Only retorque them - do not loosen!

dasic1
Make sure to only do one stud at a time. Put a mark on the bolt/nut and head, back it off then retorque it and see if the marks line back up or is pulled a little tighter. Then move onto the next one

I warm the engine first then drain the coolant before doing this

I have always done mine like this. If you don't loosen them, one at a time, your torque reading won't be true as you need to overcome the friction between the stud and nut. On something already torqued the force needed will be greater than the desired torque.

This is my understanding anyway.

tiff_lee
That picture isn't too clear but you are certain that's oil? I would of expected it to emulsify if the oil and water was mixing.
 

Mrskylighter
You probably already know this but just in case. Make sure you loosen off each nut before you retorque it up again (instead of just tightening them as they are now). I think arp recommend torquing them up in three stages also (one pass at xx, then slightly tighter and then final go at xx)

Wait what? surely you can't be suggesting the OP actually loosens all the nuts and re-torques from scratch?  The OP has done over 400kms on that headgasket to merely undo the nuts and re-torque would IMO be a terrible idea given the situation who knows what lies between the sealing faces of the gasket and it could only get worse if you loosen it, not to mention the gasket has already been compressed (unless its a re-usable MLS gasket).
 
Not sure what ARP recommends for their torque sequence but if the final setting is a plain torque wrench setting with no additional angle for example 85N.m I would just check each of the studs at that setting, if it's an angle as well say 45N.m plus 90 degrees and you are going to loosen it I would be taking the head off personally.
 

I am suggesting that he loosens off one nut at a time and then retorques it back up.

Here is a detailed reply from noshoes on MR2OC on the procedure he uses.

How to retorque ARP studs after engine break-in 
I've been meaning to post this write-up for a while now. I've noticed over the years that MR2 enthusiasts do not take the time to retorque their ARP studs after engine break-in. 

During the break-in period, the engine heat cycles, there are many vibrations that move things around, and other things that move the studs in the block. You have to re-torque the studs after this period, mainly to make sure the studs are seated in the block properly. If you do not, the head will eventually lift, and you'll get combustion gasses into the coolant system, overheating the car.

Here's what you do to keep this from happening:

1) Remove the valve cover.

2) Refer to the factory torque sequence (starting in the middle and working your way out in a criss-cross pattern just like you torque your wheels down), and work on one stud at a time. This torque sequence is shown below.

3) Break loose the first stud using a breaker bar.

4) Remove the nut completely. (A magnetic pick up toll works wonders!)

5) Use an allen key socket (A handheld tool just doesn't cut it here.) to bottom out the stud in the block.

6) Make sure the nut is cleaned, and liberally apply ARP moly lube (not oil, not multi purpose grease, but ARP moly lube) to the nut.

7) Torque the nut down to 65 ftlbs. (Not 70, not 75, but 65ftlbs)

8) Move to the next stud/nut combo in the torque sequence.

9) Repeat steps 3-8 in the correct torque sequence until you have done them all.

10) Clean the valve cover gasket mating surface with carb cleaner or brake cleaner. Use a razor blade to remove old silicone from the mating surface.

11) Apply a dab of Toyota FIPG (the black stuff) at each corner (where the semi-circle meets the flat surface of the head) of the 2 cam caps on the timing belt side, and the distributor shaft tunnel on the flywheel side. This will be 6 dabs of silicone total. (I have no idea how many times I have seen the valve cover installed without these dabs of silicone.) This is shown in the picture below.

12) Secure the valve cover with bolts or the 2SRUS allen key bolts using the factory grommets and you're good. Just DON'T use the stupid phillips head screws.

I hope this helps folks with rebuilt engines. If you do this properly, made sure your block and head were machined properly, and prevent detonation the best you can, you should not have a head gasket problem.

Happy motoring everyone!

hope it helps

Doing this on the weekend as I misplaced my lube. Plan to follow no shoes ...i have read that post a couple of times before. The point of retorquing is to bottom out stud， and take up any slack after heat cycling. So I had planned to remove a stud at a time (need to loosen them to overcome friction)， to relube both ends and the nut face. Then use hex socket to install stud， followed by torquing the nut to 65nm...5 times per ARP instructions.
I Won't do it in stages 25，50，65 as that is for first time install when the rest of head might flatten further each time and probably helps position head and gasket.
No shoes says do it on cold engine. All the above is based on readings and a little logical (or illogical) thought， I could be wrong. At end of day I could be making it worse if it's already been retorqued， and was retorqued to 70nm and I only do 65nm.

If it's not oil I don't know what else it could be. Felt like oil on my fingers.

These are the 2 threads I've read over and over. Old but so are our engines.

http://www.mr2oc.com/61-3...0?page=1&_k=qgbf04

http://www.toyotanation.c...7?page=1&_k=di407d

I tried this on my car, I had to give the cam a little shave to get one stud out. If you rotate the motor with the cam cover off you can position the cam in the best rotation position possible to avoid having to do this.
 
I didnt solve my unusual overheating issue though, and I would imagine the longer you leave a head not torqued right, the more likelihood for headgasket and warpage issues