How to Remove a Head Gasket on a '94 Cavalier
- 1). Let your Cavalier sit overnight to assure the engine is cold when you start work. Detach the cable from the battery terminal. If your vehicle has fuel injection, you must release the pressure from the fuel system. Place a clean container under the radiator to drain the coolant -- you can reuse the coolant if it is still good. Take out the air cleaner housing.
- 2). Lift the Cavalier and support the vehicle with padded jack stands. Remove and detach the components situated near the engine block. Take off the exhaust shield and detach the exhaust pipe. Disengage the heater hose that connects to the intake manifold. Place the components near the vehicle, on the ground.
- 3). Write the name of each component on a label and tag the part. Remove the engine mounting bolts and engine brackets. Disconnect and take off the wires, hoses and assemblies, including the vacuum lines, air management pipe, distributor, accelerator linkage, upper radiator hose, idler pulley, power steering pump and the power steering belts.
- 4). Detach and seal the fuel system line at the carburetor. Lift the alternator (attached with its wires), alternator brace and top mounting brackets. Take off the rocker arm cover, pushrods and rocker arms.
- 5). Unscrew and take off the cylinder head bolts, in the opposite sequence of tightening. Throw away the old bolts. You must use new bolts when installing a new cylinder head and new gasket. Take the cylinder head out of the vehicle. Remove the old head gasket from the Cavalier. Wipe and thoroughly clean the surface mating of the gasket.
- 6). Remove the bolts from the cylinder head in a crisscross sequence in the opposite order of the installation. Begin with the bolts that are the farthest away and work your way to the middle of the cylinder head.
- 7). Look at the cylinder for worn and damaged areas and replace if necessary. Take off the old head gasket and clean the surface. Place a cover over the engine block to assure dirt, dust and foreign objects do not go in the engine. Line up the control lips and dowel pins. Put the control lips in place and position an O-ring.
- 8). Add a new head gasket with the identification numbers facing up. Position the camshaft and oiled camshaft. Tighten the bolts on the cylinder head and torque with a three-step procedure. Torque the retaining bolts to 65 foot-pounds, place a seal to the bottom edges of the half-round sections of the new head gasket belted side and position the valve cover. Torque the bolts in the correct sequence to 26 2.1 foot-pounds and tighten the bolts one through six again to 2.95 foot-pounds.
- 9). Replace all of the parts in the engine block in the reverse order. Refill the coolant. Reference a Mitsubishi service manual for the correct sequence and torque of the various Mitsubishi vehicles.