Head Stud Question
 

Can anyone tell me just from eyeballing the photos below whether the headstuds on my 1988 3.2 liter are the Dilavar studs that should be replaced???

Your replies are much appreciated.


http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1159322389.jpg http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1159322436.jpg

Test them with a magnet. Dilivar studs are non-magnetic.

...problem is the engine is already back together.

I had asked the shop to replace the head studs with Raceware studs as per everyones recommendations - but they tell me my studs looked "just fine" so didn't replace them. I only noticed from the photos that they hadn't been replaced.

They appear to be differant on top than bottom. I would venture that they are the dilavar on bottom and steel on top like from the factory.

The bottom studs are epoxy coated dilavar. That is what mine looked like. Two broken on an 88 Carrera with 88,000 miles.
The black are dilavar and the others are steel
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1159328484.jpg

These are the steel studs cleaned and ready to go back in the case. Red loctite of course
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1159328648.jpg

From the pictures they look just like the POS 4 broken head studs later SOB'ing Dilavars that I found on my motor that had been recently rebuilt.

The PO had it rebuilt and the shop left in the Dilavars and they lasted about 3 years and 30K miles.

Good luck

They do look like Dilivar to me as well. I wouldn't panic however. First off there is not much you can do at this point. Second, I don't think the Carrera epoxy coated studs fail nearly as much as the SC studs. Remember you only see the failures on this site, not the thousands of engines with no failures. Odds are you'll be fine until your engine needs it's next rebuild.

Just keep an eye on them at every valve adjustment and try not to worry.

-Andy

If the engine's never been torn down, they are likely dilivar. However the later 993 steel studs also came coated and if the engine had been done in the past, perhaps they were replaced with the 993 ones then...

I think the coated 993 studs came around about 1.5-2 years ago, prior to that they were uncoated, and some were fully threaded.

I don't know if the studs need to be replaced, but I tell you what does need to be replaced -- the wheels on that thing standing right next to your engine!!!

The chickie? I dunno, she looks pretty hot for a circa-1970's babe. I'd have to see the entire chassis to be sure...

Yup. That's my mechanic's stand-up cut-out of Pamela Anderson.

Ah, I mean late '80s babe. The swimsuit threw me off. Speaking of swimsuits...

http://wickedweasel.com/usd/bikinis/default.asp

Note - NSFW!

Personally, I would have insisted they be replaced when the engine was out and apart. These engines are awesome but they were known to have problems in this area. Enjoy it!

Regards,

Alex