Saturn Forum - Saturn Enthusiasts Forums - 96 saturn sl2 cylinder head removal

Quote:

Originally Posted by baku342 (Post 22323)

thank you but can you or anyone else see anything I've missed? I've taken everyone's advice and removed everything i know i should have. Even the guy at the Saturn dealership said if i removed everything i said i did it should've just come off. I'm at a complete and total loss here, i've removed the valve cover, timing chain, exhaust manifold, fuel rails and lines, throttle bottle cable, power steering pump, passenger side engine mount, head bolts, and several other bolts that probably weren't necessary but i removed them anyway just b/c they looked like they might have been holding the head on. Can anyone think of anything i have missed, or can anyone deduce anything from the pictures in the link posted above?

Baku342,
I can tell you one thing for sure, after looking at your pics, that front timing cover is definitely one reason you can't lift the head off. I have a 2000 1.9L DOHC and my timing cover was pretty much cemented onto the block. A lot of careful putty knife action to break the seal all the way to the bottom. Don't forget to putty knife the pan seal also. You'll need to remove the right tire and inner splash guards to gain access to the crank damper which will have to be removed in order to get the timing cover off. If you don't have a strap wrench to hold the damper while you break the torque on the crank bolt, I ended up using a Ford wrench to grab one of the spokes with a short piece of pipe extending the Ford handle and braced up against the suspension while using an adjustable wrench grabbing the Ford wrench near the jaws for stabily while using a 1/2 in breaker to break the bolt loose. Have a friend hold the adjustable/Ford combo while you focus on breaking the crank bolt loose. Just look up timing cover removal in your manual (I assume you're using one) as there are other things to disconnect in order to get it off. Another attachment point that eluded me at first was at the bottom of the intake manifold behind the engine. There was one bolt which attached the base of the intake to a bracket attached to the base of the block. You need to check for anything attached between the head/intake and the block. Hope this helps. Good luck.

Scott