Guess what's happening this week????
I'm fed up with the lifter tap and my water pump decided to start warning me of impending failure so I gathered my parts together and going to town.
-Replace lifters
-Replace head with a rebuilt 4.2L
-Replace water pump
-Replace thermostat
-Replace timing chain and sprockets
-Clean up the manifolds
-Replace fuel pump
-Change the coolant
-Change the oil (because it's going to be dirty after this)
As it turned out I was not planning on a head replacement but got pushed into sending my spare to the shop last week to be rebuilt anyways. As the old head was unbolted it pried itself up which was a sure-sign the head's warped, so I'm happy that actually turned out okay.
The cylinders have a lot of carbon buildup. I was able to get most of it off using WD-60 and a wire wheel at TDC but there's still some deposits I wasn't able to get off, so it will soak overnight.
The fuel pump was not palnned but when they start weeping form the vent it's only $15 for another one. The chain on the other hand was not planned. The recommendation was since I don't know when it was last done and pretty much everything is pulled out of the front of the car it's a REALLY good and convenient time to do so. That's another $50 in parts but DAMN that damper bolt is tight. With the head removed I can't use the rope trick to pop it off and an impact driver can't make the fit so yaay.