Folks,

My head gasket is leaking at Cylinder #4 on the passenger's side, so I'm thinking I'm going to expand my mechanic skills and try to replace the head gasket myself.

I've read through the Bentley Manual and have a fair amount of confidence I can do this job.

I've got 4 questions.

1. So how difficult a job is this really. I've never opened up an engine before, but I don't have any difficulty doing my timing belt replacements. So am I crazy for thinking I can do this myself and save a ton of money?

2. What else should I replace while I'm doing this job? I'm due for a new timing belt, so I'll make sure I put in a new one. The tensioner was replaced 50K ago and should be fine. I'll try to replace the shaft seals too.

3. What parts do I need to order and what special tools will I need?

4. How do I know if I need to send the head to a machine shop? I'm not sure why the head gasket is leaking, but the vehicle has never overheated in my 9 years of ownership. I have no idea what I'm looking for to determine why the gasket failed. I'm not losing a lot of coolant and it appears that the coolant is leaking from the gasket to the outside of the block. Will it be obvious if the head is cracked?

Thanks,

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