My vrs has being loosing some coolant since i got it. Its only really noticable after a long motorway run at 80mph. Going easy on the country roads around home has very little affect on it.

 

Sometimes when I open the expansion bottle the coolant comes bubbling back into it bringing the level from min to max. I can see no signs of a leak anywhere so I'm putting it down to head lift from reading a few comments on here. Now I have a few questions..

 

Can I just re torque the head bolts down with the timing belt still in place or will it need to be stripped down?

 

Am I better getting new head bolts? I see some have replaced head bolts with ones from a pd 150bhp engine. What are the advantages of this?

 

What would a set of head bolts cost roughly?

 

Thanks 

the head gasket will need changing anyways if its lifting and leaking .... plus they are stretch bolts so will need replacing 

Yeah if its already leaking it needs replacing

cheers guys. anyone with anymore imput

Stock head bolts should be fine up to 230/240bhp from what I've read. I nor 3 mates have had any issues at this power. Uprated arp bolts are available though. 

Sounds more like the head gasket has gone. There is no way you will be getting headlift until you reach the 300bhp mark. Providing yours isnt 300bhp lol

Arl 150 uses stronger bolts so if your changing hg might as well put them in

Sounds more like the head gasket has gone. There is no way you will be getting headlift until you reach the 300bhp mark. Providing yours isnt 300bhp lol

I think there was a silver fabia on here with a darkside 230bhp turbo kit that was experiencing headlift.

My old one at 170bhp had headlift at 50k miles

Whats going on here for the difference then? Why can some run 230bhp with no issues and others not even 170? 

Possibly just a bad batch or hg's

Don't know