Topic: cylinder stud nuts and loctite

[haggeo]

my search results did not turn up anything specific to my question so here goes.

i understand the cylinder stud nuts should be torqued, loosened then re-torqued my question is about using red loctite before the final torquing. i've read various posts where guys have had the nuts come loose after a few hundred miles, seems like loctite could help avoid this problem. maybe the people who have had this happen did not torque the bolts down correctly? my engine had never been opened and the nuts were all tight so it seems possible that properly torqued they should be alright. my bike is a 750 K5 with heavy duty cylinder studs.

[Jerry Rxman Griffin aka MuthaF'er]

I don't believe the nuts come loose as such on their own if they are torqued correctly. My belief is the nuts become loose due to cylinder stud stretching. If this is the case locktite won't help.

Now, if your engine does have heavy duty studs then, yes, it has been opened.

[MCRider]

my search results did not turn up anything specific to my question so here goes.

i understand the cylinder stud nuts should be torqued, loosened then re-torqued my question is about using red loctite before the final torquing. i've read various posts where guys have had the nuts come loose after a few hundred miles, seems like loctite could help avoid this problem. maybe the people who have had this happen did not torque the bolts down correctly? my engine had never been opened and the nuts were all tight so it seems possible that properly torqued they should be alright. my bike is a 750 K5 with heavy duty cylinder studs.

I'm curious too. But in all my wanderings, I've never come across a recommendation to put locktite on those nuts.

I've never done it myself, rebuilt many engines, but I'm open for suggestions.

Jerry: He may have put the studs in himself, that's how i read it.

[haggeo]

yeah, i did put the studs in myself. i didn't think about the studs stretching but it seems like the original spindly studs would have stretched too i'd hate to have to open the engine up just to check but that's what i signed up for when i jumped into this hole

if i coated the length of the stud with loctite would that keep it from stretching?  just kidding. thanks for the insight. i'll button it up and hope for the best.

[MCRider]

yeah, i did put the studs in myself. i didn't think about the studs stretching but it seems like the original spindly studs would have stretched too i'd hate to have to open the engine up just to check but that's what i signed up for when i jumped into this hole

if i coated the length of the stud with loctite would that keep it from stretching?  just kidding. thanks for the insight. i'll button it up and hope for the best.

My opinion, the HD studs will not stretch. That's the whole idea. For the nuts that came loose, they were either on stock studs, not tightened sufficiently, or a victim of FM. (f--king magic) It happens.

I wouldn't hesitate to button it up without loctitie.

That's just me.

[Jerry Rxman Griffin aka MuthaF'er]

I've installed one of Gordon's frame kits for my "restore". I had nuts that were loose too when I took it apart. I thought it was the rubber cam tower pucks that were causing the leaking but when I found the "fairly loose" nuts I realized differently. The pucks were still fairly pliable! This way I'll be able to retorque the head. It also will have heavy duty studs to replace the stock studs that had 30,000 fairly hard miles. No loctite. 

[haggeo]

i'm going to loctite them, can't hurt anything i guess.

[mystic_1]

my question is about using red loctite before the final torquing.

I wouldn't use red, that'll make it very difficult indeed to remove the head in the future.  Use blue if you use anything at all.  I never have and neither did the factory, nor have I ever heard of anyone else using loctite there.

mystic_1

[BobbyR]

When you torque or tighten a bolt you are stretching it, if you have not gone too far the bolt will want to return to it;s original size. When torque something with a gasket, the gasket will crush and that is why you re torque the bolt. Loctite is great and we use a lot of it on critical fasteners. When you use Loctite you have 15 minute working time, so if you are going to work with it, do it quickly. Red can be a bit extreme if you are using it as insurance.