can head bolts be reused?

[whitebroncoii87]

oh, they're likely to break when you torque them that high (the head bolts get the highest torque in a car?). I get that! OK, will go get another box of 8 bolts tomorrow. I certainly don't want to take that risk of bolts breaking in half inside a block. I can appreciate that possibility at that torque strength. Thanks for making it clear!

 

[whitebroncoii87]

I've put the heads back and bolts in but haven't torqued them in case you're wondering. Thanks for putting up the torque specs and sequence, that's really helpful! My bolts turned out to be $26 for 8 since autozone which sells them at 40 for 16 didn't have them in stock (i thought i was getting a bargain at 26 but turned out only 8 were inside..)

 

[turbo91xlt]

I use used oem factory 12pt head bolts on both of my 2.3 turbos without a problem. Word in the 2.3t world say a clean set of oem 12pts are better then the ARP studs since they thread into the block further for better clamping force. A few of the high hp guys swapped in the oem 12pts which cured their head lifting problems under high boost they were having with the studs.

With your average ranger I'd just go with some new TTY bolts and be done with it.

 

[whitebroncoii87]

ok, put back all 16 new head bolts successfully. but broke 3 lower intake manifold bolts (long skinny ones) I set the torque wrench to 11 ft/lb but it never clicked and I kept tightening.. I'm leaving them like that for now.. (is this an urgent matter? what kind of bad things should I be expecting when I get it on the road later?) And how do I go about getting these broken bolts out later on? Thank you!

 

[RonD]

Engine will run Lean at first then computer will turn on CEL and MPG will drop.
You will have a vacuum leak, you should fix it now.

 

[LIMA BEAN]

On little rolling stock, on the road engines just replace the darn things. When you get into bigger industrial nat gas/diesel/methane/bunker fueled ect engines then most likely a person has extensive formal training for head bolt/stud usage. Alot of the larger stuff I delt with for years had heads clamped down in the 600 ft. area so that was with a 6:1 torque divider and make yourself comfortable and row 6, 12 or 16 heads on. On the bigger ones with studs the diameter of a spray paint can you use hydraulics to stretch the studs and remove the nuts, of course the process and tooling leading up to removing a nut/stud that size is extensive including using a hoist to lower them down to be hauled for non destructive inspection/testing and in many cases non re-use and recycled in the ol cauldron. I had good times doing the big stuff all those years but still give love to a chain saw engine. Sorry for off topic OP.

 

[Andy D]

If those long skinny bolts did not matter, the Ford would not have put them there for you to break. Fords are not designed to be repaired. Just about anything I replace on on the Rat has been a struggle that ends with sheared or bent bolts and/or split nuts When I fix something on the Rat. I end up replacing everything with new parts. When I fix the BMW, it is mostly buffing up used parts and such. 25 yr old BMWs are very easy to R+R stuff on.

 

[csargents1546]

A fellow tech had an engineer from Range Rover say try bolts can be reused. Th I s was said when a certain head bolt was on back order. Personally I would not chance it.

 

[whitebroncoii87]

Well, def can't torque to spec with used bolts, I shouldn't have relied on the torque wrench which left me mindlessly cranking the handle like a drone waiting for the click, where as with a regular wrench I'm minding it carefully and usually stop a little under tightened, better safe then sorry.

 

[97RangerXLT]

Dude... rent/ borrow/ steal a working torque wrench...your life will be much better for it after you get everything back together.

AJ

 

[RonD]

I used a vise and some weights to test my old craftsman torque wrench............after having to redo the heads on my 4.0l..............TWICE, lol, 6-9 months apart.

It was "clicking" when set to 60ft/lbs, but it was doing it with 40lbs hanging 12"(1 ft) out from drive, so 20ft/lbs LESS than it should.
30 years old..............go figure.
Got a new torque wrench, heads are still good

 

[whitebroncoii87]

Now that I broke my lower intake manifold bolts I need to get replacements, anyone one know where to get them? I found this on autozone website they are not vehicle specific, will they match?

http://www.autozone.com/external-engine/intake-manifold-bolt/felpro-intake-manifold-bolt/24171_0_0/

Thank you!