Hi There,

I am planning to replace the Head Gaskets on my 2005 3.3 V6 Chrysler Grand Voyager and I wondered if I need to replace the Head Bolts?

I'm UK based.

Cheers

Austin

 

I would suggest replacing them.
Head bolts tend to stretch when they are being torqued down, and if reused that stretching can cause problems, later.

 

The head bolts in question are torque to yield no stretching. inspect for damages from engine issues but normal circumstances no stretching.

 

As CHRYSLER TECH said under normal circumstances you should not need to replaces the head bolts.

But you won't know for sure until you remove the head and/or are installing the head, see below:





If the headbolts are not readily available in the UK, or if you cannot live without the van while waiting for new headbolts to arrive, you may want to have a set on hand.

 

Hi Guys,

Heads off over the weekend and the bolts all look in good condition. I haven't worked on a car for a number of years now, so I was a little surprised to find that the Head Gasket is 3 thin pieces of metal with, what appears to be, no compressible material!

Are there any tips etc. I should look out for when cleaning and putting this back together? Also, does anyone know what the valve clearances are?

Cheers

Austin

 

Yes take them to a machine shop and let them check for warping

 

Hi There,

Thanks for this; to be on the safe-side, both heads are off to be skimmed at the weekend.

Cheers

Austin

 

Dear All,

An update.

Head gaskets done and I have completed about 2,000 miles since (including a 1,600 mile trip to France - which itself included 3 x approx 2h 30 min stints at 84 mph (136 kph) - 4 adults, our luggage, and a roof box full of tools)

It was very difficult to see but No 1 Cylinder did have slight discolouration of the valve heads, brownish as opposed to black/greyish, and a little bit more 'black' across the 'circular ring seal area' on the head - if you've taken one apart, you'll know what I mean - and the water jacket. Having put sealers in the water system, most of the waterways were considerably restricted. I cleaned these in both the heads and block, had the heads skimmed and finally replaced the rotten exhaust heat-shields, front and back.



Before reassembly, I made a visual check on the head bolts and they all looked in excellent condition so did not replace them. Whilst I made sure there was no fluid or debris in the block holes for the head bolts, I did have 'a moment' when going through the final torque tightening sequence, one of the head bolts just went way beyond the 90 degree turn and didn't 'click' (I had set my Torque Wrench to 125 NM as I had read that after the final 90 degree turn the torque of the bolt should be at least 122 NM.) I finished the other bolts and went back to this bolt. I undid it and took it out; it looked fine, so I popped it back in, repeated the sequence and it was fine. When doing the final 90 degree turn, it clicked at about 60-75 degrees (few!! ).



The car runs cooler now at between 88-89 and 93-94 degrees C (instead of the previous 96 - 100 degrees C)



So far, there doesn't seem to be any noticeable issue with the fact that I have bypassed the water from flowing through the oil-filter housing (after 2,000 miles it still looks light brown and it doesn't appear to have burnt any oil).



Thanks for your input, and I hope this helps someone else.



On to changing the Clutch in my P38 2.5 DSE Ranger Rover!



Cheers



Austin