Stupid Question about Head Gaskets

[scruffboy]

If Toyota did not Torque the head bolts to the correct strength, why can't they just be torqued down a little harder? Wouldn't that be a preventive measure to guard against blowing the gasket?

Duh,

James

[ddmcse]

generally ...it's too "F" ing late
people think about changing oil and stuff like that . but who thinks " gosh i should re-torque my head this weekend"?
people learn about the head gasket issue because they are having issues and that usually means the gasket is already leaking .. a torque might help but it's already started seeping or leaking by then

[SupraMan1784]

yea by the time you notice it...its alrdy too late...you can do stuff to try and prevent it..but its like halfway there so you might as well just change it, coming from teh factory you would expect a car to be pretty much in pristine condition and it should last you longer than you expect, sometimes these things happen....they coulda done a recall..but it woulda cost more to do the recall than to just torque down the bolts themselves

[scruffboy]

What if its not too late? My engine runs great and it doesn't leak oil. I never have to top off fluids. My last car, a Mazda, leaked coolant and oil all over the place. But this engine seems really tight. I've gotten it up to 140 mph on our limited straigt aways here in New Jersey, and she still purrs like a kitten when I pull out of the drive way every morning to go to work. I do regular oil changes and just started using Syntech, had a tuneup done, and generally just keep an eye on things like oil pressure guage and so on. I was always told, if it aint broke don't fix it. So can I torque down those bolts or what?

[SupraMan1784]

yea u can...it will be a good preventative measure...i would do it, wouldnt wanna take a chance at the moment, haha limited straights...you dont need limited straights to go fast....plus we got a lot of cops....

[ddmcse]

is it a turbo ?
with an N/A your chances of getting a blown HG are lower . it will not hurt to torque them .
if you are gonna keep punching it on the highway be prepaired

[toyota_guru]

Originally Posted by SupraMan1784

yea by the time you notice it...its alrdy too late...you can do stuff to try and prevent it..but its like halfway there so you might as well just change it, coming from teh factory you would expect a car to be pretty much in pristine condition and it should last you longer than you expect, sometimes these things happen....they coulda done a recall..but it woulda cost more to do the recall than to just torque down the bolts themselves

Toyota did do a warranty recall, just like the HG recall on the 3.0 v6, only covered it up to 100k. You cannot just retorque the factory head bolts, they are a one time use stretch bolt. they are designed to stretch to torque. you need to purchase new factory bolts and retourque them to 75psi or get a stud kit. if the dealership replaces the HG, you get new bolts and the are torqued to 75psi to prevent this from happening again.