Threadlocker question

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FJRdoc

FJRdoc

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I will be getting ready to assemble my engine in the very near future. I've read multiple books and have searched through as many pertinent assembly threads on FABO as I can.
I will be using threadlocker during assembly and it looks as though a combination of blue and red will be required. I see that the red is also available in "high temp" for temps over 350. Is the high temp needed or should I just stick with the regular red?
 
What do you plan on using the threadlocker on.

Don't use it on main, rod or head bolts. I can't think of much, if anything, I use threadlocker on when assembling an engine.
 
Just about anything that bolts to the engine would have a lock washer on it. No need for Locktite inside the motor, just proper torque.
 
I was thinking about the cam bolt as well as oil pan bolts. I've read about using red on the TC flexplate bolts.
 
I think you are only supposed to use thread locker on the cam bolt and flexplate bolts, other than that you just torque everything to spec. That what I did anyways and I haven't had anything fly apart after 1000 miles lol.
 
DartVadar said:
I think you are only supposed to use thread locker on the cam bolt and flexplate bolts, other than that you just torque everything to spec. That what I did anyways and I haven't had anything fly apart after 1000 miles lol.
Click to expand...

x2 cam bolt and flexplate bolts
 
Evidently some of yall haven't worked on anything made past the 80s. Most anything I've ever pulled the oil pan off of from 90 on up had blue locktite on the pan bolts. I've seen it on almost everything that bolts onto the outside of an engine, including the intake manifold.
 
This is what I use: liquid teflon on the intake bolts, oil or ARP lube on the lower end fasteners, antiseize on the bolts going into aluminum. I never use thread locker of any type on the engine. No problems with anything loosening up.
 
I use blue on the cam bolt, flex plate to engine/ flex to converter, presure plate, pullys, fan to clutch/ fan to water pump. Motor mount to engine/ trans to trans mount.
 
I never use it on anything. Just torque stuff properly and it isn't necessary. It tends to cause more problems than it solves.
 
.................I have never used thread locker on any engine bolt and I've been doing engines since the mid seventies................kim.......
 
I've used thread lockers since the 70's. Where appropriate nothing else will do, but the prep is crucial to good performance. Split lock washers are junk and star lock washers are only good for making ground thru plating and paint. The whole "lock-washer" premise is faulty, by the time the joint is loose enough for them to do what they are supposed to the joint is lost anyway.
 
If you put the split washer on the right way, (tang up @12:00, pointed right) itll dig into the metals and prevent loosening, spring tension also drags the bolt. Convertor bolts, yes. Wish you could do header bolts.......
 
My thoughts;

I only use threadlocker on cam bolts, flywheel / flexplate bolts, torque converter bolts (how many times have we heard of them coming loose?), and fan bolts.

Absolutely not on oil pan bolts - with a crush-able gasket as our old engines use, you want to be able to, from time to time, check and possibly cinch up their tightness.
 
ntsqd said:
.... Split lock washers are junk and star lock washers are only good for making ground thru plating and paint. The whole "lock-washer" premise is faulty, by the time the joint is loose enough for them to do what they are supposed to the joint is lost anyway.
Click to expand...

That's why almost nothing on car engines has lock washers. And if you look at aircraft, they are just about never used anywhere.
 
Say what you will about oil pan bolts. When I worked for GM, blue locktite came ON new oil pan bolts. They still do. Lots of new bolts come with it already on the threads.
 
RustyRatRod said:
Say what you will about oil pan bolts. When I worked for GM, blue locktite came ON new oil pan bolts. They still do. Lots of new bolts come with it already on the threads.
Click to expand...

Yes, but I suspect most of those engines do not have a cork gasket, they more likely have a rubber bead in a channel or something similar, where when it is tightened once it is done.
 
d55dave said:
Yes, but I suspect most of those engines do not have a cork gasket, they more likely have a rubber bead in a channel or something similar, where when it is tightened once it is done.
Click to expand...

That's correct. GM got smart and made their engines totally leak free. It was a great design and one Mopar had plenty of time to copy but never did. The 5.9 Magnum was as close as they got. I know the newer stuff is better, but they kinda missed the boat with sealing, IMO. I've seen Chevy 4.3 V6s with 300K on them and not leak one single drop.
 
There is only one correct way to apply a split lock washer, in the round file. If you want some amusing reading about them look up what Carroll Smith* has to say about them in "Engineer to Win."

I would expect that a cork gasket would benefit even more from a lock-tited bolt than would a rubber gasket. IME the install torque on a cork gasket has to be pretty light, lighter than with a rubber gasket. Prime opportunity for the bolt to vibrate loose w/o some sort of retainer.

*Carroll Smith was "the other Carroll" at Carroll Shelby Racing and was the team's Race Engineer. His line of ".... to Win" books should be required reading for any performance car enthusiast. I'd suggest starting with "Engineer to Win" and then "Nuts, Bolts, Fasteners, & Plumbing" (which he told me at a SEMA show years before his passing that he wanted to call "Screw to Win" but his publisher wasn't having any of that). Then "Tune to Win" and/or "Prepare to Win" as appropriate.
 
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