6.9idi head retorqueing.

JacobHansen · May 13, 2020

So strange.. it didn't leak any oil today.. well nothing notable.. and yes there's plenty in there. Im not convinced it sealed its self after a week of sitting.. After cleaning up the area in the picture I posted it hasn't had any oil build up or leaks at all. 40 mile ride this afternoon and not a drop under the truck when parked in the drive way. But.... im sure it will be back. I've been spending time cleaning it all up and if I fine the source of this leak I will post my findings.

12pilgrim · Jan 12, 2021

Hi Jacob,

Any updates?
I'm in a similar spot with my 6.9. I have small bubbles at the rear passenger side head and am considering retorquing. 78,000 original miles. White puff of smoke on startup, no coolant smell. Blackstone Labs tested the oil and said there's a very small amount of Sodium.. could be from coolant.

quickster · Jan 12, 2021

12pilgrim said:
Hi Jacob,

Any updates?
I'm in a similar spot with my 6.9. I have small bubbles at the rear passenger side head and am considering retorquing. 78,000 original miles. White puff of smoke on startup, no coolant smell. Blackstone Labs tested the oil and said there's a very small amount of Sodium.. could be from coolant.

I would retorqe. Just installed rebuilt heads on my truck, and the builder asked me if I was using old bolts. Told him no, but he gave me a printout from his files that stated for retorqing old bolt s you should go.40-65-80-80. Nothing over because those bolts stretch. And he also mentioned that they should only be redone once, then replace the bolts with new. I found out the hard way- retorqed over 80 lbs and snapped off two heads.
edit- I had a small leak in the corner and retorqing them fixed it- till the bolts popped. lol

Black dawg · Jan 13, 2021

Be careful re torqueing old bolts....... I have yet to do headgaskets on a 6.9 that didnt break a bolt or two removing them. I have also found loose ones when taking them apart, I would look for those first, and if a bolt does not want to move just leave it alone.

Kevin 007 · Jan 13, 2021

Yes. Well said.

Although we do try to achieve a certain torque value on the bolts, sometimes if things don't feel right; you wanna go with your feel more so then the torque value. These engines are old, sometimes the bolts, threads are in un-known condition etc. It is interesting to see how loose the bolts become over time however.

david85 · Jan 13, 2021

Head bolts on the outside of the head are also exposed where they pass from the head and into the block. This means they're exposed to heat and moisture over the years and most of them get corroded here. I'm not saying to do this one way or another, but that is one reason it's risky.

Team Dirt · Jan 23, 2021

Can anyone tell me what size the head bolts are. My truck is a 10hr drive away from me at my cabin and I want to try And re-torque the heads before I remove engine and do heads next spring. Got no compression in 4 and 6 holes. All the others are within 5psi of each other. Was hoping just maybe I could get that gasket to seal between those holes. I believe it was a 12 point socket but can’t remember for sure. Thanks in advance!

quickster · Jan 23, 2021

7/16" 6.9, right?

IDIBRONCO · Jan 23, 2021

quickster said:
7/16" 6.9, right?

You're right.

Team Dirt said:
Got no compression in 4 and 6 holes. All the others are within 5psi of each other. Was hoping just maybe I could get that gasket to seal between those holes.

If those two cylinders have no compression at all, don't count on a head bolt retorque to bring to compression back up very far, if at all.

The_Josh_Bear · Jan 23, 2021

Team Dirt said:
Can anyone tell me what size the head bolts are. My truck is a 10hr drive away from me at my cabin and I want to try And re-torque the heads before I remove engine and do heads next spring. Got no compression in 4 and 6 holes. All the others are within 5psi of each other. Was hoping just maybe I could get that gasket to seal between those holes. I believe it was a 12 point socket but can’t remember for sure. Thanks in advance!

quickster said:
7/16" 6.9, right?

If he's asking about a 6.9, yes. If he's asking about a 7.3, it's 1/2" tripple square. Also known as 12-point but a lot of online stores will have it as tripple square. They are apparently different in some way.

Team Dirt · Jan 23, 2021

IDIBRONCO said:
You're right.
If those two cylinders have no compression at all, don't count on a head bolt retorque to bring to compression back up very far, if at all.

Ya it’s a 6.9.

I am not hoping for much but thought you never know. Just want to finish out the winter using this truck for sledding. It still starts good and runs just a bit rough and down on power. 4 and 6 are beside each other so I figure there sharing compression now. Have every intention to pull the engine in the spring and do at a minimum both heads. Will probably end up deeper if the engines out.

Kevin 007 · Jan 24, 2021

In a case of next to no compression on some cylinders, as we know it's not likely that head re-torqueing is gonna do much....it may not be worth the risk (possibly a broken bolt or something) and may be worth running as is till you can pull the heads. Just my $0.69 worth.

Joseph Davis · Jan 26, 2021

The Damage to head gasket is all ready done. But the IDI's will run for along time with-out doing any-thing just get a little Smokey over time, Good luck.

JacobHansen · Jan 27, 2021

Hey guys, sorry it's been a while. Since retorqueing. My 6.9 still runs like a champ. Have lost track of miles but its used no coolant. Has Hot heat, no bubbles. No leaks.. It is leaking a good amount of motor oil from the heads but hey. Its an old truck. I haven't done a compression test because all seems well. I can't imagine retorqueing would help with that. I really just lucked out on mine
Mine was a small leak only at operating temp.

grumpy1 · Feb 4, 2021

reading this thread it seems the advice is to torque the head bolts even if there is no obvious problems
since it's advised to loosen then tighten each bolt would it be acceptable to replace the bolts one at a time

6.9idi head retorqueing.

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