I have today had my no1 cylinder on my ford focus blow out two exhaust valves in one journey and go onto three cylinders , so I can't tell you how happy i am to have come across this series of brilliant and excellent video's. A really good friend of mine is going to loan me a corner of his workshop to keep costs down for me and will keep a watching eye on me and talk me through the head removal and valve hopefully replacement. Fingers crossed ha ha My mate is like you a fantastic mechanic and will now be subscribing to your channel as well and scouring the back catalogue for some more gems. Thanks again Alan.
Very smart. Sometimes people get halfway through a job before they realize they’re in over their head. It makes putting everything back together very difficult.
Great video Steve. Great explanation. When you break valve covers loose hit each side with a dead blow and that helps break out loose. I've seen valve covers get damaged from breaking them loose by pursuing between head and cover. Just a tip. Thank you for sharing.
I was removing the head of my duratec engine just to clean the carbon from the top of the pistons and combustion chamber, I gave up after watching this video, a lot of work, following in the search for a fuel additive that is really efficient.
I don’t blame you, this is s lot of work just for a cleaning. Have a look at Sea Foam, they make a product that you spray into the engine while it’s running. Just follow the instructions on the can. That stuff cuts carbon pretty well.
Yeah, made by Metal Magery, it’s a Sheet Metal Skin Pry Bar. Originally used in aviation, but they are great for mechanics. Here’s a link: amzn.to/3R020aU
Hey! Good video, just one thing comes to mind. I have a Mazda 6 2004 2.0 104kw, which has basically the same engine. The service manual says to not reuse the head bolts if they are stretched beyond the maximum spec, but no mention you have to get new ones. Do you know where could be the difference? Thanks
Eoyld be cool to see one on the 2006 ti vct model as the camshaft has phasers would like to see how the phasers are removed and installed so the timing is not off once removed of the camshafts how are thwy lined up again once removed
@@ToolDemos Welp...it's not the thermostat stuck...going with a new wtr pump & belt. My back aches just looking at it. Really neat video as some would be overwhelmed by the amount of parts/pieces to remember where/how they go...it's the challenge that attracts me. All the plastic & miserable fasteners special this & that's to get it all done and back on the road.
I am a student on a pretty low budget, and my 2009 Ford focus just hit 190K miles. I noticed it was overheating rapidly and leaking coolant near the front throttle body. No strong signs of a blown head gasket and I couldn’t see any leaks, but I added Blue Devil sealant, replaced the thermostat, and a slightly cracked heater hose. I’ve driven it for about 300 miles since and have noticed no overheating/ leaking! However, I know I am nearing the end of at-home, fixable problems, and the head of my car will soon need to be resurfaced. I’m wondering-is it worth it? My Focus surely is not valued more than the cost of repairs. 😢
@@ToolDemos To my knowledge, no, but I’ve been told by other “older” Focus owners that the head may go sooner than later. A bit of a worrisome thought, truly-though I’m not a mechanic by any means. Just a biologist who tries to figure things out! Perhaps I’m overthinking it.
OMG ... Talk about "OVERWHELMING" ... One wonders ... was that old FORD really worth it? ... Your patience and knowledge are beyond impressive! Ditto, your copious amount of COURAGE! Looks like this was BEFORE you moved to Florida. That FORD would DEFINITELY be junked if the only alternative was a dealer @ ~ $120+ per hour ... with parts @ 4:1 or more mark-up beyond RockAuto pricing. Even an independent shop @ perhaps $100 per hour and 2X markup on parts ... is still problematic ... e.g. competence and trust are in short supply these days! As a DIYer on my own cars, I am often curious how many hours are "allotted" by the "Book" for various jobs. Best to all, John in the NW
Hi John, thanks. That would be a tough pill to swallow at the dealership, for sure. A great way to know what they’d charge is go right to the source. You can buy a short (3 day) subscription to Ford’s service information. Same info they use, it gives all the technical details of a repair, “book time” to do each job and lots more. Only about 20 bucks or so.
Last year my mechanic sent out my 2011 Escape 2.5 head to a shop ($700 for that work). 27k miles later, the Cyl 1 valve lash is .0015, instead of the normal .013. So now I'm doing this year's head job by myself. Why not just order a good quality remanufactured head? Also thank you for the awesome videos.
@@ToolDemos Original problem? I don't think so. Ran super rough. It passed compression but failed leakdown badly, audible in the tailpipe after the engine was shut off. This time, the car starts off cold ok, but after driving 1 mile, it runs rough. Then after another couple of minutes it smooths out. It took a long time for the p0301 to pop up and display the check engine light. My original mechanic (the head replacement) misdiagnosed it as a coil after leaving it with him for 2 months. The dealer also did. Shop#3 figured it out in 1.5 hours. So now I'm not very excited about dropping another $4,000 on head work. The weird part is, Cyl 1 PASSES leakdown 0% loss, so when cold it still seems to close fine. I'm seriously considering starting with the valve lash adjustment, which I have done previously on motorcycles.
@@ToolDemos He said it's either valve tuliping, or the valve is sinking into the seat, or both. He didn't notate the other clearances for me during the diagnosis. This afternoon I checked the clearances. On Cyl1, one exhaust valve is about .04mm (.0015 inch), spec is .27mm to .33mm. The other Cyl 1 exhaust valve is .21mm. All of the other exhaust valves are out, between .21mm and .24mm, except for one that is .27mm. Intake isn't doing much better, spec is .22mm - .28mm, all of them are .21mm -.22mm, except one that is .24mm. So I'm strongly suspecting that whoever set these at the machine shop cut corners, and it wasn't checked when the mechanic got it back. Since Cyl 1 passes leakdown, I'm also wondering if that single tight Cyl 1 valve was just done wrong. If this was your car, would you try fixing the clearances first, or just swap out the 2x loser head?
@@goodday126 wow, that sucks. I’d try to warranty the work from original shop. If they don’t help, I’d try adjusting valves before I tear the head off again.
I had a 2002 Ford Focus and it was a pain to work on. Like, why would you put a random torx bolt in the midst of hex bolts where you can't see? Why was the AC stuff hidden in the wheel well? Why did I have to use a ratcheting strap to move the engine forward just to get my alternator out? Never owned another Ford after that since it really aged me whenever I wrenched on it.
Hi, I'm considering taking this Job on the equivalent Mazda 1.8 engine. I don't have workshop facilities as the car isn't worth taking to a garage for repairs due to it's age but I am mechanically minded and done similar if not as complicated head replacements before. My concern is that bottom pulley bolt. I don't have a really powerful impact gun and I have seen other videos where they have said the bolt is a nightmare to remove as it's so tight. Do you have any thoughts on the best way to remove it other than the one you demonstrated. Also couldn't the exhaust manifold just be pushed back from the head rather than removing it totally ? and the head removed with the inlet manifold still attached ? Thanks Grant
For that harmonic balancer bolt, if you can enlist the help of a friend to hold that balancer while you loosen the bolt, I think that would work the best. I would use a long half inch ratchet and enough extensions to bring it outside of the wheel well so you can put as much weight on it as you can. As far as the exhaust manifold goes, I’m not sure if it would be able to move far enough to get it off of those studs. It’s worth a try though.
What the tool man said, but also! You can also use an old serpentine or fan belt or really any other kind of rubber belt and fashion it around the harmonic balancer and then loop it in the opposite direction around another pulley/bolt/anything nearby and jam an extension, a screwdriver, a bar, anything of the sort you have handy to hold the harmonic balancer still while you break it lose with a socket and a breaker bar.
There are two ways that I would do it. First hammer, a multi-spline extractor into that bolt and try to turn it out. If that doesn’t work, cut the bolt head off or drill it off and then just lift the cylinder head off of that bolt. Once the head is out, you should be able to spin the bolt out. Edit: use extreme caution when cutting/drilling and don’t touch the cylinder head with the tool. Make sure to clean every speck of metal out of the head & block.
I wish I could take my ford focus 2007 to you since you have already worked on someone car just like mine it's hard to find a good mechanic here in Houston TX I had my radiator replace and some other parts and now my power steering is leaking and just today I see the antifreeze is leaking from underneath the on the left side driver I have already spent to much on my car I can't afford a brand new car either I'm a single grandmother and I wish my car would run just like when I first bought brand new I love my car. I greatly appreciate it if you have any advice Thank you so much in advance.
Hello Jesusa, sounds very frustrating. I think a shop that replaces a radiator should stand behind their repair. If the leak is from the radiator area, they should fix it for you. This is especially true if they gave you a warranty. The power steering leak is not a difficult repair. If you are still comfortable with the original shop, ask them for a quote to fix that. Otherwise, that leak would be a good test case for a new shop that you find. I know good shops can be hard to find, I’d recommend finding one with good reviews or ask a friend for a referral.
Other than your standard handtools, you’ll need a 1/2” drive T55 torx socket, an engine timing tool kit, a crankshaft pulley holder tool, a new crank sensor, and a 1/2” drive torque wrench. Power tools are also very helpful.
@@ToolDemos that makes me even more worried ill have to replace my head gasket or something before long as my power steering has been screwy for a bit and I've been trying to get it into the mechanic for a bit. But it's been keeping heat pretty regularly since I got the water pump and thermostat replaced when I suddenly got overheating issues this past winter due to a coolant leak that started.
@@minacapella8319 I have two tips for you: first make sure that the power steering reservoir has enough fluid in it. If you have a leak keep checking it once a week. If you’re driving your car and you do end up losing the serpentine belt, shut off the engine as soon as you can safely.
@@ToolDemos I'm in Western WA and knowing that your shop is near, but not near enough, makes me happy and disappointed at the same time. Anyway, you deserve way more subscribers! Any content on Toyota Matrix/Corolla (I own an XRS with over 300K miles) would be awesome.
@@puregsr that’s awesome! So at least you understand socks-n-sandals 😂 As far as Corollas go, you’ll see an A/C repair on it before summer. See you then.
Honestly, this head wasn’t all that bad, it was cupped in the center about .003”. The worst part was the leaky valves, but that had nothing to do with the over-heat. To answer your question, this car was driven for about 5 minutes without water. The longer you drive, the hotter and worse it can get.
I have a 2002 FF ZTW and I’m about to set it on fire. Every mechanic finds a new problem with tires and brakes but never what’s actually wrong, check engine light is left alone and bam $200 bucks for nothing to be fixed or known! 😅😅☠️👻💩💩💩💩
