Leaking Coolant From New Tomei Head Gasket

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Guys,

Just got my rebuilt engine back from my machanic mate. After put evrything together, I have noticed coolant leaking out between tomei head gasket and the bottom block, on the driver side. Spoken to the mechanic said that it could be the head gasket faulty. He told me that head studs were tighten to about 87Nm. Note that the block and head have all machined. Any idea why is it leaking even before any pressure?

Thanks

[Simon-S14]

87nm isnt much. are they ARP studs or stock bolts?

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Arp studs.

[Simon-S14]

should be around 95-100nm

[Humbla]

When i had a metal h gasket put in mechanic put water in for the first 1000 ks,said it was to make sure of no leaks.Then he put coolent in,no leaks.

[DVS JEZ]

Make sure its

Not leaking from the inlet manifold gasket. What gasket did u use on the inlet manifold

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Simon – what is the size of the studs? On ARP website, they recommend 62ft-bls (84Nm) for 10mm and 80ft-bls (108Nm). Hopefully under tightening is the cause. J.

It is only leaking on the driver side HG/block.

Jez –

Used Nissan gaskets kits and Tomei head gasket.

ARP main and head studs/bolts.

Pretty sure it is not coming out of the inlet manifold. I can see the coolant between the head gasket and the bottom block, along the block.

Is there any chance of faulty head gasket, block not machine properly?

[boostn0199]

Was it tightentend in stages? From the way you wrote about 87 i would intepret that as not much care taken. Could be any one of those in correct tightening procedure, poor machining , faulty gasket allthough i wouldnt put that as very likely espicialy with the tomei ones as they are not as sensitive to surface flatness levels as other metal ones.

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Simon – what is the size of the studs? On ARP website, they recommend 62ft-bls (84Nm) for 10mm and 80ft-bls (108Nm). Hopefully under tightening is the cause. J.

It is only leaking on the driver side HG/block.

Used Nissan gaskets kits and Tomei head gasket.

ARP main and head studs/bolts.

Pretty sure it is not coming out of the inlet manifold. I can see the coolant between the head gasket and the bottom block, along the block.

Is there any chance of faulty head gasket, block not machine properly?

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sorry double posted.

yes, it was tigthened in stages, followed the Nissan manual.

i personally don't think it is the HG faulty as you've said, This leaves the machining and tightening. Can anyone confirm the torque for the ARP head stud, hopefully they are under tightening, that ways i can just tightening it up to the required spec. Note the leaks is very little, even after puting about 14psi in the system.

[black bnr32]

ask him what the Ra of the head and block were. apparently you want under 20 Ra when using a metal head gasket. mls gaskets also need time to settle before their final tourque

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actually the torque was 85ft-bls not NM. I will ask him later about the Ra thing. thanks

[boostn0199]

The machining would really really average if a tomei head gasket is leaking on it as they tolerate pretty much same surface finish as the stock headgasket. Should always use a straight edge on head and block before putting on the gasket just to double check.

[camandcandice]

If its for an rb26 the correct torque is 125ft lbs in three equal steps with ARP moly lube