The FSM says the bolt threads for the upper and lower balance shaft gears should be coated in loctite 574 and torqued to 45Nm.

Clark's write up doesn't mention the loctite at all (interestingly, the 574 is a flange sealant/gasket formula, not a thread locker per se.)

The thing is, the 574 is difficult to get in Australia; for some reason, it's not available through the local Loctite distributors -- they just don't import it. There are a few places that import it privately, but it gets to be very expensive...

Then I can buy the Porsche branded product from the local P-car dealer, but I don't think my credit card limit will handle it...

My final options are not to bother, or to use something roughly equivalent. Do you think it's important? Would any flange sealant work as well for this application do you think?

 

I used the regular 'red' loctite for those. I'll see if it has a number.

 

Thanks. So it sounds like you agree some sort of thread lock should be used, but perhaps the exact type is not so critical?

 

I would not use red Loctite. It is designed for permanent use. ie. bolts that you will never have to remove again.
Red loctite often requires heat to remove the bolt.

Blue Loctite is for semi-perminant fasteners. I would use this or green Loctite, if anything.

 

The stuff I use is Loctite 222MS and it's more pink than red I suppose. It isn't permanant...

 

I would use no loctite at all or Blue at the most. I've never seen a properly torqued balance shaft belet come loose, but I have had a fer that were a rather 'challenging' to remove after being on for a while. To be fair, I've never seen any balance shaft bolt come loose but, a) they were always worded on by good, professional mechanics and b) they never stayed bolted on for more than a year or so before coming off as part of other service. (funny how race cars are apart more than they are together)
FWIW. the only reason I would use *any* loctite would not to keep it tight, but rather to make it easier to remove. Here's the logic: Two similar metal surfaces in contact over a long period of time, experiencing variations in temperature and loading will eventually bond together and be very difficult to separate. Result: busted knuckles and/or broken bolt heads=> not good. Having the loctite in there provides a film between the two surfaces to keep them from bonding. It may help keep it from tightening or loosening, but that's just a side effect.

 

I haven't ever used anything on those gears and haven't ever had an issue in the couple hundred pumps jobs I have done. If you want to use something for a piece of mind, use a dab of blue loctite. Definitely don't use red.

 

I have never threadlocked those fasteners.....ever....

 

I only did it because they appeared to have some kind of threadlocker on them the first time I did the water pump (car had about 40K miles on it). I generally try to do what the FSM calls for too...

 

Actually, I saw some of the red 222 stuff when looking at the various loctite formulations on the shelf in the store, and it said it was rated "low" in terms of strength, with the "blue" 242 rated "medium", and the "red" 262 rated "strong".

I guess there is certain consistency in the numbering scheme there...

They advertised the "blue" as removable with hand tools, but the "red" needs heat as well. There is also a "green" that also needs heat to remove, not sure what the difference with the the "red" is...

I was looking at the formulations for all this stuff, and it's basically CA (cyanoacrylate), aka as super glue. I might do some experiments with a bit of cheap-o super glue and some junk bolts to see if it's reversible.

Or there's always good old fashioned fingernail polish...

Not recommended for the race car engine rebuild, perhaps, but I can't see this being such a critical application that I need to spend big bucks on the high tech formulation, just because the FSM says so (probably assuming that every P-car workshop has drums of the stuff around...)

Anyone tried super glue as a threadlocker, just out of interest?

 

I thought the loctite was not so much used as a "threadlocker" but more as a sealant to prevent oil from leaking past the bolt threads. As you mention it's a flange sealant, not a threadlocker.

 

What you propose certainly makes sense.

 

These are blind holes if I'm not mistaken. Where would the oil come from?

 

This is what I remember reading, about the hole...

https://rennlist.com/forums/2308633-post2.html

 

Interesting...