I know head studs are a better alternative to bolts. But I was wondering how mayn times you can re-torque the head studs before they go bad. I have re-torques mine quite a few times and it seems now I can not get a head gasket to ever seal up. The will always leak from the very first start up. Any ideas?

 

Well, I'll just take a stab into the dark and say they need replaced. But, otherwise I have no idea how "long" they last.

 

You should be able to retorque head studs quite a bit since you aren't putting any real twisting force on the studs themselves. Since studs put a more universal clamping force on the heads than bolts do, I wonder if your heads aren't warped.

 

See here mys scenerio, Heads are brand new. First time ever installed, it leaks into combustion chamber.Graphite head gasket was used so i swtich to fel-pro. Does fine. Now heads come off again, put them back on, it looks to be leaking to the outside, between the head and block.not positive yet, but its either head gasket or my studs are leaking, i put sealent on the threads but sometimes they can still leak and seep out the top and leak down. Had it happen before. i was just trying out some ideas to see if head studs needed to be replaced every so often. Ive got at least 7 toques on them?

 

What is leaking? Water? Oil? What kind of heads are these?

 

AFR heads. Water and antifreeze leak. I would like to say head gasket blown to the outside or head stud leaking. All the plugs look fine on this side. Keep in mind, not even 1 mile on the engine. Brand new, everything just got checked out at a machine shop. Block was decked last time in a few thousands to clean it up. Heads have 200 miles on them.

 

I don't know, it might be worth it to have the heads checked out. Did you use the moly lube on the studs when you installed them?

 

Yes, I used moly lube on the threads for the proper torque reading. I dont know what it could be, Ill check it out more in detail tonight