Expert: keith - 8/10/2005

Question
I have (2) 1995 chevy luminas and both of them needed head gaskets. one runs great now but the other one is tricky. If i tighten the rocker arms to 18 ft.lbs. it wont start. If i back them off 1 full turn it runs great. I measured the push rods and I am positive they are in the right spots. What could I be doing wrong?

Answer
Hi Jason, I have replaced and seen replaced dozens of head gaskets on luminas at a gm dealer, I ran into the same problem on one of them and it was the only time I heard of it. The only thing that was different from all the rest was it was taken apart for a few months before the customer decided to have it fixed, and I still dont know what caused the problem. I had to replace the valve lifters to be able to tighten down the rockers correctly, Put in a new set of lifters and torqued everything down to specs and it started up and ran fine,never heard from it after so I assume it was ok. I hope this helps you, if you need more info just let me know. Regards, Keith.