RE: [alfa] Head Gasket

["Jeff Greenfield" <alfaguy@xxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Peter -

You can certainly try re-torquing the head. You don't have much to lose at
this point, but I'm doubtful that this will cure the problem in this case
from what you have described.

Was the head resurfaced when the rest of the work was done? What kind of
head gasket was used (OEM or aftermarket)?

The reason for re-torquing is not the nuts loosen per se, rather that the
gasket compresses which results in the nuts being lose thereby not allowing
the gasket to be compressed as is intended.

Head gaskets are designed to compress a certain amount, hence the need for
initial re-torquing. Once they've been compressed, as far as they are
designed to, and the nuts/bolts are torqued to provide the needed clamping
force, there should be no need for further re-torquing.

Most newer designs use torque to yield bolts which is a much better design.
The bolts are designed to stretch, thereby maintaining a more uniform
tension on the gasket and assembly. This design does not require any
re-torquing whatsoever.

Good Luck,

Jeff

-----Original Message-----
From: owner-alfa@domain.elided [mailto:owner-alfa@domain.elided] On Behalf Of
webb.p@domain.elided
Sent: Wednesday, February 18, 2004 1:27 PM
To: alfa@domain.elided
Subject: [alfa] Head Gasket

Alfisti,

Last week coolant started leaking into the combustion chamber on the Spider.
This motor has about 500 miles on it since the head was redone.   Neither my
mechanic or I remember if the head was retorqued after the first warm up and
I know I haven't retorqued since.

I haven't even looked into the problem yet while emotions were getting the
best of me.  The working theory is the head has loosened and just needs
retorquing.  I'll find out tomorrow when I dig into it.

So the questions is, if it is just a case of loose head nuts, will the
gasket survive after a retorque?    It let go on Saturday night with plumes
of white smoke out the exhaust, the unmistakable smell of coolant and
bubbles in the radiator.  No overheating during any of this.   Started to
puff on the way home and got progressively worse as I drove until it started
bellowing, as luck would have it, pulling into my parking lot.

TIA for any experience with this.

-Peter
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