Serious problem. The heads will have to come off.

Many techs do the heli coil repair to every aluminum v8 they have the heads off of. Unless the bolts have been switched and are the wrong length they are probably OK.

From doing hundreds of these heads, I can say that doing helicoils on every job is a serious waste. I have had maybe 4-5 engines pull threads. They had all been seriously overheated. Doing the coils adds seriously to the labor costs of doing the heads.

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Steve Brotherton
Continental Imports
Gainesville FL
Bosch Master, ASE Master, L1
33 years MB technician