I have recently bought a 2001 SE7 w/121k that has a blown head gasket. I have stripped the engine down and had the heads checked and refinished at a machine shop. When installing the new head bolts I followed the recommended 15 ft/lbs +90 +90 routine but some of the bolts were getting 150 ft/lbs before they could go in the final 90 degrees. This seemed very high so I did not continue to tighten the ones that tripped the torque wrench. Is a final torque over 150 normal? If so will I have a high risk of blowing this head gasket because I did not give all of the bolts the final 90 degree turn? Thanks for reading.

 

did you happen to blow all the water out of the bolt holes in the block? if not you could be suffering from hydro lock.

 

I agree with water in the bolt holes. Could also be chewed up threads in the block. You want to make sure to get the right amount of stretch out of each bolt. I have never done the final torque stages with my torque wrench, so I can not comment on how much you should see normally. But actual torque value does not matter on the bolts, its all about clamping force created/allowed by the stretch of the bolt.

 

start over.
You will need new head bolts..

I never measured the torque.
put them to 15 lbs first turn.

2nd turn
3 turn - I used a huge long pipe and cranked them without looking back.

I did try to chase out antifreeze from the holes using shop rag rolled into a cylinder and dipped down the holes.

 

There's a better alternative, but drowssap will get annoyed if I mention ARP.

 

hey I'm all for ARP, always have been I would never do another set of head gasket with changing over.
As I have stated there is a reason all high volume LR rebuilders on the other side of the pond use ARP stud and it not because they like spending the extra $80.

 

So, to answer the question, final torques is usually in the high 70's to low 80 foot pounds of torque.
Yes, water in the holes can cause the excess pressure. So as mentioned, buy another set of new stretch bolts or better yet a stud set, add head bolt thread lubricant as directed my the directions on the label and then install/torque the heads again.

 

if you don't have compressed air to clean out the bolt holes, you can use brake cleaner or carb cleaner either one will evaporate after the water is gone.

 

Unfortunately I did not read this until after I got the engine reassembled. When I put the bolts in I did use thread lube but I did not remember to clean out the holes in the block. The bolts were all turned at least an additional 50' after being torqued to 15 ft/lbs. Since I will have to buy new parts to re-do the heads, I want to just run the engine as is. Will I definitely blow the head gasket again trying to run the engine like this? Sorry if this is a dumb question.

 

I would suggest against it, but it you're truck.