cylinder head bolt torque?

[beauchemin]

The manual says 40-42 Nm (which is 30 ft-lbs), but Lex's excellent FAQ entry on valve adjustment says 34 ft-lbs. Is the factory manual wrong?

[pete roper]

Since the dawn of time the correct torque has been stated as 32-34 ft/lbs. Given how tight most modern Guzzis are torqued down my guess is that they over-torque 'em nowadays to preclude the need for re-torquing prior to a motor rebuild, (ie, not at the first service or as a yearly maintenance item.) and this might explain why there have been cases of studs snapping when the heads are removed on 1100's.

 

Don't forget that if you wish to re-torque the nuts must all be released in a crosshatch patern and then the threads lubricated before they are re-torqued, if you want to do it properly.

 

Pete

[beauchemin]

Pete - thanks for your response. Two questions remain: Is it acceptable to release and re-torque one bolt at time? Is 30 ft-lbs sufficient as long as you re-torque annually or as a major service item?

[pete roper]

If tyou do 'em one at a time tou increase the risk of warpage. Far better to crack 'em all off then remove all four of the *inside* ones and retorque them after dabbing your finger in the oil in the tocker area ad smearing a bit on tthe studs. When those four are re torqued to say 25 pounds then remove the sleeve nut and the one under the plug and lube their threads before re-installing and torquing them to 25. Then just go round in a crosshatch pattern and bang 'em all down to 34.

 

When rebuild I start the motor, allow it to get good and hot. Leave it overnight and then re-torque when it's cool. Then I repaet the process at 500miles/800Km and forget about it. On my hard used, high mileage dungers I'll tend to re-torque every year or two but only probably because of force of habit, they probably don't need it.

 

Pete