head bolts leaking coolant

[tenor7]

About 3 years ago i put AFR heads on my 302 in my 88 GT. Right away i noticed a little coolant very slowley seeping from some of the head bolts (all were the lower ones that hit the water jacket). Fast forward to today, now there seems to be coolant coming from all the lower head bolts and i can smell coolant when stopped at lights. My question is this, would it be O.K. to remove one headbolt at a time, reseal the threads, reinstall it, then re-torque it. I want to do this so i do not have to remove the heads just to re-seal the headbolt threads.

 

[FISHTAIL]

Stock head bolts? Then no. Those are torque to yield (read; one time use only) so there is no reusing the bolt in the first place. If that's what you did, that might be part of your problem. If you have AFR studs now, then you could probably get away with this, but be careful to re-torque all of the bolts, in order, once you've removed the offending stud.

 

[wheelhopper]

^You just like typing "stud".

 

[tenor7]

In response to FISHTAIL I did leave out that bit of info about my headbolts. I used ARP headstuds and ARP thread sealer. After i fisrt noticed the seeping i found that most people were using permatex high temperature thread sealant with high success. I am hoping to reseal the threads with the permatex and the least amount of engine tear. (i.e. without removing the heads) I thank you for your help. Im going to give it a shot. Ill let you know if it worked.

 

[93sspcoupe]

your problem is using thread sealent on the headbolts. also you cant remove just one bolt at a time and then retorque one at a time. they all gotta be removed and gasket replaced

 

[tenor7]

your problem is using thread sealent on the headbolts. also you cant remove just one bolt at a time and then retorque one at a time. they all gotta be removed and gasket replaced

Well if I have to redo the head gaskets I will but, what do I use then to stop the coolant from coming up the studs in the water jacket?:shrug:

 

[FISHTAIL]

your problem is using thread sealent on the headbolts. also you cant remove just one bolt at a time and then retorque one at a time. they all gotta be removed and gasket replaced

While I agree that he will probably need to remove them all and replace the gasket, I don't agree with the sealant comment. ARP even states in the card you get with the stud kit that thread sealant is required to prevent leaking where the bolts go into the water jackets.

In fact, the reason I remember this is because I put my car together without using thread sealant, filled the cooling system, started it, and had water gushing out the bolt holes in the back of the block. I noticed the ARP card when I went to recheck what my torque specs were, pulled the heads, cleaned it all up, put on thread sealant and did it again. No leaks now.

 

[93sspcoupe]

i was meaning only use thread sealant on the shorter bolts not the longer ones.