Took me 10 years to admit I was torquing head bolts wrong

I was working on a 5.3 Chevy in my driveway last Saturday and snapped a head bolt at 55 ft-lbs. Figured it was a bad bolt at first. Then I remembered the torque specs call for three stages with oiled threads, not just cranking it dry in one go. Replaced the bolt, did it right, and the heads sealed perfect. Anyone else skip steps for years before a failure made them read the manual?

3 comments

3 Comments

fiona_kim972d agoMost Upvoted

Have you ever had that sick feeling when a bolt snaps? I spent years just slapping head bolts in dry, going straight to final torque. Finally had an old 302 Ford that kept weeping coolant from the back of the intake. Read the manual, did the three step sequence with ARP moly lube, and it sealed up first try. Now I keep a little bottle of assembly lube in my toolbox just for that job. Really makes a difference on those aluminum heads too, the torque readings are way more consistent.

olivia6702d ago

Oh man, nothing hits quite like that gut drop when you hear a bolt start to bind up in aluminum (I may have learned that one the hard way on a junkyard LS swap last summer). Now I'm that weirdo who lubes everything like it's going in a space shuttle, torque wrench in one hand and a clinic appointment for my anxiety on speed dial.

ward.anna2d agoMost Upvoted

Ha! The three step sequence is a game changer once you realize it actually matters. What made you finally check the manual after all those years of dry torquing?