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Broken head stud


Beaky

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Posting on behalf of a friend.

He was recently told (it got handed to him) that one of his head studs had broken off. So he’s getting a few quotes on replacing them all,  one place told him that since the engines open he should also change the piston rings.

Engine is in good condition doesn’t smoke or use oil, so Is this good and sound advise and the norm for broken head studs?

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Hi Beaky, is the car a 3.2? They seem to break more head studs than others, but mostly they continue to run just fine, in fact most owners will never notice until the valve covers come off for a big service. When I took apart my mate's broken engine a while ago it had 5 or 6 broken studs, even two on the same cylinder and it still ran fine with no issues!! (what killed it was an oil line bursting in front wheel arch and the big ends seizing = big BANG!).

If he does decide to take it all to bits and replace them all, you may as well do a top end rebuild, the parts are just a small part of the overall cost. It's a slippery slope as you and I know!

Chris.

P.S. I hope this 'friend' isn't actually you.

 

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My 3.0L had 4 broken studs and ran fine. It makes sense "while your in there" to do the top end, although I've done the work myself. I may have thought differently if I'd had to pay someone as the labour bill is always the biggest chunk of any bill.

Leak down figures showed wear in rings and valves even although it ran great.

I could have left it alone but on inspection my guides were worn too.

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I thought it was SC's that suffer from broken studs Chris? Anyways if the top end is coming apart he may as well stick in new rings. Although they run ok with snapped studs the added vibrations between the cylinder and case will eventually mash the gasket which will cause probs - I wouldn't drive it much with a snapped stud. Cheers

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Spoken to a couple of experts and they reckon they see more broken studs on 3.2s but hey, perhaps all SCs have been rebuilt once already! I agree with R2D2 except that when the gasket starts to go you will see oil leaks at the base of the cylinder, up until then I'd just drive it. Or, better still, rip it to bits, replace all the studs, make it a 3.4, new crank, oil pump, new SSIs, new inlet, gas flow everything, which all requires a new ECU...... It's a slippery slope, don't say you weren't warned! 

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