Head bolts

[alyssa]

This torque-to-yield head bolt idea has me a bit miffed. I'm working on replacing the head gasket on a honda civic. Got everything apart, found the flaw and am just about ready to put the engine back together. I spent the $100 on the gasket set and am now informed that I have to buy new head bolts (at a whopping $15 to $20 each - 10 of them). To begin with I am questioning why it is necessary to replace the bolts. On top of that the cost is twice as much as the gasket set.

I have read up on the torque-to-yield engineering design and I understand the concept and the theory behind it to some extent. I cannot help wondering, though, if this is some back door effort to create a market where none has existed before. They weren't necessary before, so why are they necessary now?

Has anyone had experience with re-using these head bolts? Can you get by with torquing them to the high end of the specification? Sure, the idea is to get the loading equalized across all 10 bolts but come on, are they really manufactured to that exacting of a standard? I replaced a head gasket on a nissan 200sx and reused the head bolts and it went another 100,000 miles before it died of other causes (electrical problems).

Do I really have to spend another $200??!!

[re-tired]

No you cannot re-use them.Well,,, you can but you know what will happen. You said you read and accepted the theory behind them . Once they have been stretched they cannot be unstretched. Shop around prices will vary ,ebay ,etc.Good luck

[driver540]

TTY bolts. Torque To Yield. Means they have been torqued to their max already, thus making the threads weaker. There is no guarantee that you can get an accurate torque on the second use due to the threads being "stretched" once already. Its your car so its your risk. Good luck with whatever you decide.