Can a head gasket be reused after head torqueing????????????

[cheap bronco]

Well my friends I have come to another hurdle, after breaking a tap in the block chasing the cylinder head threads, getting the tap out I thought I was home free. Well one more mishap. Everyone is saying that I can reuse the original cylinder head bolts on a headgasket swap, and thats what I did and the outcome is a broken bolt only at 125 ft. lbs of torque. Now I ordered ARP studs 250-4204, www.Performancetruckproducts.com has them for $475 free shipping. So to everyone out there thinking they will reuse the head bolts. BE AWARE, if you are not the original owner and dont know how many times the heads were off, get studs or NEW head bolts. My question is? Can I reuse the head gasket after I install the studs? The engine was not started just heads torqued down on the engine stand and the gasket is crushed from the pressure of the heads..

 

[Dieselcrawler]

I have done it on a 6.5 diesel after pulling the threads outa the block totaling the head down. No issues so far. Bus runs everyday since I did it a few months ago

 

[gunz]

These are not designed to be reused.

 

[typ4]

Is that a 6.9 or 7.3, reusing a crushed gasket is not recommended.

I just got off the phone with ARP That is a hell of a good price for 7.3 studs and it is a good part number, its 150.00 bucks cheaper than my cost, and its the arp 2000 material. so if anyone is thinking ofstudding a 7.3, I would jump on that.
You will have to order from the co that bronco did.

 

[Brad S.]

I kinda had the same question but a little different angle.
If a person found a used motor and wanted to stick gapless rings then put it back together without much more cost?
(not trying to hijack)

 

[hesutton]

Sorry. I can't recommend it. Worst case....... you'll be pulling it off again after a short service life because of failure.

125 ft/lbs!!! That's too much. 100ft/lbs, or at most 110 on the 7.3.

Here's a photo reference for ya:

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Heath

 

[Wicked97]

I have never seen it work for very long.

 

[icanfixall]

Really an odd place for a bolt to break. Usually they let go at the last thread because thats the place where the bolt strengthens from the cut or rolled threads diameter. As for reusing an already crushed head gasket.. Thats kinda shakey of an idea. A valley pan gasket you can get away with reusing that if its just been installed and not run yet but. I sure would use some rtv on it. But trying to save some money and using an already cruched head gasket is pushing your chances. The 125 lb torque is way off too. Who told you that was the torque. Factory specs tell us 100 lbs for the 7.3 and 80 lbs for the 6.9 as I recall. Most will push the lbs to 110 on the studs for the 7.3 and that seems to work fine...

 

[bab029]

my 2 cents... it depends on how bad you need the truck. A beater/ play toy/ some other low priority role, sure reuse it. Worst case you have to park the truck while you try again. Especially if budget is tight for a play toy. However, in the case of a daily driver/ primary mode of transportation do it right the first time; because again, worst case you have to park the truck, causing an expenditure of money and time equal to just buying another set of gaskets.

 

[cheap bronco]

well thats what I thought but the chilton's manual I have it states both cases, attached is a pic of what I also have

Sorry. I can't recommend it. Worst case....... you'll be pulling it off again after a short service life because of failure.

125 ft/lbs!!! That's too much. 100ft/lbs, or at most 110 on the 7.3.

Here's a photo reference for ya:

You must be registered for see images

Heath

 

[RLDSL]

If you have not removed teh head from the gasket then you could get away with it, but if you have removed the head don't chance it. Don't forget to stretch in those ARP studs as per the instructions ( i.e. torque them down and back off 5 times to stretch the things. You can make a block to do this in a vice so you don't have to do all that doubled over in the engine compartment

best thing would be to grab you a set of new Victor Reinz head gaskets and shoot them down with a few light , even ,coats of spray Hylomar on each side for a perfect leak free seal.

 

[Agnem]

125 foot pounds was your main problem, AND..... I bet you didn't get your torque wrench recalibrated by teamtorque.com in recent weeks before you did it, did you? A torque wrench can be 5 or 10 pounds out of spec after 1 year of sitting, and our torque is so critical that you cannot be 5 or 10 pounds off!

 

[mabc926]

I would not reuse the gasket, but that's just me, I hate doing things twice.

 

[icanfixall]

Bronco.... That information you posted about the torque being 130 to140 lbs is pure crap. And all the head bolt lengths are the same in our idi engines. We don't have long and shorts. Why a cronical like chiltons prints false information like this is beyond me. The problem is knowing what to believe so ask questions before you do things. There is enough members online here to answer them honestly. Never a stupid question is asked ot pointed out to be that either...

 

[hesutton]

Bronco.... That information you posted about the torque being 130 to140 lbs is pure crap. And all the head bolt lengths are the same in our idi engines. We don't have long and shorts.

X 2!! Wow. That's a terrible mistake on their part. That's not even in the ballpark.

Heath