Cylinder head studs spinning?

[89rm]

As the title states. Water was gushing out from between the head and cylinder and a closer look I noticed that some of the head studs spin once they get to a certain torque. Does this mean the threads are basically done for? Best way to fix? Could I out a helicoil in it? Thanks for any help!

[rmxdan]

Yes, it sounds from your description that the threads are stripped in either the cylinder where the studs screw in, or less likely the nuts on the head.

Helicoils could be fitted if the cylinder has enough decent metal around where the studs fit.

Make sure to get the correct metric helicoils and not an imperial size.

 

Drain the coolant system first before stripping so as not to let any coolant down into the crankcase when removing the head and cylinder. You don't want any coolant sitting in the crankcase for any length of time that could begin to corrode the casings, crank, or bearings.