Thread: Flywheel Bolts

Why do they keep working there way out and how do I keep them on tight?

Story time:

So about a year or so ago I noticed an odd noise coming from the engine bay. It wasn't regular or anything I've heard before, but it was load. Noticed that it went away when I pushed the clutch in. So, I pulled the tranny and noticed 3 of my flywheel bolts decided it would be a good time to work their way out and start smacking into the pressure plate. So I took them out, used some lock tight (the blue stuff... that’s probably the problem) and tightened them back in.

So a week ago I was driving around rather spiritedly. Pulled into the driveway and noticed a "knocking" noise from the bay. Turned the engine off and cursed... a lot. Went to and changed the oil to see what kind of crap falls out. No metal, but the oil reeked of fuel. Apparently injector #3 thought it would be funny to start leaking. Over time it has given me a flammable oil. Nice, I know. So flushed the system. Noticed when I started the car for a few minutes to get actual oil around anything that it was "knocking" at idle. "damn" i thought, that was fast. But I noticed it didn't really sound like engine knock, it was loud as hell and sort of from all over the engine... it was weird. Flushed the oil out again. Fixed the injector o-rings. Then had an idea today. Was going to drive her to around back to drop the oil pans and see the damage, and when I did I played with the clutch some... it then hit me. The flywheel bolts are hitting the pressure plate again. I couldn’t even hear if a spun a bearing over that clatter. But I doubt I did, I held her around the 3k range to listen for the noise of doom, but couldn’t hear anything or feel it other then the damn bolt to pressure plate noise.

So, tomorrow I am going to pull the tranny... again. What the hell will keep the flywheel bolts where they belong? And why would they be backing out like this?

You not torquing them to spec? I've actually never used loctite on my flywheel bolts and I've had no problems. Try the red loctite and make sure they're torqued to spec. Torque them down slowly, very little at a time until you are sure the flywheel is flush to the crank, and then make sure that they're at their final torque specs.

New bolts might help. I'd go with new bolts and Locktite. But I've never had a problem like this either -- just tightening to spec..

I just did my flywheel, for the second time but the first time I checked about 3 times to make sure they were tightened to spec. One thing I did, which isn't really the best way of going about it is I just would snug them up, then go in a star pattern and tighten the f*ck out of them. My motor was still in the car and I'm a pretty little guy so leaning under the car I couldn't put more than 75ft-lbs on them which is right around where they should be. Don;t criticize how I did it.. i know it isn't correct but i check to make sure.

The old bolts might be stretched so they no longer make the proper contact in the crank. Try the new bolts idea. Loctite also makes a product that is more viscous for filling in larger gaps. You could try that if you can't get new bolts in time for Saturday. Make sure the bolts and holes are clean and dry to get the best benefit from the Loctite.

You reused flywheel bolts? Big no-no. New bolts w/o loctite should do the trick, not a problem on the three cars I've done, but you can use the loctite for peace of mind.

I've reused flywheel bolts many times on many different cars, never had a problem. If you do it right and they aren't stretched, there's no reason you can't loctite them in.