That seems like exactly what happened - coolant is darn near bubbling. It's a d17a2 engine and this will e the 2nd one, but it's due at 208k miles. I think it blew just a hair last summer but only now got to be a big issue.

Hmmm. I hadn't considered the head not being warped. Interesting possibility. I read somewhere that the max warp allowed is .002 in, so I'm going to have a shop check rather than do it myself. I don't know if there's a limit to how many times you can deck the head on these. My goal for today is to get it removed without breaking anything.

You have very good tips about this engine! I killed the crank position sensor when I did the timing belt about 2 years ago, and I did have the alternator positive come loose when I replace the alternator with an aftermarket one. When my crank position sensor died, the car just shut off four or five times randomly. Sounds like yours was doing a lot better than mine was when it went bad. I went outside and cracked all the cursing bolts loose last night- that is, I cracked loose the exhaust manifold and downpipe bolts. I did it with a warm engine and to be honest the worst bolt of all was the one holding the cover on down near the AC fans. Not sure exactly why the downpipe has a heat shield on it, but I guess I'll put it back.

Thanks for the encouragement!