96 Lumina intake or head gasket replacement

Ok well guess what we totally fudged up and think we will end up junking it. We were tightening the rocker arm bolts and the stupid torgue wrench we borrowed we didnt notice that it said foot pounds on it and over tightened the bolt and the thread from the in side broke. do u think if we go do it the way we r supposed to it will work since we tightened to 80 when we realized in foot so 89 in-lb would only be 7. something it wouldnt reach the threads we broke right? Oh please dont tell me I really F$%^%$%^ this up. HELP!!!!! ASAP!!!!!





My husband is trying to replace gaskets. problem is that Everything has to come off and when we got the top off the oil looks like a yellow mustard milkshake and it is every where is that going to pose a problem when we get it back together? I know to change the oil. How do we make this more simple to get to the intake manifold gaskets? Do we have to mess with the push rods at all we need help asap!!!! do the rockers have to come off also to get to the head gaskets? I don;t know if we can even remember how to put it back together

Its not that complicated, just very time consuming. It took me 12 hours first time around.

The most important thing is probably labeling what goes wheres. Put bolts/screws and everything in separate zip lock bags that are labeled.

Make sure to use plenty of RTV on the ridges, I didnt use enough despite thinking I used alot and now have to break everything down again to do 5 mins worth of work.

The rocker arms don't need to come off completely, they just need to be loosened so you can take the pushrods out. Make sure to put them back in the same way they come out because they are different lengths. You can cause damage if you dont.

Also make sure to clean up gasket residue really well before putting in the new gasket.

Last but not least, torque everything to spec and make aboslutely sure to take your time.

They also make a tool (lisle tools) for removing the pushrods without loosening anything.

Make sure you take note that the pushrods are two different lengths and that the go back in the right spot. Failure to do this will result in bent valves. Not maybe, it will!!

Once you do 3 or 100 you can have them done in about 3 hours.

Why is he thinking he has to replace the head gaskets? If there is any coolant in the oil (if the oil looks like chocolate milk) stop what you are doing and replace the motor!!

They also make a tool (lisle tools) for removing the pushrods without loosening anything.



Wish I had that tool! Woulda saved me 2-3 hours. I just found a video of one in use and I will be using one next time around.

sORRY I seemed to have posted in the wrong area. We screwed up the torc spec we were given a foot-lb wrench and didnt know it till we de-threaded one of the things hopefully u know what I mean. Instead ofn 89 in-lb torc we could only reach about 80 ft lbs. This is when we were like what the heck. And realized We messed this all up can we just do the 7.666666? in-lbs and we shouldnt hit the threads we broke? Or did we completely screw this up and should i calln the junk yard We need help asap. I wanna cry

sORRY I seemed to have posted in the wrong area. We screwed up the torc spec we were given a foot-lb wrench and didnt know it till we de-threaded one of the things hopefully u know what I mean. Instead ofn 89 in-lb torc we could only reach about 80 ft lbs. This is when we were like what the heck. And realized We messed this all up can we just do the 7.666666? in-lbs and we shouldnt hit the threads we broke? Or did we completely screw this up and should i calln the junk yard We need help asap. I wanna cry
OUCH! At this point it seems like it would be cheaper to get a new engine and just drop it in.

Are you sure you didnt just strip the bolt?

no I didnt strip the bolt it was the aluminum shavings from the inside we went back and did the torcs the right way but that one wont tighten. should i just put lock tight in it or am i screwed? what can i do to fix this problem?

no I didnt strip the bolt it was the aluminum shavings from the inside we went back and did the torcs the right way but that one wont tighten. should i just put lock tight in it or am i screwed? what can i do to fix this problem?
not sure where you can find it but they have a thread repair kit you can use to fix stripped bolt holes. If i am understand right you cant get the bolt to tighten to torque specs. So loc-tite would be about as adequate as leaving the bolt out.

not sure where you can find it but they have a thread repair kit you can use to fix stripped bolt holes. If i am understand right you cant get the bolt to tighten to torque specs. So loc-tite would be about as adequate as leaving the bolt out.
I thought about mentioning that but seeing how the LIM bolts go down quite some bit, I dont see it working well. Of course i'm nowhere near as experienced as a lot of other guys here, so I may be wrong.

so you are saying it is repairable? I am hoping this could work. what is it that I am actually screwing the rocker arm bolts in? I am worried since i have no money to pay someone to do this and no money to buy a new car. If I can some how get this bolt to hold is the stripping of the thread on the inside going to effect anything to do woth the car or it just needs to hold?

Which one stripped? The one that goes straight up and down or the one that goes in at an angle? A heli-coil is a theoretical option. There isn't a lot of torque on those bolts so it might work. The lower intake will need to be removed and I would not use the gaskets as they have been crushed by the over torqueing. The heli-coil will come as a kit (drill bit, tap, coils, and install tool) simply drill out the old threads, tap the hole, install the coil using thread locker, reinstall the manifold. The only thing that might be a problem is the coils have a little tang on the bottom used for installation. If the bolt goes further than the tang than you might be out of luck. Its already broke so whatever you try really can't put you in any worse of a bind, can it?

yes I cant get the bolt to tighten to specs now. Because i dethreaded the inside with the bolt. I hVE LOOKED AT A LOT OF THE OTHER POST AND SEEN no body has done this. But do u think I could just use a bigger bolt but if so how do i get the old bolt off the rocker arm?

looking at it would be the 4th from the left in the back that we stripped. all others are torc to spec

I didn't realize it was a rocker arm bolt! Thats a tough call. Realistically I doubt if it will hold. From your position its worth a shot. I'll try anything within reason once. If it works, awsome. If it doesn't than you gave it your best shot!

so u r saying there is nothing that can be done if that doesnt work? will a mechanic be able to fix this?

I would bet they would reccomend a head, or they will offer a repair without warranty. One way is a lot of money and better, the other will be a lot of money for a maybe.

just get new head from junk yard, and do head gaskets since you will be down dare, and make sure to clean carbon from the piston heads and valves.