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I noticed a drop or two of coolant down low on the pass side of the engine a couple of months ago while I was changing the oil. It appeared to be coming from the head gasket area just aft of the #4 exhaust port. I topped off the coolant and kept a close check on the level in the expansion tank during that 3k miles. I had to add about 1/2-3/4 of a quart of coolant during that time, and I confirmed that it was actually the head gasket leaking instead of the block drain. Not my idea of a fun time. Over-all, though, it was a pretty simple repair. I pulled the head and sent it off to the machine shop and then went online to begin ordering parts and spending money. While I had easy access, I replaced the heater hoses, heater control valve, and cam belt tensioner (the cam belt only has about 10k on it). I replaced the head bolts after reading 'almost' conflicting information about their ability to be re-used. The machine shop only had to shave 0.006 off to make the head surface true, the guides were in great shape, and my valve lash was dead on, so no changes there either. A pressure test, new stem seals and new silencers were all that was required. The cylinder bores still have cross-hatch hone marks visible, and no lip at the top of the bore. Not bad for a 4-banger with 212k on it. Once I got everything buttoned up she fired off like it had never been apart. I absolutely LOVE not having to monkey around with the ignition timing. This site and the FAQ were very useful since neither my Chiltons manual nor my Mitchell manual (CD) had the torque sequence for the head. Both listed the torque specs only. DUH!
My wife is very happy now that she's out of my 5 speed Saturn and back in her automatic Volvo. ;-) I'd have to check all of my receipts, but I think that I got off with about $300-325 spent on this repair, including machine shop and fluids.
Oh yeah...I almost forgot. My ABS tone ring and wheel studs pressed back on the front hub with no trouble, but I do have a very slight wobble in the tone ring now. Doesn't seem to affect the signal to the ABS unit. I still don't know how those three studs got trashed...
Thanks,
Dave
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