have a very tiny coolant leak out of the side of trunk sid head it barly nothing but i want to fix it so i was going to back off all the head bolts and re tork them I have ARP studs and cometic gasgets theat are reusable i need the tork sequence and what to tork down to useing these gasgets ??
thank go i noticed this now before it got bad no coolant is getting into motor kind of a very small dribble off the side of the block head right at the gasket

did you use copper spray?

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Turbo 3800 E85 5spd spec5
11.53@126.7

quote Originally posted by Justinbart: did you use copper spray?

Cometic MLS gaskets install just as an antique style composite material gasket.

motor was build by another member but not finished off so not sure if copper spray was used but its such a small leak .. I found this on Cometics web site

Cometic MLS gaskets install just as an antique style composite material gasket.
Be sure the head and deck surfaces are machined to an adequate finish as detailed above.
You can use a couple of light coats of Permatex Coppercoat to ensure a good water seal if in doubt.
If any water seepage should occur allow the engine to heat cycle a few times, most likely it will seal itself once the Viton coated gaskets form to the head and deck. If it continues to seep add a can of Justice Brothers Radiator Pepper Based Sealer Part # RSL/2 about $7.00 to the cooling system.
Tork to bolt manufacturers specifications, re-tork should not be required with aftermarket ARP bolts or studs if the bolts have been cycled correctly or are being re-used.

my engein has heat cycled a few time just noticed the small leak today

I think on zzps site they say they use copper on them. I have had no leaks since discovering copper spray. As far as torque seq. Just start with the 4 inner bolts then work your way out. I usually snug them all then work them to 35lbs then go back over them to 70lbs.

I'm not a huge fan of stop leak products, but knowing your situation and the work involved to tear down and apply copper coat now, I would try some type of coolant stop leak. Like Bars leak, or caddilac pills, or the suggested Justice Brothers pepper based stuff.

Thanks guys i will try to see if the gasget has stopped the leak apparently after a few warm up and cool downs the cometic gasget sometimes seals up if not i will re tork the head bolts then last resort some pepper stop leak, The leak is so miinor but i would like to fix it before it becomes a bigger problem

This was a very common problem way back when guys started using cometic gaskets on the 3800. I can't remember if it was an issue with the gasket being backwards or on the wrong head, or maybe an incorrect size hole. There should be a thread on it on clubgp if you search. It was too long ago for me to remember if it was a bad gasket design (that got fixed), or incorrect installation, etc. It might be worth a quick search though.

As far as torque sequence goes, go from the center out, and graduate about 15 or 20ft lbs at a time. You could probably max out around 100 ft lbs, but minimum is about 70.