[who_pizza]

Well my head gasket is blown on my 91 station wagon. I figure it's not worth the value of the car to fix at a mechanic but I was considering trying to replace it myself. Does anyone here know a good direction to start in or a source of information?

 

[Escort92Man]

prolly start with obtaining a repair manual, it really is not that hard to do a head gasket on these cars, you got the 1.9 in it so those aren't too bad, you just gotta take the timing belt off, alternator bracket and all that, coolant lines etc, take all that off, just take the throttle cable off, wiring harness for the injectors, disconnect the fuel hoses at the rail, and you can take the head off and then with the head out it's easy to take the intake off when outta the car.

start with getting a repair manual, I personally like the haynes manuals myself, follow the instructions of that and you can do it!

 

[who_pizza]

that is very encouraging thank you. Which manual do I need to get the Haynes 91-00 escort/tracer? I also see Chilton's Ford :Ford Escort and Mercury Lynx 1981-95 and Escort/Tracer 91-99. Would any of those include the station wagon?

 

[olesenator]

it doesnt matter that it's a station wagon, the front end is the exact same as other escorts with the 1.9 of the same year.

 

[who_pizza]

ok great that's good to know. I found a manual on autozone.com and it seems like it explains everything I need to know. the only question I have remaining is when it is explaining how to reconnect everything a lot of the time it says to tighten the bolts to 23-34 ft. lbs. (31-46 Nm) or some variation. I was just wondering exactly what that means and how do I gauge that?

 

[olesenator]

get yourself a good torque wrench. it has a gauge on it that tells you much pressure youre puttin on the bolts. too much and you could snap them, not enough and stuff falls apart. youre looking at about 40-60$ for one. a very useful tool.

 

[who_pizza]

thanks so much for the help so far. I'm having a little confusion at this part in the instructions
after disconnecting the hoses drive belt alternator etc. and prior to removing the timing belt it tells me to

16. Raise and safely support the vehicle.

disconnect or remove a few more things then

20. On 1991 models, perform the following steps:
Place a block of wood on a hydraulic jack and support the weight of the engine with the jack.

Remove the passenger side engine mount. Unfasten the right-hand engine mount bolt and roll the mount out of the way

21. Lower the vehicle.

So does that mean the engine is going to be loose just supported by the jack and block of wood when I lower the car? If anyone could clarify a bit I would be very appreciative

 

[olesenator]

yessir, im pretty sure this is to provide easier access to the engine and the mounts have to be removed to take the timing belt off

 

[EscorGo]

ok great that's good to know. I found a manual on autozone.com and it seems like it explains everything I need to know. the only question I have remaining is when it is explaining how to reconnect everything a lot of the time it says to tighten the bolts to 23-34 ft. lbs. (31-46 Nm) or some variation. I was just wondering exactly what that means and how do I gauge that?

It's called a torque wrench. Are you sure you want to tackle this job alone? There's no real room for error. Timing has to be set properly, gaskets installed correctly, everything torqued properly. I admire your willingness but read and understand before you actually do the steps. It's a lot about "why" and not only "how".

The head has stretch bolts that have a very precise torque process. You can do it with a torque wrench alone but an angle (degree) tool will make it easier.

 

[juggalo]

just to let u know, i have a chiltons manual(made by haynes) and apparently there's a lot of missing info. dave94lx says the manuals on ebay r way better than chiltons or haynes.

 

[olesenator]

hey who pizza, where are you located??