Engine skimmed + new head gasket = Need to re-torque bolts?

[Fredster]

Hi Everybody,

My engine got recently skimmed, changed the head gasket as well as all the rubber seals/gasket´s plus the thermostat.

After mounting the engine back and running 250 Km do I need to re-torque the bolts ?



Cheers

[theelanman]

personally I would do it just as a mater of course....
the bolts will probably not have changed but for the sake of 10 minutes I'd do it
(I did with mine...just for peace of mind)

[HJ2]

Hi Fredster,


According to the shop manual it is not necessary.
Re-torquing will not do anything due to the stick slip effect (even though the thread needs to be lubricated during the marriage of block and head).

What however also is not in the manual, but really necessary is to re-torque the bolts on the Cam cover!
They WILL come loose and make a mess in the engine bay

My 2 cents anyway, but only limited experience myself (2x head gasket change on different Elans )

[Fredster]

Hj2 and Theelanman,

Thanks for the information.

Will only re-torque the cam cover bolts, since the others one´s are brand new.


Cheers

[Monty]

If you have replaced with the Lotus/Isuzu HG then you should NOT need to recheck, but if you use a Aftermarket HG then i would recheck as i have had head bolts come lose.