Thread: Who has fitted Steel head locating dowels (Td5)

G'daydrian,

2 X 99 D2's, 1X 99 Fender. All OK. 1 of the D2's has the 450Nm chip upgrade, 33"tyres, twin lockers etc and gets driven HARD. It has now done at least 55K since the head was done.


Don't be alarmed by what you may see/ hear on the 'net...

Maxi's enquiry tomorrow and I'll PM ya.

JC and all.

Great thanks JC. listen out for you tomorrow.

As these dowels are only to locate the head, why should steel ones make any difference to the heads longevity?
Just thought I'd ask 'cos I can't think how they can effect it if the head has been torqued down correctly in the first place.
Alan.

i Think Apparently they can sheer because the head is set on an angle. then the head will move and the gasket will start leaking etc.

fitted the steel dowels about 50K ago so far no problems here is a pic of the plastic ones I pulled out.

As I understand it, the dowels are for locating the head during assembly only. As long as the head has it's tension maintained there should not be a problem - but tension may be lost from overheating etc.

Originally Posted by Slunnie

As I understand it, the dowels are for locating the head during assembly only. As long as the head has it's tension maintained there should not be a problem - but tension may be lost from overheating etc.

Thats exactly how i understand it, no point pulling your head off just to replace the dowels, its only as slunnie said that if you are replacing a head gasket or other head off work then you should replace with steel .

My mechanic didnt even replace mine when he did the head gasket.