Head bolts

[Jake Spoon]

I'm putting a head gasket in my 3010 gas .I priced head bolts from john deere. $420 i don't have that kinda money . Can I reuse my head bolts. What would it hurt to reuse them .

 

[Dieseltech]

I'm putting a head gasket in my 3010 gas .I priced head bolts from john deere. $420 i don't have that kinda money . Can I reuse my head bolts. What would it hurt to reuse them .

I'd reuse if they look good they are NOT torque to yield like most newer engines use.

 

[Janicholson]

I agree with Dieseltech. Unless corroded, or thread damaged, they will be fine. ARP company also specializes in headbolts if some are damaged. Jim

 

[Indiana Ken]

I'm putting a head gasket in my 3010 gas .I priced head bolts from john deere. $420 i don't have that kinda money . Can I reuse my head bolts. What would it hurt to reuse them .

The clamping force of the head bolts properly torqued should exceed the combustion force acting to lift the head off the block. Since the head does not lift off the block, the bolts do not see additional loading as a result of combustion pressure. Therefore, there is no fatigue to cause failure during operation. In addition, consider that the bolt load is the greatest during the torque operation since, the bolt sees tension load and torsion load. Hence the mantra: If it does not break during torqueing it should not break in service. Yes, passing an inspection, you should be able to reuse the bolts. NOTE: 1) Torque to yield is a different critter - I would not advise yielding a bolt more than once. 2) If you have bored the cylinders, turbo charged or other wise increased the force acting to lift the head, the manual specified torque may no longer be valid.

 

[johnnmr]

I've leaned my lesson the hard way stretching/breaking head bolts when reassembling even "vintage" engines. Every engine gets new head bolts. Prorate that $420 for the life of the repair (20 or 40 years hopefully?), and move on.

 

[Fixingfarmer]

Check everywhere else bolts are pretty hard to mess up. Cross your part number bolts there should be several sizes at All states ag parts.
The kit for the later 3020 is 155924. 147 bucks is much better. But again get your casting numbers and engine model number. Then type in the John Deere part number and cross each one make sure you get the right parts.

You can reuse them. I have snapped a reused bolt or 2 but the good thing is they spin out easy usually by fingers or even a magnet without pulling the head so you can save the gasket. I was worried the first time one of the old techs saw the look on my face and said it will be fine you just removed all the tension on a clean bolt in a clean tapped hole this will come out easy. And the other good thing is if they are going to snap it is usually during the install so if they survive the install they are usually good. At 150 bucks you have to consider the cost of a second head gasket at least 80 bucks (buy the gasket from Deere) if you do have to pull the head. Generally it is not the first bolt that snaps on you and some torque on it so the first gasket is already crushed and you are asking for a leak by reusing.

 

[showcrop]

Generally the trend is to replacing bolts with studs. Look at ARPs. They are capable of holding a lot higher torque than OEM, even though you wouldn't, and they should cost a lot less than OEM.

 

[Mcrafty1]

I'm putting a head gasket in my 3010 gas .I priced head bolts from john deere. $420 i don't have that kinda money . Can I reuse my head bolts. What would it hurt to reuse them .

I just overhauled my 404 diesel in my 4020, I reused those head bolts, not sure if they were original to the engine but the clock has 8600 hrs on it. However, it was last summer when I did the overhaul so not many hours on the work. They were holding when I put the tractor away but probably only 20 hrs or so on the rebuild.

....Actually the tractor shows 8800 hours.