head gasket on a 95 mercury sable?

[shawnd518]

what is involved in changing one, and how long should it take?

[fastweeny66]

if you have the right tools and skill - no problem but if you never did it dont do it - take and get an estimate and time down and have a pro do it - maybe 1000.00$ but well worth it and not your problem if it fails and yes it does take a good 3 days and thats if you have all the tools I reccomend a valve job also new plugs and oil and filter change but beware it may have gotten to the mains and rods and that means new motor
or just junk it now and get a different car there are too many cars out there to justify high dollar repairs

[amistad51]

I did two and both has small burn in the gasket in the front right corner exactly the same. It is so small that maybe if your poor gasket sealer in the radiator it might work. The rear gasket was fine in both instances. It will be a good idea to machine the heads to make sure it won't leak. Another thing you need it is a good torque wrench that just click when you reach the set torque. There is a lot of screws and there is special torquing sequence. Make sure you oil the valve mechanisms with special engine build oil. Be liberal on it. Even with that, the engine is going to sound very bad at first when you start it until the oil reaches to the valves. I spend many weeks on it working few hours at night. It is nice to do it in the winter because you don't get hot.

[Snagelfritz]

4 or 6 cylinder? I have a 92 Taurus same car. 3.8 V-6.
Have to remove all the Crap on top; Plenum (Air Intake), Hoses, Wires, Valve Covers, Exhaust Manifolds, Alternator and Brackets. It seem a lot, and may be, but, YOU CAN DO IT MAN. You may want to get a Repair manual at Auto-Zone etc. The Head Bolts may need replaced with new ones, I not sure. Some Fords/Mercuries the Head Bolts are first Torqued to a Specific Foot-Pound, this Stretches the Bolt (Yes, designed to stretch) THEN, you Torque to Specs. Use the old bolts and Trouble. A manual give this information for $15 +/- well worth the money for the work involved. You can do this in a day working easy.