Head re torque GS850G

[Guest]

Thinking of re torquing the head bolts on my 86 GS850, have a small oil leak it may help or it may not, any recommendations before I carry this out? The service manual gives the order in which to torque them but in one chapter it states head nut are 3.5 - 4.0 Kg-m converted to 35 - 40 N.m though in the torque table they are shown as 3.7KG-m or 37 N.m the later figures being approx half way between the two. Thanks

[rustybronco]

Loosen the nuts anti-clockwise a little first before re-torquing them. Don't hesitate to go a few Nm over the limit either. That took care of the slight leaking on both of my '850's.

Some people may not agree with this method but in my case it stopped the leaking.

[Chris G]

Loosen the nuts anti-clockwise a little first before re-torquing them. Don't hesitate to go a few Nm over the limit either. That took care of the slight leaking on both of my '850's.

Some people may not agree with this method but in my case it stopped the leaking.

Thanks for the reply, got to say some of the inner nuts do look at bit on the corroded side, out of character as the rest of the bikes hardware is in excellent condition, is it best to loosen off all in one go then re torque, or loosen and re torque individually.

[GSX1000E]

Here is how I DO/WOULD do it myself: Loosen one at a time in the correct tightening order by spraying the threads with penetrant before loosening.
Loosen enough to form a "well" to spray some more penetrating oil into before tightening to get a more accurate torque value.
Then, tighten each to 33-35 Ft.Lbs. (I do not know the conversion to Newton Meters) in the correct sequence. (Yes, I know, the manual says 29 Ft.Lbs.)

(As he opens the floodgates to varying opinions/suggestions...)

[Chris G]

Here is how I DO/WOULD do it myself: Loosen one at a time in the correct tightening order by spraying the threads with penetrant before loosening.
Loosen enough to form a "well" to spray some more penetrating oil into before tightening to get a more accurate torque value.
Then, tighten each to 33-35 Ft.Lbs. (I do not know the conversion to Newton Meters) in the correct sequence. (Yes, I know, the manual says 29 Ft.Lbs.)

(As he opens the floodgates to varying opinions/suggestions...)

Appreciate the info

[rustybronco]

I live in the rust belt and I've had good success at cracking each one individually loose then retorquing before moving onto the next fastener in sequence. A spot of penetrating oil on the open nuts can't hurt either.

[Chris G]

Had a quick look today, the outer left front domed nut where the slight leak is from the head gasket, was actually a tad loose re torqued it and just checked the others over, they were all as per spec, I'll give it a run later see if it helped any.