It started overheating today. I checked the coolant res and it was empty and my radiator was very low. I checked my coolant levels two days ago and they were a little low so I added some coolant until it was full. When I get paid thursday I think it’s time for me to invest in a head gasket lol.
Jason
Well at least you know lol. GL with it man. I pulled my engine head so many damn times b/c I thought my ARP studs were not sealing but it ended up being a bad distributor o ring leaking oil to the front of my block. So needless to say I can remove and install a head rather quick now. It was my first engine rebuild so I was paranoid.
put a pressure tester on it first to make sure it’s not leaking externally. an external leak will cause it to overheat as well. just a good measure, to confirm you’re not going in and fixing something that isn’t the cause
I’m actually going to get it resurfaced tomorrow at napa. They said they will resurface it and degrease it to get rid of all the shavings and crap. Do you know off hand if they pressure test or is that a question I should probably ask them? lol
Thanks
Jason
lol. i meant pressure test the cooling system for leaks. or are you already into disassembly?
Yea I tore that b#tch apart lol. I getting the head resurfaced at Napa as we speak and I’m cleaning out the iacv and the fitv.
Jason
I am having trouble finding/paying for new head studs. The OEM ones are $24 a piece and I need 10 of them so I was looking into ARPs and their way cheaper but I still don’t have $120 to spend 
I’m wondering how urgent it is to replace these, I always like to do things the right way so I’m guessing the answer is buy new ones.
Jason
Well the head bolts from Honda were not meant to be used more than once. They stretch to make the seal. However, I have reused OEM head bolts and the head sealed fine. Never had a problem with it. But this is not always the case. It’s your choice and if your paying for the work I would replace them. The ARP head studs are worth the investment as they can be reused. And if you decide to add a turbo kit you will already have nice head studs in place to take the boost.
Hmmm, I see now. Well I’m going to see if I can try and get an extra $120 b/c I’d really like some ARP studs. If not I guess I don’t have a choice, since I need the car running soon.
Thanks
Jason
honda head bolts are re-usable. they’re torque to spec, not torque to yield. i don’t know why everybody always thinks they’re TTY. you can use a thread pitch gauge to check if the threads have stretched. or you could just eyeball them. any stretching should be fairly apparent. if they look fine, they can be put back into service, no problem
Nice! I’m pretty sure I’m going to have to re-use them anyways. I just wasn’t sure b/c a couple of my buddies were like “your gona re-use them?!”
if they look good, they’re fine for re-use. save the money for something else. you’re not building it, so don’t bother with arp’s either. just my .02
Yea we just used the old oem ones and torqued them down to the correct specs. Just gonna finish the rest of the work tomorrow. I’m doing the hg at my buddies house and its taking a while to do since we both work different schedules, but I’m very happy he let me use his garage lol
Jason
Finally got time to work on the da and my buddy and I realized all the valves are closed. My buddy said that isn’t normal, but I disagreed with him b/c I thought I remember seeing all the valves closed when we pulled the head off. So my question is when piston 1 is at TDC are all the valves closed?
Thanks
Jason
I was under the impression that the head was getting machined as well as having over heating issues before taking the head off. These bolts stretch to make a seal and will also stretch when the metal expand due to over heating while they are torqued down. Most people get the block and the head decked/milled and that would be even less material to “squeeze” together for a seal. All I was saying is that if your paying someone for the work, you might not want to risk having to do all the work again. ARP studs are cheaper than stock so why not if your going to replace them. There are limitations to how far the stock bolts can stretch and I don’t think this guy has the tool to measure. Telling someone to eyeball is just a bad habit to practice. Hats off to you if that’s your method.
lol. all bolts “stretch” to a certain degree. a fasteners elasticity is what provides clamping force. there’s nothing wrong with eyeballing. as long as you have the ability to see variation from crest to crest of a bolts threads, it’s fine. if you don’t have the attentiveness or ability, use a thread pitch gauge. you can buy one for like $5.
“Most people get the block and the head decked/milled and that would be even less material to “squeeze” together for a seal.”
not sure what you mean by this, as the surface removed has no affect. a torque value is a torque value regardless.
“So my question is when piston 1 is at TDC are all the valves closed?”
at no point in cam rotation will all valves be completely closed. not possible.
Either way I re-used the head studs so we’ll know pretty soon if this b*tch runs or not haha. Hmmm makes sense, I’m thinking once we go the cams put in and the holders torqued down the valves must have opened up a bit b/c now they have tension/pressure on the valve springs.
Jason