Headgasket still weeps, front of engine.

[R.O.R-2.0]

well, to me, you can re-torque normal bolts, but i wouldnt do it with stretch bolts. but its not like you are out anything, the bolts are already yielded, give them a re-torque before your leaks get too bad. might help. my grandpa did a re-torque on his stretch bolts and fixed a leak that he had..

[8v-of-fury]

Well I mean lets look at why it didn't seal properly..

I cleaned up both mating surfaces of the head and block, they were both perfectly clean to my best knowledge. Even gave them a quick over down with a fine sanding block.

What is the value they are torqued too after the torquing process? like some number then add 1/2 turn right so where does that put us for torque?

[R.O.R-2.0]

44 ft lbs, plus two quarter turns, or a half turn at once..

i believe that these bolts yield at 110-120 ' #s

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Plus the quarter after first warm up and then after 1000 miles, right.

[8v-of-fury]

Plus the quarter after first warm up and then after 1000 miles, right.

Is this required on OEM bolts? I don't have studs.

[R.O.R-2.0]

Plus the quarter after first warm up and then after 1000 miles, right.

Is this required on OEM bolts? I don't have studs.

we were talking about the stretch bolts yo..

if you put 44 ft lbs on a stud, and then a full turn, it would probably squish the gasket bad, or break the stud.

[8v-of-fury]

I think I will try an extra quarter turn for a total of 3/4 turn after torque.

[VW Smokr]

Plus the quarter after first warm up and then after 1000 miles, right.

Is this required on OEM bolts? I don't have studs.

we were talking about the stretch bolts yo..

if you put 44 ft lbs on a stud, and then a full turn, it would probably squish the gasket bad, or break the stud.

... or rip the threads out of the cast iron block!

Good advice to just try the re-torque, even a 1/4 turn using a beam-type torque wrench as a driver, to let you know what the bolt heads are 'feeling'. And I have to second R.O.R-2.0's comment about the possibility of a leaky valve cover gasket. Could your thick puddles beneath the car (partly) be the results of fresh synthetic oil leaks washing old oil deposits off the subframe? (No offense meant; just based on noted appearances of quite a few VW diesel underbody surfaces, several of mine included!)

IDK about the Rotella synthetics, but Amsoil has definitely unplugged previously-unknown leaks on a couple of my gassers. Had a customer with same experience on his Porsche: switched it back from Amsoil to Castrol non-synthetic & his fuel mileage suffered but oil leaks subsided! Seems like it happens mostly on fairly high-mileage vehicles' being switched to synthetic engine oil, but I've never had it happen when the swap to Amsoil was done as soon as a new engine was broken in. Have even heard rumors of the same leakage scenario with swaps to Mobil 1.

J.R.
SoCal

[8v-of-fury]

Guess I'm switching back to dino oil The rotella was on sale, $16 for the 5L jug. However come to think of it, im pretty sure its been on synthetic since the first oil change with the original owner. you shoulda seen the car this motor came out of.. if he didn't crash it by falling asleep.. SPOTLESS!

I agree with the valve cover gasket leakage being plausible, however NO new leaks on the head.. just on the block. Seems to be quite the leak down the front of the block between the 3rd and 4th cylinder (like there was before!).

However, I haven't noticed any loss according to the dipstick.. I fear the coolant is leaking pressure in to the oil after i shut the car down.. Engine has not been over heated to my knowledge. THERE WEREN'T EVEN CRACKS IN BETWEEN THE VALVES ON THE HEAD!! :D:D This engine is in really good shape. 

[Luckypabst]

That's right where the high pressure oil passage is. My bet is that the head isn't quite flat in that area and you're leaking past the rubber O-ring...

Chris

[Luckypabst]

Looks like Spearco is the only one that's read the manual as well...

44 ft-lbs + half turn at initial assembly.
One warm-up cycle & with engine warm, an additional quarter turn.
After 1000 miles, with engine warm or cold, one final quarter turn.

Chris

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Cover to cover, at least twice. Good reading.

[theman53]

I had one leak there. What I did wrong was I didn't have the HG tightly around the stud/bolt and it slid a bit. I thought it was no big deal I just slid it back up with the head on so I knew where to put it. That is the only thing I did differently than normal and it leaked like crazy. Put a new HG on the same engine and head 2 weeks later with new bolts too and NO LEAKS. I was much more careful that time and it worked. Other than the slipping gasket there was no difference in my technique so I think I must have caused the o ring go junk.

Maybe you did something similar?

[8v-of-fury]

Spearco, Toats wasn't doubting.. but i have never heard (nor did my sh!tty hanes tell me) that you do that to stock bolts! Interesting!

Tomorrow morning I will be doing a warm half turn then? seeing as how i didn't do the 1/4 after first warm-up?

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The hydro head is the only one that has that tourqe sequence. Kind of dumb if you ask me but thats VW for ya. You are working on a hydro head right?

Just put some ARP bolts in it.