new head gasket leaking?

[tjl76evinrude]

today i fired up my 76 evinrude 25hp after a "rebuild" and repaint. everything went good and was running great except for noticing a small amount of water seeping by the new head gasket in 1 or 2 tiny spots. it had been torqued to spec per the manual, 10 ft-lb. i saw that your supposed to re-torque after break in. i let the motor cool, re-torqued and tried it again and it was still leaking, maybe less than before. i gave up on it for tonight as i had to ready the kayak for a fishing trip tomorrow AM.

the torque spec from the original mechanics manual says torque the head bolts from 96-120 inch/pound torque. should i torque them further? 10lb isnt much

 

[Rick.]

Re: new head gasket leaking?

Did you re-flatten the head when you had it off? If not I would do that right away and try again using the same gasket. Take some 120 grit sandpaper and put it on a piece of glass and sand the head mating surface until she is good and flat. Ten pounds seems light to me but I haven't torqued a head in a while. Best of luck. Rick.

 

[tjl76evinrude]

Re: new head gasket leaking?

grrrr.... i did do the flat surface/emory cloth bit. i also torqued the bolts down tighter and it seems to be leaking less, but it is still seeping from 2 tiny spots. like less than a pinhole leak. still its enough to where its not going to fly. since ive already torqued the head a lil past spec i assume its not going to be re-usable. im going to order a new head gasket(there goes another 35$ or so with shipping) and i'll take it off for inspection and re-finishing.