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i would not recommend undertaking the head gasket if you've never done it before. take it ot a dealership or buy a Toyota...

First, make darn sure that you need them. The more common failure is the intake manifold gaskets on the lower half of the intake. They are made of plastic with an oring insert and are basically good for 60000 miles if your'e lucky. They make the car puff steam, boil over and get hot, leak coolant, and can easily fool you into thinking the head gaskets are blown. Look down on the transmission end, and you should see antifreeze pooling up or residue and trails of where it has been running out. Make sure you keep the pushrods in order, and put them back where they were. The top of the intake gasket has guides for the pushrods to lay on, so they have to be removed for the gasket to lift out. This sounds really awful, but its not that bad once you've done a couple. I can strip one down and have it running by lunch if I try really hard and keep everything clean. If it takes a while, or if you spend a while cleaning parts, the lifters will bleed down and when you first crank it, it will sound like there is no compression. It will start up and miss, then smooth out once they pump up again. You may have to clear a misfire code, but most of the time, it smoothes out fast enough to not set it. I often leave the little evap control valve unplugged by mistake, which is on the back of the coil pack. Then you get an evap control code instead. Change the plugs and wires while doing this job, its really easy with the intake off to reach the back three.

From personal experience..its a pain in the butt. In general its simple to take the engine to the heads..my first time it only took me four hours to take it down to the valley. I couldn't get the heads off because i have an engine mount in my way. And if you do... Well you have to take the compressor off to reach one of the bolts in the engine mount to get the head off. If it wearnt for that it wouldn't of taken me so long to finish the job. And as the above person said... label EVERYTHING!

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8y ago
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Q: How hard would it be to replace the headgasket of a 1990 Chevy Lumina 3.1L if you've never done it before?
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