Head bolt torque

-K- · Post by **-K-** » Mon Mar 10, 2003 6:38 am

Can someone give me the steps and torque for the head bolts. Turbo please, my haynes (POS) manual lists a in-lbs final torque that is less than the step before it. "we smoke crack then do a compleat tear down and rebuild." Well, my cheap ass bought it....

thanks

IggDawg · Post by **IggDawg** » Mon Mar 10, 2003 5:36 pm

The thing is that they want to torque it down, then un-do it a little bit, then torque it down again... all this to make sure the seal is proper. IIRC, you torque them to a certain spec and then tehy tell you to do another "quarter turn" after that or something. check it out again. the process is so damn involved I'd hate to think it was incorrect.

-K- · Post by **-K-** » Tue Mar 11, 2003 2:13 am

It says to torque then loosen, then torque to 27 ft-lbs, then torque to 168 in-lbs. 27 ft-lbs is more than 168 in-lbs so WTF, am I missing something?

-K- · Post by **-K-** » Fri Mar 14, 2003 4:43 am

There must be someone with a FSM that can tell me???

magicmike · Post by **magicmike** » Fri Mar 14, 2003 2:36 pm

ok, I dont have the specs but I can explain why it might look funny to you.
Basically you go around and torque the head bolts down with a higher torque spec so you are basically stretching the bolts out a little. Then you back them off and re-torque them to the propper torque. If you dont "break in" the head bolts the pressure will actually stretch the bolts a little and cause premature head gasket failure. So all this process does it stretch them in advance

I have the procedure in one of my books I'll look it up for you

Mike

Post by **Legacy777** » Fri Mar 14, 2003 3:12 pm

this is also why subaru says to use new head bolts.

You will heard different things from different people on that issue.........but subaru's official stance on things is that you shouldn't reuse them.

magicmike · Post by **magicmike** » Fri Mar 14, 2003 6:00 pm

Yes, thats true, I just had my engine rebuilt and I bought all new head bolts and the bolts that connect the two halfs of the motor together (short block) The price was around $180 dollars ish....

I knew it would be a pain in the ass to put the heads on so I had my machinest do it, all and all he didn't charge me any extra

Mike

-K- · Post by **-K-** » Sat Mar 15, 2003 2:14 am

Ok, thanks

georryan · Post by **georryan** » Sun Dec 18, 2005 2:56 am

Is it ok to use the old head bolts, though? Have you guys done it? Should I really be worried if I do?

Post by **Legacy777** » Sun Dec 18, 2005 5:11 am

Yes, reusing the head bolts is fine. I reused mine.

JasonGrahn · Post by **JasonGrahn** » Sun Dec 18, 2005 5:39 pm

Once is good. Twice is pushing. Three times is a no no.

206er · Post by **206er** » Sun Dec 18, 2005 8:32 pm

use the FSM's method which is available online.
I also reused my head bolts, just put oil on them like it says to do.

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Head bolt torque

Head bolt torque