Over torqued Felpro LIM gaske
 

Well last night my brother and I were putting back together the LIM on my car. I was off working on a switch inside the car while he was tightening down the LIM. We get all done and did what he thought was following the torque spec that is in the GM service manual until he realized that he didnt go by in-lb but instead ft-lb's. We checked it and the bolts are around 30ft-lb's to 35ft-lb's.
The gasket we are using for the LIM is a Felpro permatex gasket. So what I was wondering what would happen if I left it the LIM over torqued and put it all back together. It was a honest mistake on his part and it was late at night when we were finishing up. He followed the tightening sequence to a "T" so we know at least that is right. I just don't want to take it all apart and drop another $75 for more gaskets.
So do you think I will be cool to leave it alone? My gut is telling me it will but I was hoping for some input as to if it would be ok or not. I am thinking it will because the permatex is more a rubber compound and can flex as were the original gasket was just a solid piece of plastic. So what should I do?

As far as I remember, overtorqued can cause it to leak, not 100% though....

The center bolts should be 115 in lbs on the final pass which is approx. 13 ft lbs.

The outside bolts should be 18 ft lbs on the final pass.

Yeah and we are at 30ft-lb's. So what would you do if you were me? Would you let it go or start all over again?

good question.

Do you have another gasket at hand?

if yes, it really look closely to see if the LIM has cracked somewhere - could be everywhere.

if NO - bolt it up and start her up - look and hear for leaks. If its leaking replace it again (right torque this time)

No I don't have another gasket with me or I would probably just tear it apart now.

Well I doubt the LIM cracked because it is aluminum and we didn't like crazy over tighten them.

I will go double check everything and see if I have any cracks.

It might not be a problem. I mean hell the torque spec for my head is like 40 ft-lb and I torque it to 88 ft-lb... different scenarios but similar materials..

You can probably unbolt everything and start over since they haven't been heat cycled but you would be asking for problems to leave it like that. They leak because they are overtorqued, not because the plastic or metal itself breaks. You compromise the seal when you distort it from higher torque.

There is no shortage of people on the internet who did the same thing. Do a search. At least you didn't break any of the bolts doing this!

In my opinion, if it's not leaking, don't worry about it.

Obligatory:

^Yeah that about sums it up. I have always done my own work but I figured I would let him roll on this one. Oh well at least it was one of my own brothers so I can deal with it easier.