can i re-torque stock head bolts

GiJoE1000 · 01-27-2010, 06:28 AM

I have retorqued the head bolts now but was it worth the trouble??????????????
So far im not sure?!?! Im not sure how much better it is but it definately hasnt made it any worse.
I was able to drive the car today for about an hour with the aircon on (rather than the heater!) and the temp only moved up by 1 notch when i was in traffic and sat at a set of lights for 2 changes.
I wonder if just flushing the system and putting the 50:50 mix of coolant and deionised water wouldve had the same effect without the several hours spent on the tools!

The drain plug to drop the water out of the block was a bitch to get to and was VERY tight! I couldnt see it behind the heatshields.
After it was refillled with coolant/water, i ran it for ages with the car parked so the rad was up high and the heater on flat out. Also removed the thermostat to help but still had bubbles. Not as many as before but still a fairly constant stream. I torqued it up to 75 ft/lb's with a wrench that was recently calibrated, im wondering if i shouldve gone a few more ft/lb's as ive seen a few posts where people say to go to 80ft/lb's.
The process had definately not been done on this motor before though as after cracking each one off a quarter of a turn, my first run with the torque wrench set at 55ft/lb's saw then tightened a fraction tighter than where they were when i started. Then 2 more runs at 65 and 75.
As i say ill give it a few days to settle and a few more attempts to burp the system and ill make some enquiries about getting the HG done properly.

01-27-2010, 06:28 AM	#20
GiJoE1000 Stock Join Date: Jan 2010 Location: Sydney, NSW, Australia Posts: 3	Retorquing head bolts. I have retorqued the head bolts now but was it worth the trouble?????????????? So far im not sure?!?! Im not sure how much better it is but it definately hasnt made it any worse. I was able to drive the car today for about an hour with the aircon on (rather than the heater!) and the temp only moved up by 1 notch when i was in traffic and sat at a set of lights for 2 changes. I wonder if just flushing the system and putting the 50:50 mix of coolant and deionised water wouldve had the same effect without the several hours spent on the tools! The drain plug to drop the water out of the block was a bitch to get to and was VERY tight! I couldnt see it behind the heatshields. After it was refillled with coolant/water, i ran it for ages with the car parked so the rad was up high and the heater on flat out. Also removed the thermostat to help but still had bubbles. Not as many as before but still a fairly constant stream. I torqued it up to 75 ft/lb's with a wrench that was recently calibrated, im wondering if i shouldve gone a few more ft/lb's as ive seen a few posts where people say to go to 80ft/lb's. The process had definately not been done on this motor before though as after cracking each one off a quarter of a turn, my first run with the torque wrench set at 55ft/lb's saw then tightened a fraction tighter than where they were when i started. Then 2 more runs at 65 and 75. As i say ill give it a few days to settle and a few more attempts to burp the system and ill make some enquiries about getting the HG done properly.