Cylinder Head Loose?

[Ian Anthony]

Hi all

Ok I've got a 92 townace 2.0td with the 2ct engine and she always drove like a dream

I mean 9 times to spain and back no probs

Despite oil changes every 5000k and proper maintenance, the head gasket went in Spain

Now i've had her for 4 years and am well aware of the overheat probs they are renowned for.

Anyway i brought another townace off eBay and it seems ok

Now I decided to strip the old one for parts as it's been really looked after

I was totally gobsmacked to find out that the cylinder head bolts where remarkably loose, the cylinder head come off no probs but theres no sign of any damage

Sure tha gasket had seperated but that's all I can find I'm now going to do 2 things

firstly get the head checked and skimmed and sell it, so someone else can breath life back into there townace

Secondly I'm going to re-torque the head on my new car

Any thoughts welcome

Regards

ian

[martin_longbow]

Yep. you are right, thats a strange one. use locktight I always say!

I dont know if I would re torq the current one this seems to be a freek, but if it gives you peace of mind then go right ahead. I would only be touching them if I was removing them to redo the head.

[Ian Anthony]

Yep. you are right, thats a strange one. use locktight I always say!

I dont know if I would re torq the current one this seems to be a freek, but if it gives you peace of mind then go right ahead. I would only be touching them if I was removing them to redo the head.

Thanks for that Martin

I know it seems rediculous, but I just expected to have to put some effort into removing the head bolts, but honestly no effort required

It makes me wonder if this has been the cause of my probs

I can't see a re torq on the new one doing any harm, there again I could just replace the gasket anyway better to be safe than sorry!

I can tell you one thing breaking down in Spain is no fun

Regards

Ian

[Parts-King]

Change the head bolts, they are probably stretched and have "bottomed out" before being fully tightened. Those bolts are VERY tight and would never come loose by themselves

Kingo

[Ian Anthony]

Change the head bolts, they are probably stretched and have "bottomed out" before being fully tightened. Those bolts are VERY tight and would never come loose by themselves

Kingo

That's quite a good idea because I can tell you now I'm paranoid about it happening again.

having other ideas about installing elec twin speed fans and a new temperature guage.

[Karma Supra]

Change the head bolts, they are probably stretched and have "bottomed out" before being fully tightened. Those bolts are VERY tight and would never come loose by themselves

Kingo

Although around that era Toyota DID have a reputation for head bolts not being tight enough! The 7M engine springs to mind where they were only torqued up to 50something lb-ft, a service bulletin was put out that the torque spec was to be increased, but a recall was never done... which is a little naughty ;)

Still I doubt there are any left that haven't have the head gaskets changed by now and torqued up to the correct spec!

ARP head STUDS are the way forward, along with decent head and block surface preparation.

That combined with not neglecting the cooling system and everything should be hunkey dorey.