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Date: Fri, 14 Mar 2003 20:11:09 +0100
From: "Mark Gerritsma" <nl.autonopsamtmfweb.nld>
Subject: Re: Loose cilinder head bolts a common problem?


Fred W. <Fred.Willsnopsamammyrealbox.com> schreef: >> Last winter I had to refill some coolant on my '99 9-3 2.0 two times >> because the level had gotten low. Recently I experienced the same >> coolant loss problem again. Again it was below freezing outside. >> After having refilled the coolant several times I decided to take >> look at the engine compartment, while the engine was cold. To my >> horror I saw coolant drops leaking through the head-gasket! I >> already had visions of the bill for a gasket replacement. >> >> When I took the car to my garage I was told it could either be a >> broken head gasket or the cilinder head bolts not being tightened >> enough. Because of the huge difference in effort required I had them >> retighten the cilinder head bolts and am pleased to report that I >> haven't lost any coolant since. >> >> But are the loose bolts indeed a common problem with this engine like >> they claims? And how come, that I experienced this problem after 186k >> km and not sooner? > > I would be wary of that as a final fix. I imagine you are in for a > head gaskey soon. > > Also, many head bolts are only supposed to be used one time. They > actually stretch when you reach the correct torque and can not be > retorqued. I am not sure if this applies to your car but you may > want to investigate that before it is too late. That's exactly what my garage told me. Because of a problem during the manfacturing of the engine the bolts weren't fastened enough. So it it isn't a problem to torque them correctly later, but you can only do that once. Thus in my case it isn't a case of retorqueing, because they had never been correctly torqued untill recently. Anyway, I only intend to keep this car for about 10k km anyway. At my current mileage that would be around september, way before the next cold season. -- mvg, Mark Gerritsma

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