I talked to ARP today trying to find out the torque specs on some of their products and the guy was telling me that when I replace my headgasket this time, I should torque the head down and let it sit over night.

And then in the morning, pop all the nuts loose again, and re-torque the nuts to 80 ft lbs. That way the headgasket could compress over night, and by re-torqueing in the morning, I can be sure the torque is staying at 80 ft lbs.

Ever heard of this before? Seems like a really good idea.

 

IIRC, the instructions state to retorque the headstuds after 500 miles or something like that.

Ali

 

Well with the cometic headgasket on there now, I am burning coolant and overheating (visually see coolant in cylinder 3) after just 500-600 miles. Perhaps all I need is a re-torque, but I have read nasty things about cometic.

I think I am going to try the 84mm GE OEM gaskets and then try the ARP torque and re-torque method. Its a PITA to pull the cams out again after 500 miles to check torque haha

 

I call BS!!! I too talked to them during my build. Do the studs FINGER TIGHT, then torque the nuts PROPERLY, use their lube supplied and make sure they are torqued right.

You should NOT have to pull all the cams and crap back out to re-torque. I've never had to do this before. Now if you didn't follow to the "T" the instructions, then there could be problems. I'm at over 10k miles on mine with ZERO issues whatsoever.

 

Oh yeah...

OH TOTSIE!!!!

 

A local boosted R owner is having the same issues, or atleast we think so.

Leaking a small bit of oil from we thing the head gasket area, and on the way to expo and at expo he was overheating wtih both coolant and water wtih water wetter.

And I'm pretty sure that he is also using a cometic gasket but will be switching to an OEM gasket.

Edit - on my stock LS wtih the ARP i did not have to retorque the studs again and have no issues for over a year now.

Ali

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Dave_B &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">I call BS!!! I too talked to them during my build. Do the studs FINGER TIGHT, then torque the nuts PROPERLY, use their lube supplied and make sure they are torqued right.

</TD></TR></TABLE>

I did install them finger tight and with ARP moly lube. Just relaying what the guy from ARP told me today about letting it sit overnight. He said making as much power as I am, he highly recommended it....

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by PrinceAli132 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">A local boosted R owner is having the same issues, or atleast we think so.

Leaking a small bit of oil from we thing the head gasket area, and on the way to expo and at expo he was overheating wtih both coolant and water wtih water wetter.

And I'm pretty sure that he is also using a cometic gasket but will be switching to an OEM gasket.

Edit - on my stock LS wtih the ARP i did not have to retorque the studs again and have no issues for over a year now.

Ali</TD></TR></TABLE>

Perhaps I will try re-torqueing the head studs before I pull the whole head?

 

I would torque before pulling head, but do you have the means to do a leak down? That woud let you know if your having an issue there.

I have no idea why the manu. would recommend that. How much sense does it make? On the initial torque, it stretches the threads to where they should be. After that, your just returning it there?

 

I dont have the tools for a leak down, but wouldn't a compression test tell me the same thing?

He was saying that the headgasket will settle and flatten some, hence decreasing the torque setting. Apparently if I break the nuts loose and re-torque again, I will get a more accurate torque setting on the head studs.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by totsie7944 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">I dont have the tools for a leak down, but wouldn't a compression test tell me the same thing?

He was saying that the headgasket will settle and flatten some, hence decreasing the torque setting. Apparently if I break the nuts loose and re-torque again, I will get a more accurate torque setting on the head studs.</TD></TR></TABLE>

not really. You need to "leave" the cylinder presurized to determine if compression is leaking into the HG.

Yes, i do agree with breaking them loose during the initial installation of them. But not a day later....

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Dave_B &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">

not really. You need to "leave" the cylinder presurized to determine if compression is leaking into the HG.

Yes, i do agree with breaking them loose during the initial installation of them. But not a day later....</TD></TR></TABLE>

Hmm well I will flush my coolant and just do water and water wetter, change my oil, re-torque the studs to 80ft lbs, and see if my over heating and coolant burning stops. After feeling my coolant it has a greasy feeling so I'm pretty sure oil and coolant are mixing

 

I called ARP when I was finishing my build, and they told me torque them down once (after finger tightening stud itself into the block) loosen, then retorque.

I asked if I needed to check/retorque after a set amount of mileage.....he laughed and said no reason at all to do that. The head weighs enough to settle the thin MLS gasket so waiting a day, or whatever makes no sense.

 

Well I never re-torqued them at all, and only to 75 ft lbs, and apparently its supposed to be 80 ft lbs. I think I will try and avoid the hassle of pulling the whole head and just re-torque them for now.

Worse case is that I am still pressurizing my coolant system, burning coolant, and/or overheat. In that case I will just pull the head and replace with a OEM head gasket

 

I thought you were supposed to re-torque them after they had been heat cycled.
However, I have never retorqued mine either, and everything is fine, great compression, no leaks...

 

torqued mine once to 80lbs and didnt touch them since, that was 5 years ago.

 

I've ran them 5 times on various honda's, turbo'ed and uber high compression. Torque them to 75lbs and I"ve never, ever had to retouch them.

Pulling the valvetrain apart just to make recheck your work sounds kinda sounds like a big *** waste of time. Just do it right the first go around

 

I've built "a few" Honda motors with ARP head studs....use their lube, torque once, then drive.....no need to re-torque.

 

i have heard the 500 miles thing, and ive done it on 3 or 4 builds and never once did they loosen up, i say its not worth the time to pull the cams etc again since ive done it and always seemed a waste of time

 

Once you torque a bolt to X amount of torque , it will take 10%-15% + ft lbs of torque to get the bolt to move even with there moly lube.

I have build hundred of motors using ARP, The issue is the stretch of the stud.

I have always torqued each stud, loosen then re torque. With a stretch gauge this has proven to be within spec.Once torqued, if the stud stretched 0.001 then the head will not have the same clamping load and therefor leak or blow.

My 650whp Type R was done 1.5 years ago this way, I've never even removed the valve cover on it.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by CRVRX &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Once you torque a bolt to X amount of torque , it will take 10%-15% + ft lbs of torque to get the bolt to move even with there moly lube.

I have build hundred of motors using ARP, The issue is the stretch of the stud.

I have always torqued each stud, loosen then re torque. With a stretch gauge this has proven to be within spec.Once torqued, if the stud stretched 0.001 then the head will not have the same clamping load and therefor leak or blow.

My 650whp Type R was done 1.5 years ago this way, I've never even removed the valve cover on it.</TD></TR></TABLE>

Yea I will take the cams out and re-torque them and see if that fixes my problem.

Hehe I am trying to get an article written about my Turbo R in the fall....its at 550 whp now on pump gas (installing Skunk 2 pro 1's soon, should get some more out of it then) but I'm hoping for about 670-680 whp on Race gas in the fall...with AC, PS, and ABS as well.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by totsie7944 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">

Yea I will take the cams out and re-torque them and see if that fixes my problem.

Hehe I am trying to get an article written about my Turbo R in the fall....its at 550 whp now on pump gas (installing Skunk 2 pro 1's soon, should get some more out of it then) but I'm hoping for about 670-680 whp on Race gas in the fall...with AC, PS, and ABS as well.</TD></TR></TABLE>

You should scratch a few of those out and shoot for reliable.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by walker111 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">

You should scratch a few of those out and shoot for reliable. </TD></TR></TABLE>

it seems his build is pretty nice and quality, if he can put the numbers down that he wants and still have the comforts then all the power to him

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by EARLdaSQUIRREL &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">

it seems his build is pretty nice and quality, if he can put the numbers down that he wants and still have the comforts then all the power to him </TD></TR></TABLE>

Sitting on the side of the road with a whole in the block sucks, even when you have ac, ps, and abs.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by walker111 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">

Sitting on the side of the road with a whole in the block sucks, even when you have ac, ps, and abs. </TD></TR></TABLE>

ya it does, but what do ac, ps, and abs have to do with potentially putting a hole in the block?

 

The last time I checked, almost 700 hp wasnt reliable, regardless of what you do to it....or how much money goes into it.

IMHO(dont shoot me), to say youre gonna have a 700hp integra is again, IMO, a waste of money, and pretty pointless. Where do you drive a 700hp front wheel drive, 2300# car? its even useless on the highway....