Page 1 of 1

Can I remove cylinder head without removing exhaust and intake manifolds? 1.2l 3 cylinder BMD

Posted: Mon Jun 04, 2018 9:30 pm
by YerMawsPal
I'm a complete novice but doing this repair myself as I'm completely skint. Pretty much all the bolts on my engine are overtightened and one on the exhaust manifold has rusted away so there's nothing to grab to turn. On the intake manifold one bolt is just twisting, the threads aren't moving at all and I'm just going to snap the top off if I keep trying.

The Haynes manual and stuff I've been looking at online seems to suggest taking the manifolds off purely for better access rather than as a necessary step so I decided to leave them on and see if I get away with it. Got the head bolts out yesterday and the head doesn't seem to want to come off. It's lifting at one corner but not coming away all together. Do I just need to persevere or am I going to have to tackle the manifolds? I've got a bolt extractor set that I can use for the exhaust manifold but not sure what to do about the intake.

It's a 2008, 1.2 litre, 6 valve, 3 cylinder engine code BMD

Re: Can I remove cylinder head without removing exhaust and intake manifolds? 1.2l 3 cylinder BMD

Posted: Tue Jun 05, 2018 5:26 pm
by alexperkins
Considering the intake and exhaust manfolds are bolted to the cylinder head, youll need to undo them and remove them before you can withdraw the head from the block.

Re: Can I remove cylinder head without removing exhaust and intake manifolds? 1.2l 3 cylinder BMD

Posted: Tue Jun 05, 2018 7:51 pm
by YerMawsPal
alexperkins wrote: Tue Jun 05, 2018 5:26 pm Considering the intake and exhaust manfolds are bolted to the cylinder head, youll need to undo them and remove them before you can withdraw the head from the block.
It's not possible to leave them attached and take the whole thing out as one? I would have thought it would only stop me if they were attached to the engine block?

Re: Can I remove cylinder head without removing exhaust and intake manifolds? 1.2l 3 cylinder BMD

Posted: Tue Jun 05, 2018 8:14 pm
by alexperkins
The intake will normally need to be removed

Providing the exhaust manifold is disconnected from the downpipe, you may be able to withdraw the cylinder head with it attached providing it doesnt foul on anything

The intake bolts shouldnt be that tight - they are only meant to be 20nm!!

Ill check elsawin for the procedure for you for cylinder head removal

Re: Can I remove cylinder head without removing exhaust and intake manifolds? 1.2l 3 cylinder BMD

Posted: Tue Jun 05, 2018 11:17 pm
by YerMawsPal
alexperkins wrote: Tue Jun 05, 2018 8:14 pm The intake bolts shouldnt be that tight - they are only meant to be 20nm!!
This is pretty much the catchphrase of anyone working on my car. Everything is overtightened. The last mechanic to work on it complained about it. It took me two days to get the timing cover off because bolts kept stripping and I stripped a head bolt too for good measure.

Any ideas on what to do about the stuck bolt then? It just won't turn, it'll only twist. Some stuff I read said to heat it up but I imagine that's not a good idea on a plastic intake manifold.

Thanks for the link, that looks much better laid out than the Haynes manual.

Re: Can I remove cylinder head without removing exhaust and intake manifolds? 1.2l 3 cylinder BMD

Posted: Wed Jun 06, 2018 12:06 am
by alexperkins
Can you drill the head of the bolt off?

Worst case is engine out and work on it out of the engine bag which is much much easier

Albeit, intake manifolds are easy to get hold of on ebay