Hi there. I’m Saul Reisman here at Saul’s AUTOTEK and today we’re in front of this V6 Honda Accord that’s getting a head gasket replacement to show you a few of the things that we do that make our service just one step above.
Now, typically, if you have a vehicle that overheats and creates a head gasket failure, your mechanic is going to want to replace that gasket, get it resealed to get you back on the road. Here at Saul’s AUTOTEK, we like to take every step we can to make sure that repair lasts as long as possible and that you get the best quality of service for the price of the repair going into it.
In the case of this vehicle, we’re going to remove the cylinder heads. We’re then going to send them out to a machinist who’s going to put a laser across them and measure them to a 10 thousandth of an inch to make sure they are perfectly straight, true and flat across.
We do this for your sake because when an engine gets hot, it can actually warp the metals inside the engine if it gets too hot. As a result, it’s possible that you could get a head gasket replacement performed and have the repair only last a few thousand miles because, even though the gasket is thick enough to make up for the distance of that warpage of the cylinder heads themselves, eventually, they will find that pressure, they will leak out.
Here at Saul’s AUTOTEK, we replace the head gasket and we machine the cylinder head every single time. We also go one step further and we put a laser straight edge across the top of the engine block itself to ensure that the block itself has not warped. Now, the cylinder heads typically weigh anywhere from 20 to 50 pounds a piece. Relatively heavy, but easy to work, because they don’t hold a lot of heat.
The block itself weighs hundreds of pounds. Typically, the block itself will not work. However, we check it every time, because we want to keep your longevity mind. [inaudible 00:00:01:39], that cylinder head, when it attaches to the vehicle, is actually held in place with bolts that are approximately eight inches long, that go down into the cylinder head itself.
Now, when these bolts go in, they are taught in a very specific pattern. We don’t just put them in a circle, we make a crisscross pattern, specified by the manufacturer of the vehicle, to ensure the proper clamping force as those studs actually elongate and stretch the threads that allow them to adhere and create that squeeze tension onto that gasket. The downside of this is those head bolts are non-reusable. They will actually become elongated and stretched with every use.
Here at Saul’s AUTOTEK, if your cylinder head’s coming off, we’re going to replace those bolts as one more piece of mind guarantee that we know for a fact it’s going to go back together perfectly.
Now, the last piece we’re going to talk about with this vehicle today is actually a piece of tooling, because, while we always show you the things we do to make the car better for you, we want you to know that we do things that make it better for our technicians and our staff to provide them the best working environment for your vehicle, so that you get the best quality product and the best result every time.
In the case of this Honda, we’re going to look at one simple socket. Now, a socket in and of itself doesn’t seem like anything too crazy. It’s got a 19-millimeter hex head opening, so it fits a 19 mill bolt, and it has a half-inch drive for where a wrench or an impact can be used on it.
One thing you will notice though is that the cylinder wall of this is extremely thick. This socket weighs almost 10 pounds. Now, the reason for this is, the only way to remove the crankshaft harmonic damper from the front of the engine is to keep the engine from rotating and then apply a breakaway force to it. Well, the engine will rotate and spin freely with ease, so finding a way to hold that engine stopped and break that free, is very difficult.
There are a few aftermarket companies that make an L-shaped tool that sits onto the front of the harmonic damper that you use as a wedge and wedge it against the frame of the car and then pry against it to break it loose. While that does, in fact, work and get it to be removed from the vehicle, that can damage the harmonic damper, puts a tremendous amount of leverage and strain on the crankshaft, the center core of your engine and it means somebody using a pry bar against the frame of your car.
I don’t like these things, that’s why here it Saul’s AUTOTEK we buy factory-specific tools so that we can do factory maintain repairs on your car. Whether it’s a Honda and we need a Honda-specific tool, to have the right socket that has a specific weight to it, so it creates a rotational breakaway torque to remove that from your engine, or if you’ve got a BMW, a Jaguar, maybe even a Ferrari, we carry all factory-specified tools directly from the manufacturers, so that we can ensure you get the best quality service no matter what.
Not only are we going to make sure your car leaves perfect, but we’re going to give our technicians the opportunity to do it with the best quality parts, the best quality tools, in the best quality environment here at Saul’s AUTOTEK.
We’re here 365 days a year to help you and keep your vehicle on the road. Come and see us down here, to Arapahoe and I25 in south Denver. (303) 290-9900.
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