Head bolts through the water jacket?

[burley68]

Okay, I'm getting ready to install the cylinder heads back onto my 4.0 OHV & the instructions that came with both the bolts & gaskets (both Felpro) said to use a pliable non-hardening sealer (RTV) on those bolts entering the coolant passages...Haynes & Chilton's doesn't say squat about this! These bolts don't go through any passages - or am I losing my mind here?

After some quick on-line research on this, I ran across the same question on a 2.9 and the response was they do NOT go through the water jacket. I know, different size motor but there's a lot of similarities between the two. Just need a sanity check on this.

Another note - my Haynes & Chilton's disagree on oiling the head bolts. Chilton's says do it (so does FelPro) but Haynes doesn't say anything about it. Torque them oiled or dry?

Putting my project on hold til I get an answer...

Thanks!

 

[351rangerxxx]

oil the bolts.

 

[Toms01PSD]

I didn't oil the bolts as my AllData instructions didn't say anything about oiling them.

 

[burley68]

Thanks for the quick replies. So at least we all agree that they don't need sealant right?

 

[trail B2]

The fel pro paperwork might have been CYA boilerplate to get you to check to see if any of the holes went to the water jacket.If it makes you feel any better I just did this three weeks ago no oil, no sealant and it works real nice.What was wierd for me was the 85 degrees past a certain torque but you could feel the bolt stiffen up as you turned it.

 

[Toms01PSD]

The fel pro paperwork might have been CYA boilerplate to get you to check to see if any of the holes went to the water jacket.If it makes you feel any better I just did this three weeks ago no oil, no sealant and it works real nice.What was wierd for me was the 85 degrees past a certain torque but you could feel the bolt stiffen up as you turned it.

Yep. You torque them to spec and then an additional 90 degrees.

 

[GoodOld85BlueBalls]

A bolt that has been over tightened can be just as bad as one that hasn't been tightened to correct torque. A bolt that has been tightened beyond recommended torque specs can easily break. Keep in mind that torque specs will be less for bolts that have oil on them than for clean, dry bolts.

I am one of those that believes that any bolt that is torqued should be lubricated. It goes to say that when you twist two dry surfaces together it can gauld up prety easy. I have been known to reduce the torque a little just to make sure the bolts are lubed up. I feel it is also easier to take things apart when you lube em up. Just never use antisieze on head bolts. That is a no no.

 

[OilPatch197]

I use ARP Teflon paste, specifically designed to prevent wrong torque readings, and it is non hardening. Great stuff.