Older (95) Northstar Re-Torque?

[jh225]

Looking at a 95 Eldorado with fairly low miles and I am having a hard time finding info on this head bolt re-torque issue.

What exactly was the issue and was there really a maintanence requirement to retorque the head bolts at 25K miles?

What about after 25K miles?

Can someone fill me in on actual procedure?

[jadcock]

If the car has less than 25k miles, and you're looking to try to re-torque the cylinder heads, I wouldn't touch it. If they've lasted this long, they'll likely last as long as you ever own it (seriously). Trying to re-torque head bolts on a 12 year old installation is asking for trouble.

Edit: I should say, the required maintenance would be draining the coolant and refilling (no need for Dexcool in your application, just regular green coolant) and adding a package of the cooling system sealing supplement tabs.

[jh225]

No, the car has around 50K on it.

I am trying to determine if the bolts should have been retorqued at 25K. Someone said there was actually a place in the owners manual that said it was required. True?

[Ranger]

No it is not required nor recommended. Head bolts have a thread locker on them like Loctite. Retorquing will break that bond. Don't touch them.

[Mountie]

Those cooling system tablets..... How long are they effective?

[Ranger]

Well, I recall the Guru saying that after many years the fibers get chopped up by the water pump impellers and become less effective. I would have to guess that that it is longer than the coolant change interval.