motor.

4. will i need any special tools? (i will be buying a torque wrench)

The above mentioned star adaptor ( you will know what i mean as soon as you take the rocker cover off)
Tourque wrench definitely
Loctite/anti sieze for exhaust bolts
You can forgo the double jointed arms since your motor sounds like its mounted north-south but you will still need a good spanner set etc.

5. where can i get the torque specs for cam bolts/head bolts etc.

Again seek out Lance, the links in his Signature are a must for any 2nd Gen 3SGTE or ST 185 owner. Members search for '-==L=a=N=c=E==-' should do it

any help would be appriciated. or if there is anyone in townsville who could give me a hand that would be great!

Im in sydney, but you can PM me if you need any guidance. I have done this twice now

its a gen 2 3sgte and is fitted to a hilux 2wd.

i will be taking the head to a workshop to get it pressure tested and checked for straightness b4 it goes back on.

I hope this helps.

[Roundy]

a tool that might be useful is something like this http://www.arizonatools.com/detail/LIS36880

basically holds the cam sprockets at the particular timing u take the bet off at. so if you don't move the crankshaft u can just put it all back together easily

my mechanic has used it on my car (3 times...poor guy!)

[SilverGhost]

a tool that might be useful is something like this http://www.arizonatools.com/detail/LIS36880

basically holds the cam sprockets at the particular timing u take the bet off at. so if you don't move the crankshaft u can just put it all back together easily

my mechanic has used it on my car (3 times...poor guy!)

Gotta spread some round before repping you again If i knew about that tool it would have made my life easier hehe

[Roundy]

yeah it is a bit of a strange one as well...some poeple love it, but i have also heard of people that say it gets in the way either way my mechanic used it to great effect on my car, so must be ok for the 3S-GTE i guess!

[gearb0x]

Cable tie the timing belt to the cam gears worked find for me, the only thing you have to worry about then is the bottom gear

If you can get a workshop manual for your engine i strongly recomend it, they are pretty much "the idiots guide to..." your engine

[BeRad]

all been said but i woudlnt worry to much about gettin it all tdc before u remove the belt, theres marks for everythign to line it back up again.

if your going to use arp studs , the torque settings come with the studs. use those settings not the toyota specs.

if u use a 1/4 drive socket u might get away with taking the bolts out without taking out a cam. i had to take out a cam to get to one bolt. but i used a 1/2 drive socket. its not a big deal to take out the cam just a pain in the arse.

[-==L=a=N=c=E==-]

The BGB can be found in my webspace. Link is in my sig.

But if you don't want to go around and download a 20+MB file, then this file is related to head removal and replacement.
http://ugbox.net/~lance/GT4/Technica...der%20head.pdf

Handy Hints:
1) you can use a 6 spline hex drive to remove the head bolts... BUT IT IS NOT RECOMMENDED as you can round out the bolts, and then u'll be in trouble. You need a 12 spline hex (double hex drive) to remove them. I noticed you lived in QLD, if you live anywhere near ipswich or west brisbane, i can lend you mine for nothing. Heck i might even come out and help you do it

2) You must remove the bolts in the correct sequence, otherwise you have a good chance of cracking the head.

3) You don't need to remove the cams to remove the head, but it makes the job a hell of a lot more easier if you do it. The procedure to remove the cams is also in the above link.

4) Now is a good time to upgrade to ARP head studs

[millsi]

thanks lance thats great. im in townsville though which is a bit of a drive!
how much and where can i get arp head studs? also are they easy to fit?
cheers

[BeRad]

any performance shop , even repco etc will be able to get them in through rocket industries.....

[millsi]

sweet, i was going through them to get the cometic hg. just got to take the head somewhere to see if its straight and then make my choice on hg thickness. they come in 40 thou and 51 thou (51 for if the head needs machining).
i will take pics and do a step by step guide thingo.

[millsi]

rocket do the arp head stud kits for $197 + gst. does that seem reasonable?

[-==L=a=N=c=E==-]

rocket do the arp head stud kits for $197 + gst. does that seem reasonable?

yup thats time... you could also hit up terry at road and track. He might be able to cut you a deal with arp head studs and cometic head gasket....?

http://www.roadandtrack.net.au/
Tell him Richard sent ya.

[millsi]

sweet will give him a try.
im a bit confused in the head stud area. do i need a regular 12mm socket with the 12 ponits as opposed to 6 (i think all of mine are 12 anyway), or do i need a 12mm spline drive which is like a torx bit with more teeth. reason im asking now is i will prolly be doing it on sat or sun and no good tool shops are opens wekends up here so i need to get the tool side of things sorted beforhand.
1 more question. im buying a torque wrench but dont want to spend a fortune i need sumpn that will go as low as 10nm (for bike stuff) but not sure how high i need it to go. there are kinchrome ones for $110 that go from 4-80 ftlbs. will this be enough torque for most of the stuff i will be doing ie head studs?
also how do the new head studs attach? do they screw in or press in and how do i get the old ones out.
sorry for all the questions im just trying to arm myself with the most knowledge before i start.
cheers

[-==L=a=N=c=E==-]

you'll need a 12mm socket for the arp head studs, and you'll need a 12mm double hex spline drive (12 points) for the toyota head bolts.

You'll also need a tap kit to clean out the bores of the block for the arp studs.