Zork
Platinum Member
- Joined
- Dec 14, 2003
- Messages
- 974
- Location
- Virginia
- Tractor
- '04 Branson 3520, '51 Fergy, '96 MTD 18/46, '02 Craftsman GT5000/48
All right then. My tractor is a 2004 3520 with 284H and the 3T90L engine. My block was leaking very, very, little oil at the outside of the head gasket. I noticed this when this was the first area that accumulated dirt. Make a long story short, my engine does not have stretch head bolts; therefore, it is very likely the head bolts will eventually back off to some degree. I had experience with this in older equipment and the industry made the practice of having to re-torque your heads at a given cycle obsolete with the use of stretch bolts.
My My larger cylinder bolts were very close to spec's but the outer bolts were at about a third of what is recommended. The job is a little more involved in that you have to remove the rocker arm assembly and the injector lines at the injectors and, the valves must be adjusted afterward. My valves required adjustment anyway since the lash was less than recommended and the service interval is at 600H. Valves that are too tight may eventually get damaged and heads that are not properly torqued may crack or warp.
I'd recommend having this checked if you are capable or contact your dealer as it is very cheap insurance as compared to the alternatives. That's all I have to say on that subject for now.
My My larger cylinder bolts were very close to spec's but the outer bolts were at about a third of what is recommended. The job is a little more involved in that you have to remove the rocker arm assembly and the injector lines at the injectors and, the valves must be adjusted afterward. My valves required adjustment anyway since the lash was less than recommended and the service interval is at 600H. Valves that are too tight may eventually get damaged and heads that are not properly torqued may crack or warp.
I'd recommend having this checked if you are capable or contact your dealer as it is very cheap insurance as compared to the alternatives. That's all I have to say on that subject for now.