Thanks for having the guts to put out your method of surface prep. Too many trolls. Thank you.

Good video, Brian. You're right about the fact that you need to keep moving with the 3M rotary brushes; you can cut a groove in an aluminum surface if you're not careful. I use a Shop-Vac to get rid of the left over gasket debris before blowing any surfaces off, especially down in the cylinder bores. I extended the length of the Shop-Vac suction hose, (they're usually too short to reach into the engine compartment), by using another hose with the nozzle stuck into the end that's supposed to go into the Shop-Vac. It stays connected if you firmly insert it into the hose. Even any vacuum cleaner hose will work, too. Sometimes you'll see vacuum cleaners with their hoses in front of people's houses on their trash day.

I used a single edged razor blade with a shop vac right next to the blade while scraping the crud off of the block to catch all the bits. Then any solvent on a rag like gasoline to wipe the block clean. This was a cast iron block, not aluminum. Worked fine for me.

Amazingly clear video. I rarely watch an entire video of this length, but each minute was informative. Thank you.

used this info to do my volvo 98 s70 head job (burnt valve) in OCT 2016....now its 7-17-2019 still running with 260 k on the clock....works and didn't have any issues ...just used the same disk to do my 2006 s60 oil pan last week ..they last while and stores years and WORK !!!!!

I just got one of those white bristle discs, brilliant for head gaskets wayyyy quicker than doing it by hand makes the job much more enjoyable.

Good video, the idea of any surface prep is to remove crud and not damage the metal of the head or block. Nicely illustrated.

A small yet powerful vacuum cleaner with a plastic drinking straw well taped to the crevice tool will get down into the water channels and around the top piston rings. Better to suck it out first then blow with air. Also when using the whizzers, much like clipping grass with a weedeater, you can use the outward-throwing edge gently to throw the corrosion and grit off the block or head and not into the cylinders. Love the scotchbrite idea. Been using that on high vacuum aluminum and steel at the lab since the 60's. It's the cat's whiskers!

I used this method on my 81 shovel head cam and primary covers. Works like a champ! Thanks again Fordtech.

Great video sir! I really appreciate the close up shots and your detailed explanations all the way through the video of the different processes

Youmust be one of the Master Mechanics for Ford. Love your videos.

Thanks for taking the time to make these videos. I am always open to different methods. safest way on aluminum is razorblade only. But the disk gets it done quick. time is money.

Just watched this video after I bought the yellow and white rotary pads disc. I'm doing a head gasket job on a Hyundai Elantra. Only use them a few times in the past as a forklift mechanic I wanted to make sure I was doing it right. This video was awesome and I thank you. Have only used the yellow one before and on a whim I also purchased the white one I'm glad I did because obviously the yellow one would have been too abrasive for the aluminum head. The video wasn't too long straight-to-the-point very informative and a great mechanic behind it I would say. Thanks again

i use a razor blade to remove remnants on engines that use composite gasket then clean the surface with 180 grit sandpaper and spray some wd40. 180 grit and wd40 is all it takes for mls gaskets never had any issues this way.

got my roloc disk on amazon...it worked so good it cleaned the block just like the video! for $25 bucks you couldn't get cleaner or smoother..wasn't fun to do but worked so good id never use any thing else...this video saved me $1000 bucks !

Great vid. One thing I would suggest, to sqirt some oil on piston rings before the rotary cleaning. Then vacuum the oil out to get the grit when your done. But clearly you are the voice of experience, so I'm subscribing.

your videos are great! Thanks so much for passing on your knowledge. I've only owned my 2002 f150 4.6l for a year but it has 200k miles on it. I expect I will be doing this eventually. Thanks again!

I've done it this same way for years plug holes beforehand and use a vac

Good video. I also primarily use brown scotch brite pads when prepping block decks. I found that using WD40 with the pad sometimes helps remove stubborn head gasket gunk around the cooling jackets.

The top machine shop in my area uses wire wheels on iron and soda blasting on aluminum. On my personal projects I scrape as much as I can with a blade, and finish with wet sand paper and a piece of thick plate glass. Plate glass is as accurate as a typical resurfacing machine at a machine shop, but takes much longer. Use alternating directions. Don't use finer that 220 grit because the small peaks and valleys will bite into the gasket and help it seal.

I use a wet sharpening hone , you can hold it flat and cleans and takes off any high spots

Been doing this way for 20 years on any engine. As I'm like you. Do it once the right way and I don't have to worry about doing it again.

I've been using homemade mix of acetone and atf on any rusty or oily anything! It cleans , lubes, and basically swoops ass on it , also helps break carbon loose . Those rolocs can make wavy surface really fast, I like the comment on using sharpening stone and oil too, do u use a machinist steel straight edge and check or just find the fattest graphite p.o.s. gasket to fill any errors? I'm using steel shim gasket on my 396 today .

excellent info I'm currently working on a 2002 Mercedes C240 spark plug change out 4 hours later I've got all 12 plugs out the $500 dollars the dealership wanted is starting to look like a bargain ha ha! oh well back to work BTW just finished head gasket replacement on a 3.0 Ford 6 cylinder all good in the neighborhood never thought of scotchbrite good stuff thanks

I use those 3M discs myself! They are amazing. If you use them right it's like they polish the surface. Especially the white disc.

You're an asset to Ford. You take your time to do it right. Saves headache for the owner and the mechanic later on. Good job!

I understand you don't want any comments but I want to give positive feedback. I have a what I believe is a head gasket failure in my 2002 Civic and I appreciate the explanation and advice you give. I will try to replace it myself. My mechanic said that both mating surfaces need to be machine which is why he quote north of $1000 Canadian for the job. The car isn't worth that much.

Many different methods for cleaning aluminum heads, but so long as you don't gouge the heads and grind dips in em, nearly any old way will work. I've taken utility knive blades and scrapped lightly in a backwards direction and that worked good too, then followed up by one of those pads you were using. There are some head gaskets for aluminum heads that requires the heads to be nearly perfect, but for those I've used copper seal spray and it worked just fine.

Excellent tips, thank you.

In addition to the rags, I also use a shop vac at the same time as the 3M to suck up as much grit as possible as it is made vs letting it stick to wet or oily surfaces.

Great video Brian. Thanks for the tips! 👍🏼

Awesome video, that is almost exactly how I do it in my garage. Clean install

Do you recommend spraying anything into the oil passages to get and contaminants/debris flushed down to oil pan and change the oil? I can flush the coolant fine but I’m always concerned about getting contaminants in the oil when I do these jobs.

Thanks a bunch for this video! And putting the products in the comments. I am going to see if you have a video about doing cam phasers on a 5.4. Mine are starting to tick at hot engine below 1200 and i figure i should start learning.

The concerns everyone has about the abrasives in the oil passages can easily be taken care of with old fashioned foam shaving cream. Just spray a little into each passage as well as the cylinders and vacuum it out after with a shop vac. After that poor a little oil down each passage and use a lint free clock to lubricate each cylinder. Having cheap oil to put into the engine after the job is done and draining it after a short warm up or test drive is also important.

Excellent video! Def sounds like the dentist office lol. I live up north, and needed something to clean part of a gasket surface due to corrosion from road salts. This answered my question. Thanks

Ford tech.. has got to be the BEST ford guy on KZfaq, he's my go-to guy, then Chris fix and a couple others.

I filled the bores with fresh oil applied to paper towels or clean rags. Then I used sandpaper to clean the deck. Finally laquer thinner to do final clean. Never had a failure after that.

Nice job, I usually use 400 then 600 on a block. Also use some carb cleaner to clean up the pistons. But that's just paranoid me.

Ford had many different ways they wanted their blocks and heads cleaned, over the years, while working at the dealership. The correct way to have a non directional finish without removing all of the mean root surface. Well that was over 20 years ago, and never a comeback or concern. great video.

Thank you bro, finally an answer ive been searching and well ur video by far the best

Awesome video, glad you didn’t disable comments

Thanks Brian! Going out today, to buy the supplies to prep mine.

I've heard scotch brite will damage the oil... is it safe for a lower intake manifold for a 4.2l ford?

Large sharpening stone with lightweight oil for cast iron. Just tough around the dowel pins if u leave em in. Brings out the original factory machining patterns . Been using sharpening stone since old timer from Ohio showed me in the 80's.

@fordtechmakuloco does this procedure work to remove gasket material from 2002 BMW 330i transmission surface and pan? I believe it’s aluminum. Thanks!

about to put my heads on right now.. thanks for the info!!! good video!!!

Another great vid. Must be absolutely clean if not tear down needed again, learned the hard way lol. . Never saw the drill grinders, thanks.

When I worked at GM they stopped us from using the rolocs because the plastic contaminates the cylinder bores and gets into the rings and causes scratches

I just use a shop vac for the coolant and cleaning out cylinders. but wow that engine looks horrible! i just did a volvo 5 cylinder with 257k on it and it looked brand new inside. good job cleaning it up

This is was actually a great help since I don't normally do head gaskets in my business. I recently pulled the heads off a minivan but sent them to a machine shop. It was $150 to have them leak checked, machined and cleaned. I couldn't think of a good way to get the swirls marks out of the block and your method works great. Takes time to keep cleaning but it looks great. I couldn't find the scotchbrite red so I used the maroon metal finishing pad from Home depot and it came out great. It's not as fine, but all of the swirl marks are gone.

Those who don’t like your advice need to make their own video! It’s so irritating to see complaints when someone shares their knowledge and expertise.

Is there a suggested method for cleaning the bottom of the valve guides?

That’s too much work lol I’ve had great success and just using a quick razor blade to get around the cylinders leave everything else alone and torque it 2 pounds more than factory spec. I’ve never had a problem and I’ve done 20 of these.

I hold a shop vac tube in one hand while scraping the gasket off with a safety blade in the other hand. Keep your blocks clean!!! I also have made an adapter from pvc piping parts to hook an old clothes washer hose to a shop vac and I can drop it into the block and start filling with water, stop, and vac. I do that several times and what a difference!!! I've pulled a lot of crap from my blocks. IF I need a smaller hose, I can slide another smaller diameter hose inside the washer hose that I've cut one end off. Remember, do not run the shop vac until you have the 'block half', near full of water otherwise it won't dislodge the old debris because it's just vacuuming the trickle of water instead of gulping the mass garbage you dislodged and floated to the top. I use a transmission funnel to fill the water ports above while the hose is in about 5 to 7 inches on the bottom..

Great video man. Helping me alot on my HG job

Great video. Can you please also provide link to 'scotch pad' and what grit you use for this? Thanks.

Interesting, I've never seen it done like this before. The surface looks very good. I use permatex gasket remover and a semi-sharp piece of plastic as a scraper, mostly because I was taught that the grit from any kind of grinding would wear out the pumps for oil and coolant prematurely. Thanks for sharing.

Thanks for the tips! I never considered using a scotch pad.

Will a brass wire brush on an aluminum engine work, I've been redoing the gaskets on an engine the last few days and ive been using a brass brush because it seemed to clean good

hey can you use these for the exhaust manifold/valve mating surface

I just use a nice sturdy foam rubber auto body pad with a sheet of 220 grit or similar grit sandpaper and it comes off quick. Iron block you are not going to do any damages whatsoever. For tight spots , I use a small 2 inch of a paint mixing stick and wrap it with sandpaper.

Another Fantastic Video, Thanks for Taking the time to Make, Edit and Post This. Very Helpful. #help #mechanical #777slots

Bout to do this same job on my younger brothers HHR. Do you have links to the rotary wheels or can they be picked up at any hardware or automotive spot?

Hi Sir, Would you tell me if that Roloc backing plate is the soft, medium or hard version? If you have experience with more than one version what is the difference.

what dose ford recommend using for carbon buildup

The senior master tech at the shop I work at taught me to get as much as possible off with a razor blade then use 600 grit sandpaper with a straight edge and wet sand it till its smooth. This was on aluminum block and heads tho

I have the opposite issue with my front cover. Its aluminum and block is cast. Theres several baked on stubborn spots on the engine as well as the cover. Simply using the scotch brite wont work, I tried. Figure I'm gonna have to use a Rolex on the engine surface as well as the cover. The engine is tricky with the timing chain in the way. Any suggestions or thoughts are appreciated. Good video 👍

I'm getting ready to do head work on my car. This is helping me out so much for the cleaning part

Glad you didn't disable comments! Nice video!

Something I do on holes that are round, use CAT blue plastic hyd. hose caps and place in the holes then as im cleaning just go straight over the holes and shear off the lip of the caps then afterward take a pick and remove the caps, im doing it on a 1972 grove rt75s with a cummins V555 engine, all the holes are round so covering everything was easy

hey there i have a question, 2002 ford f150 5.4l v8, do i really need to remove the engine to change the head gasket ..just curious because i dont have an engine lift

Thank you. Cheers from Australia.

so how did you fix the measure and gauge issue?? the engine could possibly still be warped the way you did it

I have a 1990 ford bronco. I changed the spark plugs, wires, cap and rotor and now it shakes badly and stalls before it even warms up. I’ve triple checked everything including changing spark plugs again. I followed the manual for gapping. I’ve also timed it at tdc as best I could bring that it doesn’t run very long. Do you know what the issue might be?

Hi. On modern common rail turbo diesels would you advise to spray Hylomar onto gasket as a dressing prior to installation?..

Do you have a recommend or have a process to clean the carbon off the top of the Piston and top of the cylinder?

Good information, always was paranoid dealing with aluminum, so easy to go too far and be sol

Hey no way. That's awesomeness. I've been using those for years.

Would it be fine if I just used a scraper it looks fine and smooth it’s my first time changing the head gasket.

I got tiny scratch on head gasket surface aread ar removing head from engine and touched metal insert in corner. Scratch is between head screw hole and coolant area. Any advise how to seal that area so no coolant getting trough?

I have a small brass chisel for thoes stuck on gasket areas. It keeps me from applying too much pressure with the wheel in that area. Its good to keep it sharp with a file.

i use heavy oiled rags to catch debrie,s

You're a champ. Thanks for the video.

So basically I would need the white for like differential covers, transmission pans water pump surfaces?

Damn I didn't even know there was other colors besides green. That's what I've used on all and razor blades. So far I've been lucky. I'll tell them at work yo order white ones.

Thanks for showing us that, what's the difference between that and a round bisket cutter? Keep up the good work

What about polishing the exhaust and intake valve ports?

do you have any videos on replacing head gaskets on a Ford Van? Mine is a E-450 that's why I'm asking.

Take a flat play magnet and some 320 grt paper and go around the oil pan and timing gasket surfaces, i done that yesterday and it works great, I started with 60 grt lighty and finished with 320the magnet will hold it on there perfectly flat if your not pushing on it all awkward, let the magnet hold the steady pressure! You will thank me later! I have not seen anyone do that as a tip in a video, i just came up with it yesterday, you can make a video and it will blow your mind how well and accurate the magnet works, don't have to worry about making a low side, i used the 2 pack little square magnets from harbor freight!🎉

Thank you! Very helpful video .. God bless you!

I learned a lot on this video thank you

so how do you keep the grit from getting in the oil channels and damaging the engine, if you are just sending a head off to be surfaced

Got a 1998 Ford Explorer Sport 4.0 SOHC engine.need to replace head gaskets, can i remove heads without removing the engine, and will it be easy to set back in time.

Excellent video, super informative!

Very helpful thanks

Just answered my own question. Thanks for being awesome.

would there be any benefit to cleaning the carbon off the top of the pistons while you had it open?

I'll show some love to does cilinder heads and valves, they are screaming to be cleaned.

Don't think you spent enough time 😂. Amazing job.