[Supra_Dre]

I decided to do a retorque of the head bolts and found that they were all at stock 56 ft-lbs. Then I tightened them to 76 ft-lbs, only to find that they were already that tight also. Does this tell me anything about the condition of the head (gasket)? I've had the car for two years, dont know if the previous owner cared to do a HG change or retorque.

 

[BadBoyToy]

Did you loosten the bolts off a little bit before you torqued them to 76 ft/lbs?

 

[di_rosa]

^^, agreed, if you do not loosen them before you torque them, then you will get completely inaccurate readings.

 

[FromDaStreetz]

could you take the stock bolts out 1 by 1 and replace them with arp head bolts then torque them down?

 

[Supra_Dre]

this is from an article from http://www.supras.nl/maintenanceRetorque.htm
"NEVER loosen the bolts before you retorque them. This will cause damage to the HG which is already compressed and not in favor of recompressing....When you loosen a bolt, you can you can leak coolant or oil (into the engine), DO NOT LOOSEN THE HEADBOLTS TO GET THEM FASTENED EASIER."

 

[Johnny Dangerously]

could you take the stock bolts out 1 by 1 and replace them with arp head bolts then torque them down?

you know you dont really have to do that..u just need to break them loose.

edit: my bad, i read your post wrong. On a stock composite HG, i dont think its the best idea to take out the bolts and replace them considering the composite HG has already been torqued down...releasing its hold can cause the HG to break, crack, damage etc.

its a chance, no doubt...just depends on how desperate u are i guess.

 

[di_rosa]

then you will never get a proper reading. this HAS been discussed like 10000x, and as stated before, it will NOT decompress if you do it 1 bolt at a time, there are 13 other bolts to hold it in place.

anywyas, go read the other threads for more info before you get flamed for not searching.

 

[GrimJack]

Agreed, this has been beaten to death already. You can't get a real torque reading unless you back the bolt off a bit... and backing it off might damage the existing gasket.

That said, most people who are willing to risk the retorque just back them off 1/4 turn then retorque, one at a time.

 

[Racefiend]

There is no way you're going to cause the head gasket to leak by loosening one bolt. You have 5 bolts within close proximity that keep the head compressing the gasket. Any slight movement in the head that MAY happen will probably be less than the normal expansion/contraction of the aluminum as it heats up and cools down.

 

[Supra_Dre]

.......shit.....already put everything back together........oh well