torque cylinder heads?

[joemama]

I decided to remove my engine and clean it up, repaint the sheet metal, check main seal for leaks, etc. I have been running this motor for 3 years, and as I do a few days offroad every year, and I keep the buggy outside and unncovered, some things were looking dirty, greasy, and faded. Boy, I couldnt believe the amount of dirt I found stuck to the cylinder fins once I took off the fan shroud! I even found some pebbles. Its clean now, and I am sure it will run cooler. I am thinking of retorquing the cylinder heads, as this would be a convenient opportunity, however, when I assembled the engine, I used locktite on all the studs/nuts, and to retorque would mean breaking that. I have not had any sign of compression loss, so what do you guys think, should I leave it alone, or retorque? Thanks for your input.

[jsturtlebuggy]

Never use loctite on cylinder head nuts. It is not needed. Lower head studs will sometimes need retorque. Has to do with rockers arms being inline with studs. I have only seen upper head nuts come loose from extreme overheating of the engine.

[shaihulud]

I agree with turtle. Don't locktite cylinder head nuts. If you re-torque or even loosened them to remove the heads there is a good chance that the nuts will not loosen, but the studs will tighten in the block or come out from the block. I would say, leave them if there is no evidence of problems. It ain't broke so don't fix it.

[joemama]

Alright, I wont be retorquing the cylinder heads. Thanks for the input. I also put locktite on the studs, so they wont be coming out either.