Replaced 20R head gasket

[79Corona]

A friend and I replaced the head gasket on my Corona yesterday. I had oil and coolant leaking there down the side of the engine, but wasn't losing compression. The exhaust manifold gasket was also leaking in one place, as well as the intake manifold was showing signs of minor coolant leak. We also replaced the power steering pump and thermostat. I have to replace my alternator today (2nd one w/in 30K miles). I should have just done a radiator cap overhaul. I bought my 1st alternator online.
We got the head off and it was in good shape, valves looked good and the head generally looked good (nothing eaten out). Cleaned it all up and replaced the necessary gaskets.

It runs well, but the "new" power steering pump is still making some noise. This is the third pump this year, they're all remanufactured by A1 Cardone. Seems to be the only company doing it. I've been fighting this power steering problem for at least six month now. Is it just me, or are the remanned pumps a bunch of crap?

[shonuff]

when you replaced:


the PS pump, did you clean the filter screen in the reservoir?

the alt, was it internally regulated, if not did your replace the regulator? did you also clean up the mounting point to bare metal?

[dwebb99]

Can not say for certain that reman power steering pumps are crap, I can say for a fact that the few reman pumps that I have bought over the years (mainly for a Lexus) have been noisy and I have not been very impressed with them. But they were cheap and had warranties and were easy to change out when they died.

[79Corona]

Originally Posted by shonuff

when you replaced:


the PS pump, did you clean the filter screen in the reservoir?

the alt, was it internally regulated, if not did your replace the regulator? did you also clean up the mounting point to bare metal?

Yes to all. All hoses have been replaced as well. The alt was internally regulated. It was a Bosch and replaced with a Bosch. Not sure mounting point you mean.

[79Corona]

Originally Posted by dwebb99

Can not say for certain that reman power steering pumps are crap, I can say for a fact that the few reman pumps that I have bought over the years (mainly for a Lexus) have been noisy and I have not been very impressed with them. But they were cheap and had warranties and were easy to change out when they died.

Unfortunately some parts are limited for very old cars.

[shonuff]

i mean the large bolt on the bottom that the alt pivots on.


specificly the bracket where the alt touches it. that is the ground point for the alt. a lot of times, its rusted or corroded so bad that it hardly carries any electricity.



every time i replace a alt, i take the bracket off and clean all mounting points to bare metal, then bolt it back on the block, and cover it with spray paint to protect it after its bolted up. then clean off the alt mount point again and bolt it up.

[79Corona]

When I replaced the alt the first time I didn't replace the battery, which was about six years old. This time I replaced it since was a 2002 battery.