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There are many videos and postings showing how to replace the head gasket on Intek engines. All of the ones I have watched show the head bolts assembled and torqued dry (no lube). Is this correct or should the bolts be lubricated?

Lubing the bolt will cause u to overtorque them.

The service manual for the single cylinder Intek says to use valve guide lube on the head bolts

most "dry" bolts are not dry. They have oils on them from manufacturing. Dry means not dipped in a bucket of oil. As ILENGINE posted, many manufacturers tell you what they want done but very few people read the foot notes, they just post the old wives tales that the Internet is full of. Even new ARP bolts have an oil film on them.

An oily or lubed bolt requires less final torque than a dry bolt.

That being said, that Briggs step #1 ILENGINE posted is news to me. I too need to be more careful about torque values and lube. ESPECIALLY on Inteks which are known to toss head gaskets. Nice find ILENGINE.

Thanks ILENGINE that is just the info I needed.

to add to the discussion - if one goes to an engineering book on torque values, it is not just the fastener but what it fastens too. I LMAO when someone lectures some of us in some car forum about how the bolts must always be dry, then they screw it into an oily hole in the block. Torque settings also have a range, often the published spec is simply the middle of that range. Sometimes three different versions of a service manual will have different values for torque, sometimes in the same manual. Page XYZ will say 23 ft lbs for something, page WXY will say 18 ft lbs and the photo page of an assembly with arrows and specs to fasteners will say 29 ft lbs. Last, how many people here send their torque wrenches out once in awhile to be cleaned and recalibrated. I do because working in the machine shop I learned that most torque wrenches over time, other than the old style single beam wrenches, can drift enough to snap bolts or have them come loose later. TeamTorque is who I send my wrenches too.

That just everybody wants to use oil when tapping aluminum which causes problem. My machinist gave a hint on what to use and it works much better. It's a common item found at drugstores and places like Tramlaw and DG stores. I very rarely have a jammed tap when doing aluminum holes. Now oil works better of steel.

Also you should use a thread restoring tap for cleaning the holes out as they don't cut threads normally; unless, sever damage has been done.

sgkent said:

how many people here send their torque wrenches out once in awhile to be cleaned and recalibrated. I do because working in the machine shop I learned that most torque wrenches over time, other than the old style single beam wrenches, can drift enough to snap bolts or have them come loose later

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I do check mine with a digital torque adapter. That how found out how lousy HFT torque wrenches were. One was nearly double the torque setting before it clicked. No wonder I was snapping bolts

Also you should unload the torque wrenches when you not using them as leaving them loaded can cause the calibration to become un-calibrated.

WD-40 works good as a so called cutting oil on aluminum.

Here is something to try next time that should work better than WD-40, its common 70% rubbing alcohol but I prefer the 90% version.

StarTech said:

I do check mine with a digital torque adapter. That how found out how lousy HFT torque wrenches were. One was nearly double the torque setting before it clicked. No wonder I was snapping bolts

Also you should unload the torque wrenches when you not using them as leaving them loaded can cause the calibration to become un-calibrated.

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Who calibrated your digital unit?

I never buy a clickable setting torque wrench. Like StarTech said, you must dial back to 0 when done. I just buy the old school beam style jobs that work for decades. Pick them up at garage sales or facetrash market place for cheap.

I recall AlumaTap when I worked in machine shops. If you used Tap Free on Aluminum it would turn it black. Back in the day. Now they have tapping fluids that claim to work on all metals. Tap Majic.

Beam type wrenches work well for head bolts but when trying to torque a bolt in a tight place you can't get a view of the reading. To view the scale properly you need to view the scale from straight above it, not on an angle.

nbpt100 said:

I recall AlumaTap when I worked in machine shops. If you used Tap Free on Aluminum it would turn it black. Back in the day. Now they have tapping fluids that claim to work on all metals. Tap Majic.

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Tap Magic doesn't work very on aluminum. I have tried it then my machinist suggest the alcohol.

StarTech said:

Tap Magic doesn't work very on aluminum. I have tried it then my machinist suggest the alcohol.

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That is what happens when they make a product that accommodates too many options. Too many compromises. It does not work well at anything while claiming it can do everything.

A lot of the products out there makes a lot of promises with few realized. I got some Free All penetrating oil that failed on every stuck fastener. A total waste of my funds when a 50/50 Acetone and transmission mix beats it hands down.

I recall the cast iron engine days of book specific head bolt torque values and "by the book" was the rule.

When aluminum heads and blocks came out, the game changed due to dissimilar metals and a high coefficient of friction. Steel bolts and aluminum components have different rates of expansion and contraction with changing temperatures.

To resolve issues many manufacturers switched over to angle torque settings and torque to yield one time use bolts. That was mainly critical on the automotive engine designs due to higher engine compressions and longevity.

On the small engine side, they mostly still relied on fixed torque settings, but all the head bolts required a very thin coat of lube to prevent excess friction during the bolt torque process.

The whole idea of properly torquing bolts is providing the proper bolt clamping force and gasket crush to ensure proper long-term sealing.

Auto Doc's said:

I recall the cast iron engine days of book specific head bolt torque values and "by the book" was the rule.

When aluminum heads and blocks came out, the game changed due to dissimilar metals and a high coefficient of friction. Steel bolts and aluminum components have different rates of expansion and contraction with changing temperatures.

To resolve issues many manufacturers switched over to angle torque settings and torque to yield one time use bolts. That was mainly critical on the automotive engine designs due to higher engine compressions and longevity.

On the small engine side, they mostly still relied on fixed torque settings, but all the head bolts required a very thin coat of lube to prevent excess friction during the bolt torque process.

The whole idea of properly torquing bolts is providing the proper bolt clamping force and gasket crush to ensure proper long-term sealing.

Click to expand...

Or in the case of the old Kohler K-series it was recommended to replace the head bolts. The understanding was the bolts were designed to expand and contract with the aluminum, but were basically a one time torque to yield bolt.