Found out a torque-to-yield head bolt can only be reused once, and it cost me a comeback on a 2011 Civic
Pulled the head on a 2011 Civic at my shop in Boise and reused the old bolts like I always did, and it blew the head gasket again about 900 miles later. Looked it up and the manual says those bolts stretch past their elastic point the first time, so they won't clamp right the second time. Any of you all keep a stash of new TTY bolts on the shelf just in case?
Ha, yeah, I learned that one the hard way too, except mine was a Subaru EJ25 and it cost me way more than a comeback. Did the same thing, slapped the old bolts back in thinking they were fine, and the thing started pushing coolant into the cylinders within a couple weeks. Guy was not happy and I had to eat the whole job, parts and labor, out of my own pocket. Now I keep a few sets of new TTY bolts on the shelf for the cars I see a lot, just so I'm not stuck waiting on a delivery in the middle of a teardown. It stings paying for bolts you used to reuse for free but it beats doing the same head gasket twice. Lesson learned the expensive way, same as you.