Hey everyone,

Have a 2002 3.0 with 186k on it. Just did an upper engine rebuild a couple months ago (new valves, gaskets, seals, and DS head). Changed my oil a couple weeks ago and it was 50% coolant. I have bubbling in the reservoir, white smoke on startup, etc

I believe the leak is on the passenger side. My question is, can I replace the passenger side head gasket without removing everything on the driver's side? Or will I need to remove the lower air intake?

If I do have to remove the throttle body, air intake, etc., then do I need to replace all those gaskets again? What gaskets will need replaced and which ones can I reuse?

Thanks for the help!

 

You do have to remove all the way down to lower intake and then remove lower intake
Those gaskets can be reused IF...........they look OK, no tears
Lower intake does have 4 coolant passages at the 4 corners, check those for possible leak points

Before draining coolant pull out all 6 spark plugs and crank engine over, should be obvious which cylinder(s) is spitting out coolant
Also spark plug tip will be bright white from "steam cleaning", lol


You will need new head bolts for that side and a new head gasket neither can be reused
Head bolts are TTY so once installed(tightened) and then loosened(removed) they will be brittle and will break if reinstalled or will break at some point down the road, truly not worth the risk

 

these were $17 when I got them a few weeks ago?

 

I talked to AutoZone about it and they're gonna give me new head bolts and a new gasket for free. As for the rest of the gaskets they said they'll give me a hefty discount on a new pack.