HI,
I am in the process of replacing the head gasket on my 93 22RE engine . I am putting it back together and just realized my haste , that I torqued my new head bolts down in the wrong sequence . I torqued them down in the removal sequence . Is it ok just to back them off and re-torque in the correct sequence ?
Thanks for any info.

 

You'll be fine just leaving them. It would probably be a bad idea to loosen them. The head gasket isn't meant to be squished, released, and re-squished. The purpose of the sequence is to pull the head down even, not smash one end down while the other end is free. The purpose of the removal sequence is the same. Your error still would have pulled the head down flat and even. There are probable plenty of engines which are just wizzed down with an impact wrench or breaker bar with no torque wrench used which run just fine. I wouldn't recommend it, it's bad practice, but realistically it's not going to kill the engine.

 

Thank you for your help. Thats what I was hoping

 

Hi:
+1 on what arlindsay said.
Plus, Please resist the urge to retorque the head bolts after a a month or two
There is a group of misguided wannabe scientists roaming around, that say the bolts should be retorqued after heat cycling for a period of time.
Doing this will piss off the gasket, and it will get back at you guaranteed.
Art.

 

Thanks Art.