Guest bastaad525 Posted October 17, 2004 Share Posted October 17, 2004 Wow... so it's been like... how many months now since anything's gone wrong with my car!!! So I uh... noticed a little black soot building up on the side of my head, right above the #6 exhaust port. And you know.... I'd been meaning to recheck the tightness on the manifold bolts forever, but never got around to it... didn't really think I COULD check them with the intake installed. Well... I checked those last two on the #6 port... and wouldn't you know, they were LOOOOOOOSE... WAY loose. I barely put any pressure on it with the wrench to move it. Not hand tight, but not far from it either. So I figured I better check the rest of them, somehow. Took out all the turbo piping on that side... and thanking the heavens that I have the early '75 intake manifold (no 'heat shield webbing' in between the runners to block my hands and view), and with a bit of struggle I was able to get to every bolt. And they-were-ALL-loose!! Unfortunately I didn't get to go at it with a torque wrench proper, so I can't say they're torqued to spec, or wont come loose again. I did drive the car a few times since and recheck them and they seem to be holding. Couple questions. Now... I know if this was coolant, like if it was the thermostat housing gasket or something, or oil pan gasket, I'd probably be screwed. Once those start leaking, seems to me no amount of retightening in the world will get them to stop. But how about the exhaust? I didn't notice any increase in the soot on the side of the head after this, and certainly don't feel any air blowing out of there. I figure they were just loose from the gasket compressing, since I had never retorqued them. For what it's worth, I did spray copper spray onto the gasket before installing it. So... should retightening it be enough? Or is it once it leaks it's just gonna keep leaking? Secondly, is it okay or even advisable to use loc-tite on the exhaust manifold bolts? Oh and I did check the intake manifold bolts and they were all tight... odd. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cody 82 ZXT Posted October 17, 2004 Share Posted October 17, 2004 I changed over to studs for the exhaust side and they seem to hold tight longer then the bolts do. I always use anti-sieze inthe head. To parnoid that they will break off. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
80LS1T Posted October 17, 2004 Share Posted October 17, 2004 As long at the gasket isnt blown out anywhere you should be fine. This is pretty common on exhaust manifold bolts. Thats why locking bolts are recommended with headers. Since the exhaust manifold heats up and cools down so much I think thats why the bolts come loose. "Retorqueing"/ tightening them down is something that should be done every so often, say every oil change? Atleast this way you wont end up with a blown gasket and then have to take it all apart to fix it! I wouldnt put loctite on my bolts just due to the fact that exhaust bolts are usually pretty hard to remove as it is after a long period of time in use. They tend to get rusted in and get brittle after a long period of time and then when you want to get them out its no fun. Guy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest bastaad525 Posted October 17, 2004 Share Posted October 17, 2004 As long at the gasket isnt blown out anywhere you should be fine. This is pretty common on exhaust manifold bolts. Thats why locking bolts are recommended with headers. Since the exhaust manifold heats up and cools down so much I think thats why the bolts come loose. "Retorqueing"/ tightening them down is something that should be done every so often' date=' say every oil change? Atleast this way you wont end up with a blown gasket and then have to take it all apart to fix it![/quote'] Nah I didn't see any signs of damage or the gasket being blown out as you say. I wish someone had advised me about checking them every so often before... I thought it was a 'set it and forget it' sort of thing, though common sense told me that like head bolts they would probably have to be retorqued once after a 'break in' period. Okay I'll make it a habit of checking them every so often, now that I know I can get to all of them w/o too much fuss (well... not a lot of fuss but I sure did come away with a lot of bruises!). I wouldnt put loctite on my bolts just due to the fact that exhaust bolts are usually pretty hard to remove as it is after a long period of time in use. They tend to get rusted in and get brittle after a long period of time and then when you want to get them out its no fun. Good point, think I won't do the loctite then. It's funny you mention about how they are hard enough to get out as it is. I was really rather surprised to find them all so loose, as every car I've dealt with up until now it's always the opposite situation! Well I'll keep an eye on them but otherwise wont stress it then. Thanks guys. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cygnusx1 Posted October 18, 2004 Share Posted October 18, 2004 Hey now that oxygen isnt mixing with your exhaust, try connecting your oxygen sensor again. Since moving the timing ahead, mine runs good with the O2 connected. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest bastaad525 Posted October 19, 2004 Share Posted October 19, 2004 sure I'll try it. I dont' see it making any difference though as I've tried running the O2 at several different points, and I know my exhaust hasn't always been leaking like that. When the head gasket blew, for instance, and I went to remove the head, those bolts were a pain to get out... none of them were loose. And I know I've tried running the O2 sensor before that. Anyways, I'll give it a shot though not like it's hard or I got anything to lose Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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