Original style hex cyl head bolts

[scottinAZ]

Does anyone know if these were originally torque to yield?

I am trying to trace the root cause of a head gasket failure. Engine had hex style head bolts in it. appears to be a newer head gasket. Obvious signs of leakage around fire rings on five (yes five) cylinders.

It appears some dickhead with wrenches and no common sense reused non-reusable components, hence causing me to have to do it over.






Apologies to said dickhead with wrenches if they are not torque to yeild, but you are still a dickhead for reusing bolts that are to be replaced anyways due to breakage issues......

[StereoInstaller1]

Those bolts may be "metric blues" and they are not TTY, but yeah, all stock M20 head bolts are TTY.

Just get new bolts, $30 for piece of mind is worth it IMO.

[scottinAZ]

Those bolts may be "metric blues" and they are not TTY, but yeah, all stock M20 head bolts are TTY.

Just get new bolts, $30 for piece of mind is worth it IMO.

nope, they aint metric blues.....

I dont intend on re-using them, for 30 bucks, it isnt worth the hassle.

Just trying to find out the root cause on the failure of this head gasket. Seems that some idiot re-used tty bolts, and therefore didnt torque down the head properly (at all). This goes with the feeling I got when the impact had NO problems getting the bolts out, and the fact that the head practically jumped off the block when all the bolts were out.

[jlevie]

It could just as easily be that the head is warped. Now that you have it off, take it to a machine shop and have it surfaced (and have the valves ground and new seals intalled).

[StereoInstaller1]

Can he just do 60 grit on a D/A?

[jlevie]

Can he just do 60 grit on a D/A?

Nope. The purpose of having the head surfaced is to get it flat. I've yet to see a head come off an engine, even when there weren't head gasket leaks, that didn't need surfacing.

[StereoInstaller1]

Can he just do 60 grit on a D/A?

Nope. The purpose of having the head surfaced is to get it flat. I've yet to see a head come off an engine, even when there weren't head gasket leaks, that didn't need surfacing.

Jim, we have just GOT to get that sarcasm meter of your tweaked up just a tiny bit.

[reelizmpro]

LOL well this is R3v. =P Hell yeah they are TTY. BMW even recommended you change those Hex bolts to Torx since they were known to shear. It's pretty common to skim the head and block a wee bit to ensure both surfaces are straight.

[djdropit]

Has anyone ever bought a reconditioned Head and just swapped it out with their original one? I'm considering doing this instead of dealing with resurfacing mine and redoing the valve seating's. Being as I'm a newbie and this is my first head repair I thought it may be an easier route with less opportunity for me to screw up the cam and the valves.

[hotballs]

Can he just do 60 grit on a D/A?

If you don't have a D/A make sure you use a sanding block.

[scottinAZ]

I prefer to use the 3m cookies and a die grinder....:D

[jlevie]

Has anyone ever bought a reconditioned Head and just swapped it out with their original one? I'm considering doing this instead of dealing with resurfacing mine and redoing the valve seating's. Being as I'm a newbie and this is my first head repair I thought it may be an easier route with less opportunity for me to screw up the cam and the valves.

It can be done that way, though a quality rebuilt head is usually a more expensive route.

[reelizmpro]

It can be done that way, though a quality rebuilt head is usually a more expensive route.

I wouldn't. The ready to go reman heads are typically aftermarket (spanish) heads. If ur OE head isn't cracked and still good, have it rebuilt locally. These are old engines now and the 2 valve head shouldn't be hard at all for a local head guy and it'll probably be cheaper too. I bought a rebuilt BMW 885 head complete for $300 off of this site years ago if you want and idea of what they are going for.

[StereoInstaller1]

Has anyone ever bought a reconditioned Head and just swapped it out with their original one? I'm considering doing this instead of dealing with resurfacing mine and redoing the valve seating's. Being as I'm a newbie and this is my first head repair I thought it may be an easier route with less opportunity for me to screw up the cam and the valves.

Take your head to a competent machine shop and have them give you an estimate.

The "valve thing" is something you get to learn as an E30 owner anyway, it is not hard at all. These are about the simplest engine in the world. You have to do the timing belt and valve adjustments anyway, knowing firsthand what fits what is best...you will learn a bunch, but this is an easy car to work on.

Besides, you have R3V to back you up.

One tiny bit of advice: there are 2 plugs right by the diagnostic port. Put a wire tie around 1 of them, on either side of the plug BEFORE you take apart your motor. Doing it that way means you know which plug fits which socket, as they are interchangeable. Only take a couple of seconds to prevent a major head scratcher.

Luke

[jlevie]

Jim, we have just GOT to get that sarcasm meter of your tweaked up just a tiny bit.

That would have been funny if I had not seen a case whwere someone attempted to remove warp from a head with a belt sander... Needless to say the attempt wasn't successful!

One tiny bit of advice: there are 2 plugs right by the diagnostic port. Put a wire tie around 1 of them, on either side of the plug BEFORE you take apart your motor. Doing it that way means you know which plug fits which socket, as they are interchangeable. Only take a couple of seconds to prevent a major head scratcher.

Or you can use a silver magic marker to label the CPS connector (with CPS). Otherwise, excellent advice!

Does anyone know if these were originally torque to yield?

I am trying to trace the root cause of a head gasket failure. Engine had hex style head bolts in it. appears to be a newer head gasket. Obvious signs of leakage around fire rings on five (yes five) cylinders.

The early hex type bolts were TTY, just like the later bolts. If the gasket was replaced there is a good chance that the bolts were re-used. That and/or warp could be the cause of the gasket failure.