head gasket

I have a 2000 accent with a 1.5liter engine. recently it blew a head
gasket and i have the part but ive been looking everywhere to find the
bolts to take the head off without removing EVERYTHING else, if anyone
has any insight...

 

The head bolts are inside the valve cover. You'll still need to take the
timing belt off, and you'll need to unbolt the exhaust manifold from the
head or the pipe.

What are your symptoms? On nearly every Hyundai I've seen that had a
significant head gasket problem, the head was so badly warped that it was
best used as a paperweight or bookend. You should definitely take things
far enough apart to check head flatness.

 

yea, actually it was a dealership that diagnosed it, and im doing the
work. is it possible once i have it off i can set it on a towel or
something or rag to see flatness or is there some more precise way, i
noticed once i took the valve cover off it was all enclosed and all
that was there was the valves, would i have to get in between the
valves at all. and hte exhaust manifold is behind the head and valve
cover? and some of hte symptoms were puddle of oil on top of the
transmission, and when i start the car there is knocking, but i dont
drive it at all right now

 

Take it to a machine shop where they can use a straight edge or flat surface
plate and an indicator. The use of fabric softeners tends to make the
fluffy bath towels less accurate.

 

No offense, but you might want to consider having this work done by a shop.
Your questions indicate a certain unfamiliarity with the task at hand and
it's not a simply remove and replace job. You are going to get into such
things as torquing the head back down, timing the valve train, etc. If you
have to ask where the head bolts are and where the exhaust manifold is, you
are probably not really ready for this job.

The symptoms you describe bother me some. A puddle of oil and a knocking
when first started are somewhat contradictory symptoms. The knocking
implies a rod problem. If so, you are in for a lot more work than replacing
a head. Did the dealership hear the knocking? Is the word "knocking"
perhaps a bad way of describing it?

 

actually to tell you the truth you guys are probably right about the
checking if hte head is warped, i got a couple friends that are
mechanics that probably could check it out for me, as far as the
symptoms, yea the knocking sound is there, it sounds more like clicking
from inside the car and its not as strong when you are listening under
the hood. there was one place where i was looking where i seen a gap
and then i kinda connected it with the puddle of oil where the
transmission, and yes if it sounds like im a beginner at this stuff its
because i am...thank you very much for all of hte help is there any
special numbers for putting the head back on like how much torque for
each bolt, etc...

 

I'm feeling a little bad about sounding discouraging, but I really want to
tell you that a head job is not a good place to begin your DIY career. To
be honest - your troubleshooting skills seem to require a bit of work - as
would be expected when you are just starting out.

You would be doing yourself a big favor by taking the car to someone you
trust and getting that person to allow you to hang around and learn from the
work he performs. It's really not a matter of unbolting this and bolting on
that with a few magic numbers thrown in for good measure. It's certainly
not the kind of thing that you want to jump into as a beginner and finding
yourself sitting at your computer screen asking every question in the world
as you try to plow your way through the job. Things will go wrong for you
this way.

If you're hell bent on taking this on yourself, then my best advice is for
you to go to the local auto parts store and get yourself a Haynes or a
Chilton's manual. You'll find all of the information you need in them. If
you read them and find yourself asking people what the books mean by this
and what they mean by that, then you'd better consider that a clue that
someone else needs to do the repairs for you.

Best of luck.

 

well its not really that discouraging to me at least...i have the
chilton manual and im kind of going through it for the views and
everything, i been just asking a few questions cuz i couldnt seem to
find what i was looking for, but im gona look through that part a
little more thoroughly, and i do appreciate the feedback and
everything, ima computer guy by trade so i have the troubleshooting
skills, but things are a bit different in cars so.....once again thank
you

 

Better yet, go to www.hmaservice.com and check out the factory repair
manual. Print out the pertinent pages and you're good to go, more or less.

 

If watching someone else do the repairs doesn't work out, perhaps you can
have a mentor with you who's done this sort of repair previously.

I think, like Brian and Mike, I generally encourage people to do as much
of their own work as they can, but I'm concerned that if you try to do
this on your own, you might end up with more trouble and expense than if
you pay someone to do it. I still like the mentor idea, though. Everyone
must start somewhere.

 

D'OH!!!! No kiddin'. You'd think I'd been around here long enough to make
that suggestion, wouldn't you? Guess it gets to be habit recommending the
other manuals in other newsgroups. Thanks for straightening me out on that
one Brian.

 

wow, i bought a chilton manual they didnt have it for a 2000 so i got a
1998 figuring the engine wont be a whole lot different, but that
website totally beats that manual and greatly appreciated, gives me
exactly what i was lookin for. i think i might take it off myself but
take it to a machine shop and have them check if it meets the
measurements of what its supposed to via the factory manual. do any of
you know of factory manuals for other makes such as chevy for example
or if they publish them like hyundai does (have a friend that was
looking for one for his truck) thank you

 

I don't know of any others that have free access online. You should be
able to purchase paper copies from the dealer or order based on
information in the owner's manual, but it'll cost you.