Head Gasket DIY

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Luceone

New member
Joined
Jul 9, 2012
Messages
34
Wow, these 1.7 zetecs are a pain.

Bought a 1.7 Puma R as a project. She needed a cam belt change, so that was done, and we fitted a new belt tensioner which we were assured would work just fine and was just a newer style. Turns out we were b/s-ed and when we flicked the engine over to check she was all fixed we lost the clyliner number 1 outlet valves.
So now with the correct parts and some extras we are taking the head off but have come across a couple of small issues so far:
1. The bolts holding the exhaust heat sheild on are 12 years rusted and a couple are pre-rounded where a previous owner has attempted to remove them -_- so they will need some work to get off.
2. The second issue we have come across is that Ford have been a real pain with the inlet cam, where you need a T-55 TX drive to remove the seal, and then (we believe) an E-18 TX socket in order to loosen the pulley enough to remove the cam.

The main reason for posting is to ask anyone in the know what we should be looking out for at this point. Any tips on regaining the timing would be so very useful as we have not played with a twin cammed engine before and know that the puma 1.7 can be a pain.
Also, damage-wise we have noticed that the cylinder 1 exhaust valve tops (not sure what to call them, but they are silver cylinders which sit underneath the cams) are portruding more so than the other three cyliners.

Any help/tips would be much appreciated, and please, don't post if all you are going to do is moan that we didn't just take her to a Ford dealer to get sorted. We live on an island, which makes it an estimated £900 to get fixed, which we are not prepared to pay.

Thanks!

L1
 
There are a few threads with good advice on timing up the 1.7, but ill give you some tips that you might find useful. First off though, the cam followers (the little buckets that the cams push down), can not protrude further then the others if the cam is fitted, unless the cam lobes are pushing the others down. If an exhaust valve is bent/damaged, it would only sit lower, not higher then others, so might just be the way the cam is holding some of the other valves open a little. The only way this could happen is if the little collets that hold the valve in the spring have come out, in which case, youd get no compression on that cylinder, because the valves wouldnt shut.

First off, id reccomend you put the cams in the right position for TDC, and take a picture for future reference, they will fit in upside down, its fine if you put them both in upside down, but if one is the right way and one is not, your engine will seem to be timed up properly, but will never start! Youve already got far enough to realise you cant get to the head bolts without removing cams, dont remove cams from one end working your way to the other, you can damage them like that, the valve springs can put a lot of pressure on the cam, and damage the journals at the opposite end. Theres a sequence for removing, and a sequence for tightening.

Take out spark plugs, not 100% neciserry, but makes it a lot esier to turn the crank
When timing the 1.7, i always tighten the crank pulley 1st. (thats assuming youve already fitted new belt)
Rotate the engine CLOCKWISE only when timing it up.
Put all pistons to roughly 90 degrees before TDC so they are all about half way up the bore (this prevents contact from valves if you have to rotate cams)
Fit cams with pulleys and fix in place using correct tightening sequence, try to fit close to the correct position, dont tighten pulleys, make sure they spin freely
Once cams are fitted, you fit the belt over them and release tensioner spring
Fit crank locking pin, and rotate engine clockwise until crank hits the pin
When it does, tighten the cam pulleys, i always do the exhaust cam 1st, but it really makes no difference
Remove crank locking pin and cam locking tool, and rotate the crank around 300 degrees clockwise
Re-insert crank locking pin, and rotate the enging clockwise again until it hits the pin.
Then see if you can re-insert the cam locking tool without having to move cams. If you can, then check youve tightened all pulley bolts correctly, and put the lot back together.
If you cant insert the cam locking tool, then loosen the cam pulleys again, or just the cam pulley of the cam that the tool wouldnt fit in, then and re time.

Make sure you refit the cam seals correctly as youll have to re do it all if they leak, the same goes for the crank seal, worth changing for piece of mind. I also put some instant gasket on the rocker cover seal as its well known to leak oil.

Im not sure how much you already know, if your experienced then you prabably already know a lot of that, so just pick out any info that might be useful.
 
Thank you for the detailed information, it is much much more than I was expecting! :)

Your feedback has given us a bit of hope that the valves might not be damaged after all!... but my mind won't rest until I get the head off and can see it for myself.

Our main problem has been acquiring the correct tools for the job - in particular for removing the head, so I can't use any of this information until we have the head off :/

If you have any advice/links regarding purchasing the correct tools we would be very grateful. We are finding now that after we have bought a set of TX Star drives, their bases are too large to fit in the gaps between the valves :(

Just to clarify regarding the experience side - Me and my friend used to do karting so have a fairly good base knowledge of mechanics - we are certainly not afraid to get stuck in and tinker about to see how everything works! :p We have been re-doing the engine on the Puma as a kind of "Summer project" before we start our Engineering Degrees at the end of the month just to give us more experience and to learn new things (another reason why I don't really want to just give it to a garage to sort out)... regardless of the outcome being good or bad - it is still something I can learn from :).. though, hopefully it will be a positive outcome!

We have done a head-gasket replacement on a Fiat Punto, though that was an 8 Valve engine and a lot less complicated! Any advice/information is greatly appreciated, feel free to explain in great detail and anything I don't understand, I'll flag up.

Again thank you for the help :)
 
You can use the timing kit from any 1.25, 1.4, 1.6 or 1.7 zetec se (also known as sigma), also any duratec 1.25, 1.4, 1.6 engine (essentially the same engine as zetec se), and the later duratec 1.8, 2.0 and 2.3 engines found in the mondeo mk3, focus mk2, C-Max, Fusion, mazda 6, mazda 3, galaxy, and ranger (not the ST170 or Focus RS or V6 Duratec varients). There are probably enough, there to go off, but i might have missed some off. There are also timing kits with 2 or 3 pins in that will do all the ford range of engines, if thats the one you get, then its usually the shortest pin.

Heres a few links for reference
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Ford-Fiesta-Zetec-Camshaft-Timing-Locking-Kit-/360421048148?pt=UK_Hand_Tools_Equipment&hash=item53eac4bf54" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/FRANKLIN-TA4301-DURATEC-PETROL-TIMING-TOOL-KIT-/180972468339?pt=UK_Hand_Tools_Equipment&hash=item2a22ccb873" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/FORD-MAZDA-1-25-to-2-0-16V-DURATEC-ENGINE-TIMING-CRANK-LOCKING-TOOL-SET-/360458614050?pt=UK_Hand_Tools_Equipment&hash=item53ed01f522" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

This is the type of bit i use for head bolts

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Draper-31382-Expert-T55-X-140mm-Tx-Star-1-2-Square-Drive-Socket-Bit-/370588932563?pt=UK_Hand_Tools_Equipment&hash=item5648d259d3" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Never had any issues getting in with it

I think i did my inlet cam pulley bolt with a normal 6 point 1/2" or 13mm socket, just make sure its a 6 point and not 12 point, if youve got a proper female tx bit then thats better, but if not, it will save you waiting to get more tools!

Another important thing that you might find useful for future reference is if you do take the cam followers/buckets out, MAKE SURE you remember what order they went in, they have little shims fixed in, and they will make the engine noisy if you put them back in a different order. If you take the cams out, and put the head upside down on a bench, some will fall out, so either put some tape across the tops to stop them falling out, or take them out and put them in order, making sure you know which is inlet side and which is exhaust. The same goes for valves, make sure if you remove valves that they go back in the same place. The springs dont matter where they go. If one of your valves has bent, you might find when you look at the head, that cylinder is cleaner then others, the unburned fuel passing through will clean the carbon deposits, so straight away, you will notice where the issue is if there is one.

Remember to put the camshaft oil seals back in, i was in a hurry once to try a new set of cams, and forgot the seals. On first crank of the engine, oil went everywhere, and i had to change the whole belt again as it was drenched with oil!! :oops: Its worth replacing the camshaft oil seals, they are relatively cheap, and can save you a lot of hassle in future.
 

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