Can I just pull the intake and heads without removing the coolant and oil? I am in the midst of pulling all this off and was wondering if it was possible. Also what size are the bolts on the back of the heads (coolant lines?)? I don't want oil and coolant all over the place.

 

yea you gotta drain the block, unless you want coolant everywhere... my question is.. since you didtn know that, are you sure you know what youre doing taking the top end apart?

 

Oil no, coolant yes. At least partialy.

 

Ummmm. Do you know what you're doing? You are scaring me with these questions. You can really screw things up if you do this wrong.

You need to drain the coolant before removing the heads. I would wait until you are done to change the oil though so you can get rid of any contaminates that may have fallen into your oil pan during your head removal. The lines at the back of the heads are coolant lines. You need to take the knock sensor out and the block drain plug on the other side of the motor to drain all the coolant. Please get some help if you are not experienced at this.

Good luck,
Botch

 

Well I did the cam swap last year so I kind of know what I'm doing. I just didn't pull the heads but this time I wanted to see if I could cut some corners and not drain the coolant.

Another question then, can I leave the coolant thats in the radiator alone and just drain from the block? How do I remove coolant from the cylinder heads? Is it just as easy as removing the knock sensor and the block drain plug? Not exactly sure where there at but I can find it. I just don't want coolant to fall in the cylinders when I remove the heads.

Thanks for all the replies.

 

Drain the radiator and block. Block plug locations are on my Tech Page.
15mm for the steam line bolts.

 

god guys, taking heads off aint that hard. you just have to be very careful. it was an honest question, but yes unless you want some coolant on your floor. you'll see the block plug on the side of the motor. passenger side plug has the knock sensor in it, right next to the started, above the oil pan. make sure you have a big enough wrench, i think its like 22mm. the drivers is hard to see if you dont know what your looking at. the best i can tell you with that one is just follow the oil pan to the front and back and look for a "bolt" that doesnt hold anything together. when you drain the coolant, the heads will be drained to. but if you want NO water at all, then get some shop towels and soak it up.

 

i drained the oil, only because it had coolant mixed in it, wanted it out ASAP. Im just gonna "flush" it with cheapo oil when I fill up.

I drained the radiator, couldnt get the block drain plugs, but I did remove the headbolts closest to the firewall to let the coolant drain out, while I held a 2 liter soda botle with the top cut off to catch the coolant. worked good