head gasket leak

[scoot]

:k10: hi folks as youll have read from my previous threads my k10s head gasket is leaking its pushing coolant into the expansion bottle any ways seen as the weathers a bit baltic up here for a top end strip down i was wondering if i can get away with torqueing the head down more to say 55ftlb the manual says between 43 to 47 so its not that much more im new to using torque wrenches for years i just used to tighten things up till you couldnt move it any more but im getting a bit saner in my old age :laugh: :laugh:

 

[cardiffboy27]

if you do watch out you dont damage the thread on the main head as you will then need 2 get it helicoiled or somthing along the same lines,
one of my head bolts went this way and it ended up costing me £50 just to have a new thread on the engine block!

 

[bombz4]

i guess it may help a tad but its still a very bad idea! i dont think theres a way around it tbh. although it may slow down the leak. ive been on the drive all day some things just have to be done!

 

[Fordy]

have you checked that your thermostat isnt faultly? (not opening)

 

[Ed]

And more to the point once a headgasket has gone, its gone.. You need to change it NOT tighten it.

 

[Arnold]

How long will the car run for with a dodgey head gasket until something goes pear shaped? and whats the likely outcome of leaving it unfixed.

 

[RaptorRVL]

It kinda depends on where it's leaking I suppose. In the end it will only get worse over time.
I think tightening the head isn't a good solution, and might not help at all. You could try to re-torque it to see if it hasn't loosen up just a little bit over the years (who knows, although I don't think that will be the case lol ).

Still the best way would be to change the headgasket properly and then it's also nicely re-torqued.

 

[cardiffboy27]

the quick way i found out was just unbolt the down pipe and leave the inlet manafold in place just thae the odd pipes off the head will lift up and tilt enough to sort the problem, i managed to do mine in about 50 mins as apposed to taking both sides right off

 

[Ed]

You cannot do it like that, or rather it may be possible but its a terrible idea. The head must be removed, the cambelt must be replaced, the decks cleaned and checked. I just don't understand the mentality of people who carry out the most awful and pointless cost cutting methods of mechanics. It will always bite you in the long run.

 

[scoot]

You cannot do it like that, or rather it may be possible but its a terrible idea. The head must be removed, the cambelt must be replaced, the decks cleaned and checked. I just don't understand the mentality of people who carry out the most awful and pointless cost cutting methods of mechanics. It will always bite you in the long run.

hi i replaced the head gasket a couple of months ago and about a fortnight after that i noticed the coolant was getting pushed out that is why im thinking of torquing the head down may be it wasnt tightened down enough at the time i would do it right but the car lives out in the street and we,ve been getting torrential rain etc up here for the past month or so

 

[RaptorRVL]

Ah, that seems like an important piece of information there
In that case it might be handy to re-torque it again (doing according to haynes specs).

How did you torgued it first? Becasue it has to be done in a certain sequence and in a few steps if I remember correctly.

 

[scoot]

Ah, that seems like an important piece of information there
In that case it might be handy to re-torque it again (doing according to haynes specs).

How did you torgued it first? Becasue it has to be done in a certain sequence and in a few steps if I remember correctly.

hi i torqued it down to the first figures then slackened the bolts off in sequence then re-torqued them down to the second figures in sequence i cleaned all the mating surfaces off till they were absolutely spotless the only thing i can think of is that the head bolts have stretched a wee bit ?

 

[RaptorRVL]

Hmm.. if you changed the headgasket and torqued it correctly I don't really see much of a reason to torque it again.
You could try and do it again with normal figures (don't torqued it more than needed) and see if that helps. Although it should have been ok to start with.
Here the dutch version of the haynes manual does say to retorque it after some time so it's not generally a bad thing to do it one time again after a headgasket change.

Otherwise the change might have gone wrong. Seems weird the gasket blows in a couple of months.
Did you remove the old gasket properly? And made sure there was nothing left and no bumps etc.
And was the head also in good condition? (cleaned and properly checked for any warping etc).

 

[scoot]

Hmm.. if you changed the headgasket and torqued it correctly I don't really see much of a reason to torque it again.
You could try and do it again with normal figures (don't torqued it more than needed) and see if that helps. Although it should have been ok to start with.
Here the dutch version of the haynes manual does say to retorque it after some time so it's not generally a bad thing to do it one time again after a headgasket change.

Otherwise the change might have gone wrong. Seems weird the gasket blows in a couple of months.
Did you remove the old gasket properly? And made sure there was nothing left and no bumps etc.
And was the head also in good condition? (cleaned and properly checked for any warping etc).

hi yeah i did all the checks if i re-torqued the bolts would i have to remove /slacken off the cambelt tensioner?then tighten bolts then re-tighten the cambelt tensioner

 

[RaptorRVL]

Hmm.. well I don't think it will go down that much would it?
Although it can't hurt to check the cambelt and do the tensioner thing I guess

 

[Fordy]

hi yeah i did all the checks if i re-torqued the bolts would i have to remove /slacken off the cambelt tensioner?then tighten bolts then re-tighten the cambelt tensioner

did you leave the cam belt on? when you were tightening the head down?

 

[Slim]

you dont need to slacken them off in a K10. By doing this, you have effectivly knackered your gasket, because when you tighten it down for the second time, it wont be sealing as well.

 

[scoot]

did you leave the cam belt on? when you were tightening the head down?

hi mate no i had the cambelt off and done everything as per haynes manual concerning rebuild blah,blah,blah

you dont need to slacken them off in a K10. By doing this, you have effectivly knackered your gasket, because when you tighten it down for the second time, it wont be sealing as well.

why ?would the haynes manual tell you to re-do it if it nacks the gasket ?is that the way yous do it or just torque it down to the second figures if so then when i come to doing it ill just tighten it down to the second torque figures

 

[Fordy]

why ?would the haynes manual tell you to re-do it if it nacks the gasket ?is that the way yous do it or just torque it down to the second figures if so then when i come to doing it ill just tighten it down to the second torque figures

thats because when you tighten down a cylinder head on most/all nissans you have to firstly tighten it down, slacken them off then tighten them down again

the slackening part is to account for the heating and cooling of the head,and it shouldnt nacker the head gasket if you only slacken them off so they are just finger tight