Head Bolt Replacement?

[green73]

My head gasket replacement (1FZ-FE) ended in no change, or FAIL

Thinking back on when I reinstalled the head I may have (Okay I DID) reinstalled a couple bolts into their places with water/oil remaining in there. DOH!!! Now I still have smoke out the tail pipe, foam in the radiator, and bubbles in the oil again. It appears I need to at least take the cams out and check the head bolts again. I did the 29ft/lb, turn 90, and turn 90 again initially, but they all didn't "feel" uniform in how they torqued.

Since I am going in again for this I would like to know is.... On average how many head bolts need replacement on a HG job? From using the search here I have found that not all of them generally require replacement.


ThankS MUD!

 

[MSGGrunt]

With all the time and effort involved in replacing a head gasket (I also rebuilt my head) I didn't want to risk anything and replaced them all. You can mic them to see if they are within factory specifications. Note that they are stretch to yield bolts. Just my opinion...

 

[IdahoDoug]

Wow, two replies and polar opposite thoughts. I have now reused the head bolts three times on the same engine, plus when Toyota put them in for a total of 4 uses. Each time I've taken them to a machine shop and had a pro check the measurements per Toyota specs, and each time I've bought 4 bolts before starting the job figuring I'd need to replace a few. Nope. This last time, I also had him measure the 4 new bolts and he could find no statistical difference. Again, when asked he said he'd use them personally. At $14 a bolt they can add up.

These are quality bolts - a hallmark of Toyota's penchant for quality fasteners. Also, the torque is not super high. I'll have to find my post, but I think I checked them all after the final 90 degree tightening and they were 129 to 135ft-lbs. I brought them all up to 135 the next morning and continued assembly.

I do suggest you purchase a tap, or thread cleaner (pretty much same thing) so you can be amazed how much crap you'll get out of the block after cleaning it properly. The size is M11 X 1.25 pitch and they're hard to find. If (big if) they have an M11 it will be a 1.5 pitch. You may have to special order it but try calling the place machine shops go for supplies and tools in your area. Mine cost me $10.

Also, if you don't have air, it's worth borrowing someone's portable compressor/tank and the fine nozzle you'll need to blow the thread hold clean. Any ordinary hardware store model is fine - you don't need a system that will power tools. If your bolts were doing that loud clicking during the final tightening, then your threads needed cleaning. So this time it's imperative.

 

[CycloSteve]

x2 on chasing the threads for an accurate torque measurement.

Another thought is did you have the head checked at a machine shop to ensure that it is not warped?

 

[MSGGrunt]

I too advocate chasing the threads and did have to special order the correct tap. If you do buy a tap make sure it is a bottoming tap. Chase the threads, blow out the holes, very light oil on the threads and you'll be fine.

The only reason I went with all new bolts is I didn't trust my local machine shop and did not have the personnal knowledge at the time to mic them myself. If I was to do it again, and I probably will on my other 1996 80 series, I'll spec them and if within factory tolerances will re-use them.

 

[green73]

YES! the head was checked and needed a little shave.

Thanks for the info guys!

 

[jlg32281]

I'm going to go against the grain on this one. I do not trust the Toyota bolts to be reused. This comes from my experience with the Supra engines and the HG failures that they are so famous for. Not only do I not trust the bolts, I don't trust the torque specs Toyota gives for these bolts. After 5yrs of Supras blowing HG's, Toyota finally admitted the torque specs were too low and this was the reason every Supra blew the HG. That said, I'm a believer of ARP (bolts or studs). Yes they're expensive, but they're the best. They are re-usable and yeild the most accurate of torque readings. When the time comes for my HG job, I will go with ARP studs and torque them to the corrected torque specs used on the Supras. I would throw out the torque number, but it's burried in my Supra info right now. Toyota does a lot of things right, but attaching the head to the block isn't one of them. This is all my opinion and not to be taken as fact. But I consider my opinion as fact.

 

[S.CarolinaFZJ80]

jlg32281 - Did you find that "new" Toyota Supra head bolt torque specs yet? Also, how much are the ARP studs?

 

[jlg32281]

jlg32281 - Did you find that "new" Toyota Supra head bolt torque specs yet? Also, how much are the ARP studs?

I haven't looked yet since my HG hasn't crapped out on me yet. If you really need it, I can dig it up. I'm not sure which stud set fits our trucks (I bet it's the same as the Supra), but most sets are between $100-$150 and that includes a package of their famous grease. When doing this type of repair, another $150 is just water under the bridge and good insurance.

 

[S.CarolinaFZJ80]

If you could, that would be great. My head developed a crack and I have to replace it this week so the torque setting would be of great help. So the LC 4.5L is the same engine in the Supra, huh. I did not know that. Have any Supra mods/upgrades made their way over to your LC?

I haven't looked yet since my HG hasn't ****ped out on me yet. If you really need it, I can dig it up. I'm not sure which stud set fits our trucks (I bet it's the same as the Supra), but most sets are between $100-$150 and that includes a package of their famous grease. When doing this type of repair, another $150 is just water under the bridge and good insurance.

 

[jlg32281]

If you could, that would be great. My head developed a crack and I have to replace it this week so the torque setting would be of great help. So the LC 4.5L is the same engine in the Supra, huh. I did not know that. Have any Supra mods/upgrades made their way over to your LC?

Not the same engine, but it is an I6 dual over head cam aluminum head toyota engine. I'll dig through my stuff tomorrow to find the numbers.

 

[medtro]

ARP might have the right studs for 1FZFE now.

This is posted by gotmud on his HG thread.

Once the block was assembled, it was time to place the head. I knew early on I wanted to use ARP studs, but knew the set designed for Supras was too short (Landtank mentions this above in #14). I called ARP and told them what I was looking for. They didn’t have an exact set, but they asked me to send them one of my head bolts and they would see what they could do. A week later, I received a set of studs that are a little longer and cured the problem Rick mentioned in his post. Best of all, ARP never charged me for them. Instead they asked me to let them know if they worked out OK.

 

[IdahoDoug]

I wouldn't be adjusting the torque differently from Toyota's spec for the LandCruiser engine. If they "admitted" they gave wrong numbers on the Supra engine (I worked for Toyota USA HQ and have never heard of such a thing and would be interested in proof of something that sounds like urban legend), then that means absolutely zero on the 80 engine. Don't do it. Put down the new head gasket from Toyota and properly clean the bolt holes and bolts and you're good.

DougM

 

[green73]

I put another 90 degrees on each bolt in sequence and it is all good now. It's interesting that there are so many takes on this subject. I wonder how many Toyota engines share the same internal fasteners, bolts, etc...