Has anyone removed the left (driver side) cylinder head on an '87 Wagon in the vehicle? My manual says 'in some cases, the engine may need to be removed'. I don't mind pulling the engine, but don't want to if it isn't necessary.

Has anyone removed the left (driver side) cylinder head on an '87 Wagon in the vehicle? My manual says 'in some cases, the engine may need to be removed'. I don't mind pulling the engine, but don't want to if it isn't necessary.

 

Pulling the engine will certinly make the job easier. Plus you can tear the engine down to the block and do a proper engine reseal while you are at it.

Absolutely remove the motor, if at all possible. This is especially true for a "keeper-type" car. With the motor out of the car, you can easily do all the 60/120 service interval work.

I have talked to people that have sucessfully removed the cylinder heads in the vehicle. There are access holes along the unibody rail (rubber plugs) which line up with the cylinder bolts. Some people swear by this method.

Personally, I don't think it is worth it. It would still be very time consuming to remove all the bolt-ons in order to lift the head out of the car. Then you have to align the new gasket, and re-install the head from a difficult angle. Finally, you have to bolt everything back together within that tight space. I don't know about you, but my hands are too big for this kind of nonsense.

The only scenerio where I think this may be worth it is for a beater car where you truly only want to repair one side. There may be some time savings if this is all you want to do.

good luck, John