So I've completed the 0331 head swap this weekend. It took me a lot longer than I thought but it's the first time doing anything major to an engine. I replaced all of the cooling system components that I didn't replace before while the head was off, leaving me with a complete cooling system overhaul.

I've noticed that my hot idle oil pressure has increased from about 15 to 25 psi (according to the dash). It also seems like the lifter noise has decreased.

It seems like I did everything correctly. Power is good, it starts right up and idles/drives just like it did before, but I want to know what to look for after completing a job like this. I don't see any signs of water and oil mixing so far. Any advice is appreciated.

PS: Thank you to those that helped me through this. This forum has really helped an amateur like myself

 

Keep an eye on your coolant temp and the overflow reservoir. You may still have air in the cooling system that will eventually burp out, but until it does keep an eye on it.

 

Definitely keep an eye on the coolant level, I also checked the torque on my bolts after a thousand miles or so.

 

I did notice that the overflow bottle was empty after I ran it for a bit this weekend. I filled it back up and will keep an eye on it.

I'm assuming that you mean check the torque on the head bolts? If so, not a bad idea!

 

I just had this done about 1,000 miles ago. The system had a lot of air bubbles that took quite a while to come out. My reservoir bottle emptied/overflowed a couple times because of the air bubbles. I thought something was wrong with the new gasket but it has been fine for a couple weeks now so I think all the bubbles are finally out. Like said before, just keep a very close eye on it and you should be fine!

 

I wonder if he should keep an eye on the coolant level.


LOL

 

I would send off an oil sample for analysis after a few thousand miles just to make sure everything got buttoned up correctly. But I always say that.