Cadillac 4.9 Head Gasket Photos

**jadz** · 06-16-06 09:45 PM

**100** · 06-25-06 12:06 AM

How is it going? I have heard replacing head gaskets while the engine is in the car is pretty difficult, but maybe it is about a N*. Let us know!

How many miles on your car?

**Night Wolf** · 06-25-06 12:35 AM

how many miles are on that?

One set of rocker arms seem alot more crudy then the other....

also.... looks almost like the block is rusty... but it can't be.... that engine seems a little sludgy for a 4.9... these usually stay pretty clean....

but.... it can be done in the car, eh? not too shabby..... definitly keep us updated!

**jadz** · 06-25-06 05:27 AM

100: This is the first head gasket I've ever done, so I don't have much to compare it to. I would say that it is fairly strait forward (with the exception of having to re-thread any striped head bolts). I've been told buy other knowledgeable users (illuminati) that it is an easy engine to do, but again I don't have anything to compare it to.

NightWolf: The car has aprox 150 000 miles on it. It does look like it has a tone of sludge, but when I went to clean it out there really wasn't all that much there. What I did notice is that some of the coolant had crystallized and hardened around one of the cylinder sleeves and the end of the block. I scraped this out so that the coolant would circulate again. This could have been the cause of the over heating which lead to the head gasket going...

I was in the process up finger tightening the head bolts and a few of them in the right (rear) head would not finger tightening. When the bolts got tight, and I took them out I could see aluminum from the block come out in the threads of the bolt.

After doing some research and hunting on the net I ended up buying the official repair kit (the Kent Moore kit, retailing for $830.00, eBay for $110.00).

When I get the kit in the mail I will be helicoiling the threads and putting it back together.

**Night Wolf** · 06-25-06 12:50 PM

Nice!

gotta keep us posted

.

**caddeville** · 06-25-06 07:30 PM

I've also noticed that on my 87 deville, the radiator side of the engine has ALOT more carbon build up than the firewall side. The firewall side didn't have a single piece of carbon even developing. Also, when i took apart the 4100 in my 85 fleetwood, just like on your 4.9, i noticed the sludge build up just in the middle on the wall of the block above the lifter carrier. And the 4100 on the 85 only has 96,000miles on it with a flat cam, and now no oil pressure at idle (warmed up) and a massive main bearing knock. My 87 has 94,000 miles and runs like a clock. Good luck with the headgasket repair.

**jadz** · 08-08-06 07:35 AM

Some more photos.
Starting to take the engine apart

Working outdoors is no fun.

Valve Guides Off

Intake Manifold Off

Inspecting Heads, dirty. Ended up taking them to a machine shop to have them planed.

Helicoils for the 6 high torque head bolts, this is removing the old thread

Inserting the Helicoil into the newly threaded hole

Heads back on and torqued.

**gopedtyper** · 03-23-12 04:33 AM

doing this currently why did you take the radiator cover shield off thats 160 dollars for a new one how n the hell does the helicoil work it looks like sourcery

**jadz** · 03-23-12 08:04 AM

I actually purchased the 4.9L OEM Cadillac rebuild tools online that had the exact proper sized initial drill (to clear out the existing threads), the tap (to cut slightly oversized threads) and then the helicoils and insertion tools which brings the thread back down to standard size. I was actually amazed at how easy it was to do. After getting the right tools it was probably the easiest part of the whole job.

I still have to took kit and could sell it to you if you end up needing it