Oil leak

[William]

I have an oil leak on exhaust side of engine. Appears to be between block and head. I retorqued head bolts and it got worse over the next week. Has anyone run into this. It seems isolated as I have good compression on all 4 and no oil/coolant mixing seen. I salvaged an 89 2.0L engine and put into my 87 about 2 months ago. Not got enough faith that it is the head gasket to change it without other's opinions. Thanks!

[William]

Also, Has anyone found a source for replacement head bolts or studs? Anyone risk re-using the old ones and simply retorque a bit down the road?

[Ramit]

Had the same problem on my 83, but after replacing the head and head gasket,no more oil leak.Mine also has the 2.0 (G63B).Have always been told to replace the head bolts, and always have. Till now. The head shop that sold me the head,who is a very reputable shop here in Nashville,looked up in some cylinder head book that lists all of the torque specs for all of the different year cars and trucks(big book), and it stated that head bolt replacement was not necessary.I called him after searching everywhere for new bolts and could not find them anywhere.Just cleaned up all of the old bolts really good, as well as run a tap down through all of the bolt holes to be sure they are good and clean.My truck has been back on the road about 6-8 weeks and is running like a top and couldn't be happier.

[William]

Thanks Ramit. Quickly became somewhat of a moot point as I searched for new head bolts to no avail. A mechanic, who I also trust, said I did not have to get new head bolts. Would have if I could have found them though. But he said if there was ONLY a torque specification and not a runout past torque (ie, turn another 1/4 turn past torque - example only) that it was ok to use them. I "inherited" this truck from my father past his death 8 yrs ago. I have replaced bout everything on it. Seems there is always something to work on but praying this will be the last fix for a while. Engine swap last Fall. Used 89 put into this 87. A/C conversion kit to R134 from Whitney hoping to put in if this head gasket fixes oil leak. Thanks again. This forum has been a great help.

[Ramit]

Back when I was searching for new bolts, someone on here, I think it was camoit, told me to replace them with studs. If you do a search on here, I'm sure you can find his post about them with a link to the site that sells the studs.Glad I could help and good luck!

[pennyman1]

The ARP head stud kit for the 83 up g63b is the same as a 4g63 motor; this will make the search much easier. Be aware you might have to clearance the valve cover to clear the studs.

[William]

FYI. I did change the head gasket. I cleaned the old head bolts and block, used alcohol on a swab. Torqued cold and then warm. Been about 500 mi and no oil use/loss and good power (whatever that means for a 2.0L). Now if I can get the A/C to work...........