Honda Car Forum

I have a '96 Prelude and I torqued the head bolts correctly but I think there's still oil leaking from the seal. Are you supposed to torque them more than what the repair manual says to? I used a clicker type torque wrench. What happens if you over-torque them?

You break the bolts

your head might be warped or damaged.if you over torque them you can warp, crack or damage the head or break a head bolt.Head bolts are made to streatch a bit when tightened.Do a compression test to see if the head is leaking pressure in the cylinders

Yes you are supposed to use a torque wrench & go by the specs in the manual.If you over tighten them the gasket gets pinched & it will leak.

If you used a torque wrench and went by the guidelines for your vehicle, then they should be on there right. If you over torque, they will break. Sounds like a seal to me...

Overtorque on head bolts can lead to either warpage of the deck surface, or cracks in the head. I'm a little confused concerning your statement that there is oil leaking from the seal...are you referring to the camshaft seal? This should be replaceable without removing the head from the car...BTW ALWAYS use NEW head bolts when replacing a cylinder head. The bolts are designed to stretch a certain amount when torqued properly. Used bolts are already stretched, and cannot reliably be used.

Head bolts are torqued to specs to put a certain preload on the bolts. If you over torque the bolts, you run the risk of breaking the head bolts, and then having to extract the broken bolts to replace. Did you use a new gasket when you put the head on? Did you follow the tightening pattern? (could warp the head if you didn't) If you did the above, you may have somevariations in your head or block that need to be machined.

if you over toque then you could warp your head,even worse,,crack it,,some of the newer head bolt,s are not supposed to be re-used,,because of stretching,,and heat,and no the newer gasket,s you shouldn't have to re-torque them,,if you have oil leaking it may be coming from the valve cover gasket,,or one of the cam seals,,you can re torque the valve cover gasket,,but just a little,if you re-used the old head bolt,s you may wind up with a leak,,if the engine blew a head gasket,,you are supposed to replace the head bolts,,because usually the heat stretch,s them out,,and you can.t get an accurate torque on them,,i hope this work,s out OK for you,,maybe this helped.

Probably you split the head gasket by excessive pressure or over-torquing them (head bolts). Head bolts are design to strech a bit, that's why you are supposed to use new ones every time they come out.Even though you might feel that the bolts are not tight enough by using the click tipe of torque wrench, trust it.There're ways to check for warped heads, just remove it and send it to get it checked, dn't quite panic yet.Do, however get it fixed because oil and coolant will probably mix next and thus overheating and there's nothing worse than an overheated engine.

picture a peanut butter and jelly sandwich and mash it with your hands. See the jelly coming out the sides if the bread? That's the head gasket. See the hand imprint on the bread? That's the aluminum head getting crushed and warped. See me eating the sandwich? That's the repair shop with dollar signs over their heads.