Engine and Transmission Assembly Removal for Head Gasket Replacement

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KuroNekko
Posts: 5170
Joined: Wed Aug 15, 2012 5:08 pm
Location: California, USA

LPSISRL wrote:I didn't get the impression you are a pro mechanic so I'm in awe of your guts and technical ability. Even if you are, I'm still in awe.
I want to second this. This is very impressive, especially given that most people, including many car enthusiasts, would give up and junk their cars at this point. With an orphaned car like the Suzuki Kizashi with over 100,000 miles, most people would just shrug at a blown head gasket and get another car. Tackling this head-on (literally, in the sense of the engine) is impressive. I think a lot of us enjoy seeing the internals of the J24B that most would otherwise never see.

Best of luck with this repair project and we're all rooting for the resurrection of the Kizashi.
2011 Suzuki Kizashi Sport GTS 6MT (Black)
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Ronzuki
Posts: 2382
Joined: Wed Nov 17, 2010 5:33 pm
Location: Lancaster County, PA

licenseTOill....

How's your repair coming along? Any news good or otherwise?
Ron

2010 Kizashi GTS, CVT, iAWD (3/10 build date)
2011 SX4 Premium Hatch, CVT, iAWD (12/10 build date)
2018 Mazda CX-5 iAWD Touring
2014 Wrangler JKUW (GONE, traded :D :D )
1991 Samurai, 5-Speed, EFI, Soft-Top ( :| sold)
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licenseTOill
Posts: 39
Joined: Tue Apr 29, 2014 1:08 pm
Location: Wisconsin

It's progressing again. I've been balancing working on the white car and the black one. I took the engine off of the transmission and took it to the machine shop to verify flatness. They measured the block to be within 1.5 thou and the head was out by 9 thou. I decided to have them clean, machine, and vacuum check the head. They ended up taking 10 thou off. So it's on the way back together. I'll have it done soon and we'll see how it runs.

If you're separating the engine: Remove the starter, alternator, grounding wires, and bolts around the transmission/block.
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I broke this bracket that is fastened to the engine block and transfer case, near the passenger side axle. I've been having a hell of a time finding a replacement. It seemed to break very easily. Still working on getting a replacement.
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Here is a shot of the transmission with the engine removed. You can see all the bolts sticking out that I had to remove. They are different lengths so pay attention to where they go back into place.
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Here is a shot of the head that was resurfaced. In the lower right, its says 010 indicating 10 thousandths was taken off.
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The two dowel pins are reinstalled and the new head gasket is placed. There is a right and wrong way to put on the head gasket. It needs to go on as shown in this photo or the photo in the service manual.
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I could not find replacement head bolts so I checked for deformation per the service manual. All checked out OK and I reinstalled them. The torque spec on in the service manual calls for degrees of rotation so I had to buy an angle torque wheel to finish torquing the bolts. I think it was 15lb lb ft -> 29.5 lb ft -> 60 degrees -> 80 degrees.
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II have to clean up the old silicon gasket remnants and then can finish reassembly.
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2012 Kizashi SLS AWD - Pearl Black
--HID low beams.
1995 Mitsubishi 3000GT Twin Turbo - Pearl White
--ATX to MTX
--NA to TT
Joe Nag
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licenseTOill
Posts: 39
Joined: Tue Apr 29, 2014 1:08 pm
Location: Wisconsin

Just a couple other key points here on engine assembly.

Apply lubrication to all the rotating parts that come into contact with each other. I had some assembly lube left over from a turbo rebuild so I am using it but I have also just used new, clean engine oil as well. Apply it to all the cam journals, the bearing, the outside and inside of the tappets, and onto the cam surface before the cam caps get put in place. Don't apply oil or lube to the bottom side of the cam bearing. That should be installed free of any oil on the bottom. Also lubricate the cam cap bolt threads with oil before torquing them, just like you did with the head bolts.

For cleaning up old RTV gasket material, I like to use razor blades and Exacto knives to lightly scrape away the old material. Then I finish up with Brake Kleen on a rag to wipe the rest away.

I found that bracket I broke too. Emailed everyone on eBay that was selling a transfer case from a crashed car to see if they still had the bracket attached to the T-case or the block. Out of the 20 placed I asked, I was able to find 1 for $45 so don't break it like I did! Another resource for parts is car-part.com It's a massive junkyard search.
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2012 Kizashi SLS AWD - Pearl Black
--HID low beams.
1995 Mitsubishi 3000GT Twin Turbo - Pearl White
--ATX to MTX
--NA to TT
Joe Nag
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Ronzuki
Posts: 2382
Joined: Wed Nov 17, 2010 5:33 pm
Location: Lancaster County, PA

Awesome work. Can't find new head Bolts, seriously? Hope that's not a sign of the future. Curious if you tried a Suzuki service/parts location?

I've found many ancient parts from yards on Car-parts.com. Never wasn't able to find what I needed. Even a complete power steering reservoir, and hoses from a 25+ year old '81 Celica. Called the yard that listed the PS box I needed for my Samurai and they still had the entire car to harvest the hoses and reservoir from which I also needed.
Ron

2010 Kizashi GTS, CVT, iAWD (3/10 build date)
2011 SX4 Premium Hatch, CVT, iAWD (12/10 build date)
2018 Mazda CX-5 iAWD Touring
2014 Wrangler JKUW (GONE, traded :D :D )
1991 Samurai, 5-Speed, EFI, Soft-Top ( :| sold)
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LPSISRL
Posts: 991
Joined: Tue Jun 18, 2013 12:49 pm
Location: Chesapeake, Virginia

I did some searching and found some head bolt sets. They were $999.99. They must manufacture them to order including digging up the ore and smelting.

Update: Don't know if it's too late but I did find this:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/compa ... B00L2NSK6A

And this:
https://www.megazip.net/zapchasti-dlya/ ... 1778K00000
2011 Kizashi SLS CVT (silver)
2005 Honda Odyssey
Priors:
2009 Suzuki SX4 Cross AWD 5-speed Tech package (vapor metallic blue)
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licenseTOill
Posts: 39
Joined: Tue Apr 29, 2014 1:08 pm
Location: Wisconsin

I guess I should say I didn't find any head bolts for a reasonable price. I didn't check any Suzuki service centers. The one I used to deal with was a Mitsubishi/Suzuki dealer that is now closed and I had a bad experience with the nearest one to me when I was having them quote my head gasket repair. I had to bird-dog them twice a week for 3 weeks before they finally quoted me $2,500 for the repair. That last link for $16 each seems a little high but not bad. If mine were out of spec I would have replaced them.

There are blue links in the timing chain that line up with the timing marks on the cam sprockets and the crank sprocket. I installed the chain, then the black chain slide, then the chain guide with the orange piece. The slack in the chain between the gears is taken up after the tensioner is installed. I had to manually turn the sprocket a little to take up the slack too.
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Rotate the tensioner piston clockwise and push in at the same time to retract the piston into the bore so that a drill bit can be inserted to retain the piston until it is installed.
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Here is the tensioner installed. The pin/bit can be removed when the chain is properly aligned, the guides are installed, and all the bolts are torqued.
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This is the timing cover cleaned up and ready to have sealant applied. I applied it to the left and right edges and around the bolt hole to the right of the rubber gasket near the top of the photo, per the service manual. I also applied it to the bottom where it mates to the oil pan as well. The sealant needs to go to the inside of all the bolt holes, not closer to the outside of the cover. I used the "right stuff" just like any black RTV sealant.
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This just shows the crank pulley mates with the front main seal. So clean off this surface and apply oil before pushing it onto the shaft and into the seal.
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This is probably the last update I have with photos. The engine and transmission are back together in the cradle now and it's ready to go back into the car. I'll update you all when I get it buttoned up and have a few miles on it.
2012 Kizashi SLS AWD - Pearl Black
--HID low beams.
1995 Mitsubishi 3000GT Twin Turbo - Pearl White
--ATX to MTX
--NA to TT
Joe Nag
User avatar
Ronzuki
Posts: 2382
Joined: Wed Nov 17, 2010 5:33 pm
Location: Lancaster County, PA

great pics...THANKS AGAIN.
Ron

2010 Kizashi GTS, CVT, iAWD (3/10 build date)
2011 SX4 Premium Hatch, CVT, iAWD (12/10 build date)
2018 Mazda CX-5 iAWD Touring
2014 Wrangler JKUW (GONE, traded :D :D )
1991 Samurai, 5-Speed, EFI, Soft-Top ( :| sold)
bdleonard
Posts: 268
Joined: Mon Apr 22, 2013 4:39 am

If the correct Suzuki part number for the head bolt is 11117-78K00, monsterfactoryparts.com (an online dealer) currently shows an MSRP of $7.58 each and a current price of $6.05 each plus shipping.
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ProMarinero
Posts: 37
Joined: Tue Jul 10, 2012 2:35 pm

This is excellent! I'm going to use these when I pull my trans.
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