I blew my head gasket on my 1999 Volvo S70 about 6 months ago, I made the decision that I would fix it myself. I have it all apart with no problem but I have finally reached a problem. I can not get to the head gasket because the head refuses to come off. I have taken off all the screws holding it on and have looked all around for screws holding it on and there are none. One side of the head is higher off than the other, and even when hammering down the side that is up the other side refuses to pop off. I don't want to pry it off with a crow bar since that will ruin it, I worked on hammering it down for about an hour and a half last night, that includes pulling on side up while hammering down the other side. I was wondering why it is not coming up, is there something I haven't done, is there a trick to it? Thank you

 

What side is up higher? and what all did you take off to get to it?

 

I took off everything since I'm doing this job, including the two upper bolts on the alternator bracket. The driver side is higher than the passanger side.

 

The only part I can think of over on the passenger side is the rear water outlet. It comes out next to the exhaust manifold and is a royal pain to remove and install. Other than that, the head should come off.