Removal (16-Valve)
- Release fuel pressure. See FUEL PRESSURE RELEASE under REMOVAL & INSTALLATION. Disconnect negative battery terminal. Drain cooling system.
- Remove air cleaner assembly. Label and disconnect all relevant electrical connections, fuel lines, coolant hoses, vacuum hoses and control cables from distributor, throttle body and intake manifold.
- Remove intake manifold with gasket, intake surge tank and throttle body. Remove exhaust manifold heat shield. Raise vehicle and disconnect exhaust pipe from exhaust manifold. Lower vehicle and remove exhaust manifold. Remove cooling fan, water pump pulley and cooling fan shroud.
- Remove timing belt. Before removing timing belt, ensure timing marks are aligned. See TIMING BELT under REMOVAL & INSTALLATION. Using Camshaft Gear Spanner Wrench (J-41840), remove camshaft timing belt gear.
- If equipped with A/C, loosen support brackets and clamps, and without discharging system, position out of the way. Remove valve cover. Remove distributor, valve cover and distributor case. Loosen all valve adjusting screw lock nuts and adjusting screws until rocker arms are loose, to ensure all valves are closed.CAUTION: On 16-valve engines, camshaft can be damaged if camshaft carrier bolts are removed in a random order.
- Remove camshaft, see CAMSHAFT (16-Valve) under REMOVAL & INSTALLATION. Loosen cylinder head bolts in reverse order of tightening sequence. See Figure. Loosen head bolts evenly in 3 steps to prevent cylinder head warpage. Remove cylinder head bolts, cylinder head and gasket.