SuzukiSavage.com - Retorque headbolts?

Henrik

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Retorque headbolts?
11/15/13 at 05:46:58

Ok, here is the thing, i have been taking the head cover of to fix the head plugg leak, but I also purchased new head bolts and copper washers because all of them look like rusty old crap. The idea was to take them of and switch to new ones. But after some research on the internet and this forum it seems that are different opions about wheter it is a good idea or not. Some say the headgasket can get damaged by releasing the pressure when switching bolts, some says loose them all in a crisscross pattern, some say loose one at a time, some say just apply the torque to check if they are loose. So iam a litle bit confused about what to do, leave it or change, any opinions? (Also i dont know if the bolts are leaking because the oil could just as well been coming from the plug leak.)

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Re: Retorque headbolts?
Reply #1 - 11/15/13 at 08:26:47

I haven't touched mine... "If it ain't broke, don't fix it"...

...but, if they're really rusty, I can see why you might want to...
On the other hand,.. if they're really rusty, some may break, and you'll be in a lot more trouble...
Secondly,.. once yer' in there,.. should you go ahead and do rings, clean the carbon off the piston, new head gasket, maybe rebore?...

Also,... I'd wonder how they got rusty?... They are under a cover and mostly bathed in oil...
Has the bike spent a lot of time outside, not running?...
I'm guessing if the head bolts are badly rusted,... you may have rust in the bore and rings, wrist pins, etc... maybe cam, and rockers...

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verslagen1

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Re: Retorque headbolts?
Reply #2 - 11/15/13 at 09:30:14

To retorque them, each set of threads has to be oiled to get the torque right.

So, you can't just torque them.

And I wouldn't loose them all, that might break whatever seal they have and allow oil to enter, then you will have a leak.

So that leaves loosen one at a time, remove, clean, oil, replace and torque.

I can see how some will worry, but I don't see another course of action that doesn't require replacing the head gasket.

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Henrik Junior Member Offline SuzukiSavage.com Rocks! Posts: 70 Sweden, Jönköping Gender:	Re: Retorque headbolts? Reply #3 - 11/15/13 at 15:12:03 I will leave them for now and see what happens after the head cap plug has been changed. Maybe put some presure on to see that they are not loose. But thats it for the moment. Thanks!
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justin_o_guy2

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Re: Retorque headbolts?
Reply #4 - 11/15/13 at 19:28:56

If the head plug aint leakin, dont mess with it,,
I sold mine with 20,000 miles on it, never touched the head or the plug,
never leaked,, IDK WHY anyone would need to "Retorque" a head.. Ive had lawnmowers,, never retorqued them,& this engine is not one bit more sophisticated than a lawnmower, N ever bought a car & had to have the head retorqued,,Looks like one of those things that a dealership would cover, oncew, then the customer takes it in,, to pay for nothing..

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Henrik Junior Member Offline SuzukiSavage.com Rocks! Posts: 70 Sweden, Jönköping Gender:	Re: Retorque headbolts? Reply #5 - 11/16/13 at 00:12:24 The head cover is already of and it has been leaking. Probably it is because of the famous plug. But the oil spreads all over so it is hard to say where it came from.
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justin_o_guy2

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Re: Retorque headbolts?
Reply #6 - 11/16/13 at 06:58:21

Wellpp,, then I spose youre gonna need a fresh plug & some goo to seal it.
I wouldnt bother with the head bolts, in fact, Ive had the cover off either 2 or 3 times,, didnt mess with the head bolts,,that whole, back it out, clean/oil/replace thing looked like a waste of time,, &, IMO, it is. I dont see any reason for retorquing. If itll run 5,000 miles & not bust a head gasket,,then how many heat, cool cycles will the bolts take before they stretch & lose the clamping force that keeps the head gasket intact? Mine went 20,000 miles, never a problem,,
If you got yours used & over 5,000 miles, maybe they did do the head bolts & didnt use pooky to seal the plug,, That has been known to happen by shops. IIRC, the Zuki service manual doesnt call for pooky on the plug, but people decided to go that way with great success..

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Re: Retorque headbolts?
Reply #7 - 11/17/13 at 15:45:24

I really don't think you are going to be a loser either way. We have never really experienced a head gasket failure....so as long as the head stud nuts are tight you should not have any problems by just leaving them alone. Normally they are corroded enough that it takes a lot of effort to get them moving....so they are not going to vibrate loose for any reason on their own.

If you want to torgue them.....that could be done as well. If you loosen and take only one off at a time.....you are going to have 5 others holding the cylinder and head in contact....nothing is going to move or release the head gasket. I would suggest that you put some penetrating oil on them all and let them soak a while. Take one loose, clean up the threads (and use the new nuts you bought), then either oil or use never seize on the threads, and tighten the nut down just a bit less than the listed torque value. Continue this with the other 3 studs.....then in a criss cross pattern bring the nuts up to the proper torque.

Dave

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Henrik Junior Member Offline SuzukiSavage.com Rocks! Posts: 70 Sweden, Jönköping Gender:	Re: Retorque headbolts? Reply #8 - 11/18/13 at 00:15:23 Thanks!
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