Torquing head bolts

My Clymer service manual includes torquing the head bolts as a standard tune-up item. At this point, that seems like a very bad idea to me. I've only had the bike a few weeks and those bolts are 29 years old. I have no idea if that has ever been done before. I have to think there's some possibility of breaking them off, isn't there?

 

Unlikely to break them, but remove one at a time, put engine oil on the thread & re-torque.

 

You hav to xcuse me for asking..What Head bolts are u referring to?

 

Right, the bolts are 30 years old but so is everything around them. Do exactly as Wizard just suggested. With time and age, expanding and retracting, and engine vibration... those bolts can be loosened. Tightening them or at least making sure they are to spec torque, ensures your head gasket is safe and there are no weak points. It also keeps everything lined up exactly right. And with pistons moving up and down the bore in there faster than the brain can think, you want everything to stay nice and smooth.

 

Does the valve cover need to be off in order to be able to get them out? It's still off following my clearance adjustment but I was going to put it back on today.

 

hang on there, torque specs are usually given for a DRY bolt, a oiled spec is a lot lower

 

So should I go oiled or dry and, if oiled, how can figure out a torque value?

 

http://www.machinetoolhelp.com/Repairin ... chart.html

 

Thanks, Polock. Looks like the oiled torque value is about 3/4 of the dry value. I decided to go ahead and do them dry, just to be safe. They are coming off without any trouble so I don't think there's any real compelling reason to oil them.

Two interesting things: I've only done the four outside nuts so far. Is there any reason why the washers on the right side would be copper and the ones on the left side would be steel?

Also, I bought a 3/8" drive torque wrench this morning at Harbor Freight on sale for $15.99. I started using it but decided to stop because it really felt like it was not clicking soon enough. I borrowed a friend's old Carftsman torque wrench for comparison. This one is the needle style not a clicker, but it gets to 16 lbs. with WAY less torque than the one I bought. I have to assume that the HF wrench is not even close to being accurate. I probably need to compare it with one more wrench to be sure, but I'm sure glad I didn't break anything in the process!

 

Hold on there, Confucius, torque specs in the book will be for oiled threads.

 

ok, never mind how you know that ?
you truly are a Wizard aren't you

 

Yes. There are oil galleries around the bolts on the right, not on the left.

Too bad you've started already; the factory book says absolutely nothing about re-torquing the head as a maintenance item. You're not going to hurt anything, but I think you can safely exclude it from your regular maintenance regimen going forward.

The Clymer has a few points wherein they perpetuate myths rather than giving you facts; they insist the plugs on your exhaust pipes are drains, in fact they are the EGA ports.

 

Make sure you put them back in the positions they came out of.
Now that you have broken the torque on and removed those copper washers, to prevent leaks down the road, I would re-anneal them(heat them up glowing red and let them cool) or replace them.

 

Well, I only got as far as the four outside nuts before I had to leave town. I'm guessing I probably need to redo those since I torqued them dry to 16 lbs and it sounds like the consensus is that that should be an oiled value. Would it be better to continue or stop where I am? Seems like it might be a bit uneven if I stop now.

No kidding? Geez, there's a lot of secret voodoo that I don't know about...

 

That one's not secret voodoo, it's old-school auto-shop 101.

Unfortunately, the copper washer as a gasket is fading in popularity from more contemporary designs; my Norton must have a couple dozen of 'em.

 

OK; don't shoot the messenger.

I got out the factory book; you've unfortunately done kind of a dumb thing, but it can be easily overcome.

YOU'RE GOING TO HAVE TO RETORQUE ALL THE NUTS, IN THE PROPER SEQUENCE.

You cracked loose #5,6,7 and 8 of 16 head bolts; the book is VERY adamant about torquing them in two stages (and in sequence of course.) Further, the torque spec is really light (14.5 ft/lb on the top nuts, 7.2 ft/lb on the lowers) LUBRICATED (also per factory book.)

All that tells us you're going to need to do it all the way, if you just crank the 4 outside ones back down you could end up having caused a head gasket leak.

I'll e-mail you the head torquing page from the factory book along with the torque spec chart.

Sorry.