should i use loctite on my camshaft bolt, thrust plate, or harmonic balancer bolt? or anything when putting back together the engine after a heads and cam swap?
it is not a 'theft of thread' if you are wondering the same thing.
i would not follow my advice as i am not Yount or Rick (et al), but i would use some threadlocker on those - atleast i usually do. often what helps determine how and what i use is to see how the bolt fastens in relation to the rotation to the component. e.g. as i recall, the crank bolt turns in the opposite direction of what would loosen it (meaning it is not as likely to loosen up).
so that is my two cents - like i said, wait for one of the gurus to chime in. bump.
During my h/c/i swap I used loctite on the balancer, thrust plate, and camshaft bolt...haven't had a problem...the balancer was a bit hard to get off...I was actually bending the breaker bar (had a pipe on it also) when I installed it so I knew when I would put a new one on it was going to be a pain...and it was...but I got it off
deffinetally on the camshaft bolt. i didnt do that on the first cam shaft i put in my 351w. needless to say bolt backed out and i was spending 500 bucks repairing bent valves. oops entire timing chain cam off.
Just don't use the heavy duty stuff (green<-for keeping sleeves in..won't get it out w/o destroying threads(exc GM green that is high strength), some reds<-some are perminent, purple<-low strength). Use high strength/high temp red loctite p/n 24026. It comes in a 6ml tube. That's enough for 60 bolts.
I never used any loctite on my balancer and havent had any problems. Its kind of a ****** to get too so locking it down with compound seemed like a bad idea. Just my 2cents