[willys36@aol.com]

As I mentioned before, there is a clearance between the bolt and threaded hole of several 1/10,000ths" which is plenty room for water @ a few psi to leak by. Once past the threads, it can start doing damage to the bolt ( Rust it clean in half - don't ask me how I know this!). Also, the pressure of the bolt head on the bearing surface is several 1000psi true, but the yield strength of even mild steel is 30,000psi so the metal isn't deformed like a gasket as you are implying in your question. On stronger iron head and bearing cap material, there is plenty of room for water leak-by in the bolt head area that hasn't been sealed by deformation. Add the gaps in a locked washer and it is like a major aqueduct!

[bullheimer]

damn i hate being wrong all the time

[lanierledford]

Hey guys I'm no engineer, but I did millwright in a steel mill for 31 years. Lock washers dig in to the mating surface. Try putting a bolt in a vise, then tighen a nut with a tork wrench. Back the wrench down and start trying to loosin it. See how much it takes to loosen it. Now do the same except put in a lock washer and try it again. Now add a flat washer next to the lock washer. The lock washer will dig into the nut on one side and the flat on the other. The flat on the other side has nothing to dig in with, and wil loosin easer. Also most rods and main surfaces are hard and the lock won't dig in anyway. Most bolts do loosen from vibratin in my veiw. I appentions are like rectums, everybodys got one, and this is mine.

[bullheimer]

well this explains why my intake bolts always have an oil pool around them. i always used lock washers and no sealer. ma-ma mia! pasta-fa-zoolie! even lock washers with a flat underneath them. guess what i'm doing when i get home