Do I need to re-torque again?

FastGT94 · Jun 14, 2004

Greetings!

My Project is finally running. I went through a heat cycle and checked the torque on the heads and lower intake. The heads were still sittin pretty at 80 ft lbs and the intake had loosened to 10 ft. lbs :o I re-torqued the lower several times to get all the bolts at an even 25-28 ft lbs. I've since re-assembled the engine and driven it about 40 miles. Do I need to re-torque again or is once all I should need?

One other question. How much does your engine actually SHAKE with an aftermarket cam? I'm a bit suprised how much it moves and want to be sure that its normal. I have new motor mounts and I'm positive that they're tight but will re-check those next. Just wonderin...

Any other post start suggestions would be great!

Thanks!

bigb64 · Jun 14, 2004

I have a E cam oin my stang andf I had to just retorq my bolts on my headers i lost one bolt. it happens

94DreamGT · Jun 14, 2004

Dale,

The shaking is the VERY first thing I noticed after I got my H/C/I swap complete. The engine was violently shaking back and forth in the bay, I thought it was either going to tear itself out of the motor mounts or start dancing!

Three of my buddies standing there were just laughing and said "Yup...that's what a big cam will do" So...I labeled it as "normal" and have gone on my way. Everything is fine and I'm used to it now.

Just goes to show how "tame" the stock cam is I guess

FastGT94 · Jun 14, 2004

Jeremy,

Glad you chimed in on this. I thought the same thing. I figured after idling for 5 minutes the thing would twist right out of the frame and start walking down the street!!

Glad to hear that is normal hehe.

What did you do in terms of a re-torque of the heads and intake?

Thanks for all your help, here and through email.
-Dale

94DreamGT · Jun 14, 2004

No...I didn't re-torque.

Are you supposed to...or at least check? Yes. But like I said, I didn't. Call me lazy...maybe lucky so far

rockin_rick · Jun 14, 2004

I retorqued my heads and intake after 2 heat cycles and 20 miles. I backed off the head bolts one by one slightly and pulled them back up to proper torque. The intake was also down to about 10. I went round and round many times to get them all back to 18ish (aluminum heads). Then I ran the car through 2 more heat cycles and about 50 miles. Then a loose rocker arm just the other day forced me to take it back apart. So I didn't bother with the heads, but decided to redo the intake since the upper was already off. They had loosened to 11-14ish. So round and round again... Haven't got it all back together yet. I may redo the intake again maybe in a month (or the next time (probably every time) the upper is off).

I just put together an entirely new engine and haven't noticed excess shaking. How old is your balancer? They are on the hit list of most common items to go out on our cars. I used a new balancer, and motor mounts.

Rick

final5-0 · Jun 14, 2004

After two or three heat cycles I checked all bolts to make sure they were ok.

After the above and a few miles I readjusted my valves cause heads & valvetrain were new. The valvetrain did make less noise after the final adjustment btw.

The car does not do anything like it is supposed to for a bit when you first start it up.

If it is your first time, it does kinda give you cause for concern!

Things will settle down after a while and the pcm gathers the data for the new parts.

Later
Grady

FastGT94 · Jun 15, 2004

Sounds good.

The balancer is only about 10,000 miles old so its good. I checked out TDC and the marks line up. Otherwise I believe the excess shaking is due to the car still idling at the stock RPM's, however this is a hit or miss situation LOL.

I've been trying to up the idle at the IAC but the computer keeps putting it back. It idled great after the initial startup and getting the FP at 42 and timing at 12 but now it has learned and I believe is out of the learning mode after 90 miles and now it dies at every other light. Its just a hit or miss with this cam I suppose. Could I possibly unhook it and erase the memory and try starting over or would I most likely get the same results?

I'm going to try and mess with the IAC some more. I also need to get a 1/2" shorter belt since my tensioner is bottoming and making the engine sound like its knocking. I didn't think the belt would stretch this much, oh well.

Thanks for the help!

zenboy99 · Jun 15, 2004

94DreamGt, I haven't retorqued my bolts either. My Trick Flow sheet didn't say that I had too, is this something I should be worried about?

94TURBO5 O · Jun 15, 2004

I have not re-torqued mine and it been 2 weeks of boost'n and not any problems at all.

SorsCode · Jun 15, 2004

I torqued my intake to 18ftlbs because AFR told me not to over torque them on the aluminum heads because torque the intake to much can lift the heads a tad... just FYI

FastGT94 · Jun 15, 2004

Hmm interesting. I haven't had any signs of that so I think I'll just leave it be. If I start loosing coolant or something :o I'll check that first.

There's really no sense of backing them out now since things are working ok, at least I'd think so. Next time I'll be more careful with the torque though.

Thanks!

revhead347 · Jun 15, 2004

Torquing the intake bolts can sometimes lift the heads up, and cause the head gaskets to blow. I just use wrist calibration on the intake, and I have never had a problem. As far as the exhaust bolts go, a little loctite goes a long way. You just have to check them regularly. Steeda sells a set of bolts that have locks to keep them from backing out.

Kurt

FastGT94 · Jun 17, 2004

Well, these darn lower intake bolts backed down to 15 again This is good since they were too tight but also bad since obviously they're aren't holding torque and backing out. Do they usually hold there at 15 or are they likely to back out completely? I know one of you had to use blue loc tite, anyone else have input on this?

GTJake · Jun 17, 2004

Shouldn't use lock tite on the lower. Especially when bolted to aluminum. The lower is fine at 15-18ft./lbs.

Jake

94TURBO5 O · Jun 17, 2004

Don't use Loc-Tite on your lower.

FastGT94 · Jun 17, 2004

so they will most likely hold at 15 and not back out further?

GTJake · Jun 17, 2004

AFR tells you to not even torque them down. Snug is good. They should be fine where they're at.

Jake

FastGT94 · Jun 17, 2004

I guess I'll just keep my eye on em. I'm getting tired of taking off the upper

Thanks!

Do I need to re-torque again?

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Apparently my ex-husband made that mistake.

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