Passenger side head removal tips

[martym00se72]

Hi Folks,
It has come time to replace the timing belt, and in doing so, I have the incentive to address the oil leak from the passenger side head from when I put it together. And there is my problem – what do I need to do to remove the passenger side head without pulling the engine from the engine compartment? With the brake master and booster in the way, are there any special tricks that allow the removal of the head and replacement of the head gasket without excessive effort?

On the plus side of the oil leak – the underside of my car isn't likely to rust in a hurry 
Cheers
Marty

PS - any tips on what to do to ensure I don't get a repeat leak? I suspect I got a tiny bit of gunk somewhere, despite my best efforts, and re-torquing the heads didn't help either - so I have lived with a leak.

[bazzbazz]

Have you checked to make sure it IS coming from the head to block mating surface and not form the Cam cover?

[poohbah]

Definitely check the cam cover gasket - I had a similar seepage on mine, that was fixed with replacement cover gasket.

Bazz - supplementary question. Does the short tube that holds the dipstick screw in? Mine seems to be a little loose.

[bazzbazz]

Bazz - supplementary question. Does the short tube that holds the dipstick screw in? Mine seems to be a little loose.

Which engine?

[poohbah]

Sorry Bazz - standard 2.0L Nord

[bazzbazz]

In the case of a GTV6 you can move the booster out of the way to remove the head, four nuts need to be removed three of them are easy the forth is behind the glove box under the dash,you can drill a hole in the top of the glove box from the inside and use a 1/4 drive ratchet with a 60 mm extension and a 13 mm socket to undo the nut from inside the glove box.
This saves heaps of time and is easy to do

In the RAAF we call that "Lateral Thinking".   

[bazzbazz]

Sorry Bazz - standard 2.0L Nord

Won't lie, can't remember without one in front of me. (These days I'm lucky I can remember my own name when I wake up in the morning) 

[poohbah]

No problem Bazz. Can't find any pics of them online - appear to be quite different to the ones on older 2.0L motors which have a much longer tube. Will just fiddle around with it a bit and see what happens. My main concern is oil leaking from where the tube sits in the block if it's too loose.

[martym00se72]

Thanks again Glen for coming to the rescue! So my main question on this is how do you drill the hole in the glove box? and how do you know where to drill? Obviously don't want to destroy the glove box but a carefully placed hole can be lived with...

I have most certainly checked the cam cover - zero leakage - definitely weeping from the head gasket area towards the back of the block...

[bazzbazz]

So which bolt is it that we are trying to undo to get the head off?

[martym00se72]

This is to remove the brake booster to allow for the head to come off.