[Niels]

Hi , I started up a repair job on one of my high mileage (320K km) Camry wagons. I had a head gasket water leak on No1 cylinder so went through and removed the head , spent fair of time de-sludging the head and removed and lapped the valves. I am at a point now for re-assembly and would prefer to reattach the head to the block with the intake manifold attached . Has anyone one got any advice on this procedure?
I am reasonably sure that the wiring harness can be fed through the intake tubes and the injectors and rail attached once the head is torqued down. However I cant say that I am 100% sure on this.
I opted for a graphite head gasket rather that the stock MLS type as the block surface is not so perfect.

I have also pulled the oil pan and the balancer and after a clean up intend to reassemble minus the balancer. This procedure is going smoothly , I have threaded the oil feed to the balancer (M8 with 1.25 pitch thread) and will plug this. I have yet to figure how to brace the oil pickup to the crankcase housing with the balancer removed.

Would appreciate any input on my work so far and ask any questions if you want.

Cheers
Niels

 

[71Corolla]

Lifting the head with manifold attached and guiding it onto the block will be difficult I don't recommend this. Unless you have an engine lift. You can thread the harness through the manifold etc. although not the easiest thing to do.

Place a couple of drinking straws into the block where the guide pins are this helps to get the head lined up before you drop it onto the block.

 

[Niels]

71Corolla, before I removed the head from the block I detached the intake manifold by accessing it from underneath the vehicle using a bunch of 3/8 extensions to get at the manifold nuts and bolts first. Would you suggest I follow this procedure in reverse rather than attach the manifold to the head first?

 

[maestro123]

I remember when I did my HG job about 6 months ago, I had a tiny bit of difficulty with the intake manifold as well, but it eventually ended up being manageable. When removing the head, I simply removed the fasteners and pulled the intake back towards the firewall a few inches. When re-installing, simply re-align everything and get the fasteners back on. It might take a helper to help hold the manifold because it can get a bit heavy. I remember that some of the manifold nuts were more easily accessible from above and some were more easily accessible from underneath depending on the location. You might have to alternate getting underneath the car, then getting above the manifold a few times.

 

[71Corolla]

71Corolla, before I removed the head from the block I detached the intake manifold by accessing it from underneath the vehicle using a bunch of 3/8 extensions to get at the manifold nuts and bolts first. Would you suggest I follow this procedure in reverse rather than attach the manifold to the head first?

Yes. It's important that the head moves around on the gasket as little as possible. I place the intake manifold in the engine bay and secure it up against the firewall then install the head, this is on a generation 2 Camry on later years there may be more room making this unnecessary not sure.

@maestro123 Good advice.