The 1997 Ford Aerostar was the last model of the Aerostar minivan that Ford Motor Co. produced. The minivan came equipped with either a 3.0- or 4.0-liter engine that could output up to 152 horsepower at 4,750 revolutions per minute. If you happen to have a blown gasket, you need to replace the component for your vehicle to work properly. There are various causes of a blown head gasket including dirty bolts, wrong gasket design for the minivan or an overheated engine.
Instructions
1. Wait until your minivan is cold before you start working on replacing the head gasket in the 1997 Ford Aerostar. Take the cable from the battery. Drain the coolant from the vehicle in a clean sealable container. You can reuse the coolant from the vehicle.
2. Lift the front of the minivan with a floor jack and support the Aerostar with jack stands. Take off the resonator assembly. Place the vehicle back to the ground. Mark and ticket the component under the hood, such as the distributor cap, spark plugs and distributor.
3. Continue to label and tag all the parts under the hood. Disconnect or take off the upper engine parts, including the vacuum hoses, dipstick, rocker arm cover, intake manifold, the pulley belt, radiator hose, timing belt, timing belt cover, exhaust manifold and all connectors.
4. Take the cylinder head bolts off the vehicle and discard. Clean the surface of the head gasket mating at the block, intake manifold gasket facade and the cylinder head. Get the oil out of the cylinder head bolt holes with compressed air. Put the new head gasket in place and sit the cylinder in position.
5. Put the new bolts in place in a two-step pattern. Torque to 50 to 60 foot-pounds on the first round and 80 to 90 foot-pounds on the second round. Connect all wires, plugs, connectors and assemblies back to the minivan. Consult a Ford Aerostar repair manual for the torque measurements for the other bolts on the vehicle.
6. Look at the cylinder head for wear and examine the warpage. The warpage should measure below 0.0020 inches. Position the new gasket facing upward. Return new cylinder head bolts in a three-step process: Tighten bolts at 22 foot-pounds, 43 foot-pounds and 47 foot-pounds.
7. Return the rest of the Subaru parts in the opposite of order of removing the parts. Check a repair manual fro the particular Subaru you have for the appropriate torque specification for the other bolts.
8. Return the engine block parts back in the opposite of original factory installation. Review a Subaru service manual for the right bolt torque.
Tags: cylinder head, Ford Aerostar, 1997 Ford, 1997 Ford Aerostar, head gasket, bolts vehicle
