head gasket

[Horst]

So far everything looks very repairable to me and the rust would not concern me a lot. However, if you need to buy parts for the transmission, you will quickly find out that they are relative expensive. As soon as you need any gears, it will be no longer financially feasible and you will be better of getting a good take-out transmission or rebuild one and just do the typical sealing jobs on one those.

If you want to disassemble the transmission, obviously follow the book.
Transfer:
Removing the transfer is straight forward and disassembling it is very simple. Separate the two housings with the transmission in a level position. This way the roller needles will not drop all over your workshop. To further disassemble the transfer you will need to press out the immediate shaft to do so. However, in most cases, even slight tapping with a hammer will drive out the shaft without problems. You will want to replace the seal at the emergency brake drum and also I would recommend to replace the needle bearing behind it. This bearing is cheap to get. There is a replacement kit for the immediate shaft plus all the rollers, sometimes still at a reasonable cost. I would measure however the rollers and the shaft if there is no obvious wear on the shaft. Another wear item in the transfer is the thrust washer behind the immediate gear. Two rivets hold that washer in place. In case you change the washer, follow the instructions and use sealer at these two rivets otherwise your transfer will leak there. Might be in all cases a good idea to put fresh sealer at the outside of the housing. I use black silicone for this purpose.

Transmission:
The disassemble the trans, you will need to drop the idler gear into the transmission housing. Only then you can remove the gears with all the syncros. Have a plan to drop the idler gear with all the rollers in place otherwise it will be hard to reassemble. The book shows you the correct tools to do so, but basically it is just two pipes in the right diameters and lengths.

[mallard]

Thanks Horst,

I've been going through all of the manuals and in looking at the -34P it looks like the snap ring that I found is the PN 7059127 based on the size of the ring. I can only find 2 of this size used on the transmission. on is on the rear output bearing, the other is towards the front of the main shaft. so I'm going to look tonight and see if both of these are present. also I talked to the old owner of the jeep and he said that the lower output seals had been changed in the past as well as the rear output bearing. is it possible that when the rear output bearing failed that this snap ring was left in there and just has been happily riding on the 4x4 shifter fork? the only reason I could see this is that the transfer case and top cover both had red RTV on them for gaskets. the small square cover on the side where I found the snap ring still had the original gasket so it has never been removed so it very easily could have been missed. any thoughts?

[mallard]

My oil strainer and new oil pan gasket came in today so I'm going to try and get them put back on tonight. Just to make sure I don't mess up,

perm # 3 on both sides of oil pan gasket,what about the rubber front and rear oil pan?

Also where the strainer bolts up there is a paper gasket, should this be left dry or perm #3. Just wondering since it's submerged in oil?

Thanks for all of the help so far.

[rickf]

Just got back from the Virginia rally so I am just seeing this. I am guessing you have already done this but yes on the pan gasket. No sealer on the rubber gaskets. The oil pump strainer is a judgement call. I would seal it for good measure. Can't hurt.
Technically most of these gaskets would have been installed dry back in their time. That is why they tended to leak shortly afterwards. This was not that big of an issue back then since oil was added on a regular basis and oil spots on the road were normal. That was then and this is now. Technology has advanced and we might as well follow suit. Oil is a bit more expensive now and people frown on oil spots.

[mallard]

Thanks Rick, I was busy all weekend and not able to get it together yet so hopefully tonight I can get it going.

[mallard]

well i got the strainer and the oil pan back on so hopefully it sealed up good. now back to my original issue, the head gasket! is getting the head off just

- pulling the valve cover off
- taking the 10 head bolts out
- then taking the old head gasket off
- cleaning both surfaces
- checking the head with a straight edge
- rethreading all the holes
- putting in the new head gasket after spraying both sides of it with the permatex copper sealant
- torque down all head bolts

thanks agian for all of the help and Rick I hope you had a good time at the VA rally.

[rickf]

One more step you missed although I tend to not do it on these motors is to check the block deck with the straight edge. Most of the time a head gasket goes on these because a head bolt was not tightened correctly way back whenever. These are metal head gaskets, after it is run a time or two you should retorque the head. I usually run it for a 1/2 hour or so and then let it cool and torque it again and then button it up. BE SURE TO RESET THE VALVES!!!! A lot of people forget this step. Any time the head is removed and put back the valve settings will be off.

[mallard]

Thanks for the help rick , I got the head taken off tonight. Is there a best way to clean the block and head surface, and also anything I should check before I put the head back on? Thanks again for the help

[rickf]

I use single edge razor blades for the cleaning. Do NOT use the 3M Scotch brite pads that go on a die grinder! They will introduce abrasive into the engine and wipe out the bearings in short order. There is a time and place to use those things, this is not it. As far as checking the head you can turn it so the intake and exhaust ports are facing up and pour a little gas in each one and see if it comes past the valve. A tiny bit of seepage is alright but any more than that would indicate a valve that is leaking. If that happens you can hand lap them in if you feel up to it or send the head out to a shop and have it done.
A note on hand lapping, there is a prescribed method to doing it and you can probably find it on the internet. You do not just put the grinding compound on there and spin the valve with a drill!!! I have seen people do that and I cringe every time.

[mallard]

got my head off and back on just fine, thanks for the help in making that go smoothly. the only question i have is on my push rods, from the front of the engine number 2 and 5 are higher than the rest. the adjustment screw is 75% of the way backed out when i am getting the valves close. it feels like they are on the lifter just fine. any thoughts? thanks.

[whiterabbit]

Are the caps on the tops of the valve stems? I can't recall off the top of my head but some of them have have stem caps.


GM actually sent out a letter telling their dealer mechanics to stop using those 3M scotch brite pads to clean gasket surfaces. Another reason not to own a Chevy!

[Horst]

The exhaust valves have caps.

[rickf]

It sounds like you got the valve caps on the intake valves instead of the exhaust valves. Are the high ones intakes? If so you should have two low exhaust valves.

[mallard]

here are a couple of pictures, it looks like it has to do with the lifters, i didn't take any part of the valves apart. it looks like 2 of the push rods are about 3/16 higher than the rest. i believe 1 is an intake and 1 exaust.

[rickf]

I see what you are doing! You are trying to adjust all of the valves at once. You cannot do that! You have to adjust the valves at TDC on each cylinder. There is a way of setting number one on TDC and the doing both on number one and one on each of two others but it is confusing and on an inline four cylinder it is just too easy to turn the motor a half turn for each cylinder in the firing order. #1, #3, #4, #2. Set the timing mark on the line for number one on the compression stroke, both valves closed. Set them and then turn the engine one half turn and do Number 3, half turn and do number 4, then number 2.