Thread: Broke Valve Cover bolt, FML

So I had a couple hours, and finished my valve cover the other day. I figured I had the time, it was an easy job, I'll swap it out and move on to my next project. I'm always wrong. Lol

So the install went great. Removed old VC, put new gasket on, put the new VC on. Took me 30min. I didn't have an in/lbs torque wrench (76 in/lbs for these bolts if you didn't know), so I went by feeling. Once it got to where I needed a lot of force I stopped. Tightening them one by one, opposite of each other. I was done, and started the car to check for any leaks.

Got out to look under the hood, oils gushing from one side! Jumped in and shut it off. So I checked the bolts again, tightened them a little more. All accepted a little budge except the worst bolt, it snapped. It just so happens to be the only bolt that doesn't have an open bottom, right next to the cam sensor/throttle body.

So I make a couple calls, pick up a tap/die set from a friend, bought a bolt extractor and quart of oil.

Had a friend meet me at my house, and we started to work. It was hard to get a drill to go straight down without removing the upper IM, so I tried drilling into the bolt with a 1/16" bit (per extractor instructions). Wasn't going through the bolt it much, the bolt kept going further down!

Got a little hole in it, so I tried the extractor. Still hard to get the drill straight. The extractor stripped.

The broken piece still stuck in there seemed pretty far down, so we tried to tap it slowly with a drill, we got it to go straight this time. Drill battery died, corded one didn't fit, so we went manually and it went crooked. We called it a day there because I didn't want to make it any worse.

Rolled the car in the garage and covered engine with a bag.

Good news, I took the hood off and I'm installing aerocatch pins and filling cracks/sanding it down. Covering with a CF vinyl soon after.


Getting the hose on the back got the best of me. When I thought I was done:


Trouble some hole:

I feel your pain man, I broke not one but 2 bolts on my oilpan during my balance shft chain cut. I let the rtv dry and luckily I have no leaks. Good luck man, I'm sure you'll get it out

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Good work.nice and clean engine bay

Damn man.

Better luck next time with a cooler head and some more time. Not to mention a none bloody hand.

Yeah, I'll get it (or have someone get it) soon. Sigh.

Thanks Fantom, nothings tucked or anything, and this is the first under hood mod I do. Haven't cleaned in months either. Glad you can't tell. Lol

Ouch. sorry to hear about your trouble but sweet battle wound lol. You might want to look at the FSM for the tightening sequence and where to place the RTV if you havent already. It's taken me 3 attempts and two broken bolts (thought it was ft/lbs instead of inch lol) to get it right... zero leaks now... and that VC is never coming off.

btw, did you see if that hole feeds all the way down? I was lucky that the ones that i broke allowed me to unscrew it from the bottom.

I didn't know I had to place RTV here, this may have been my original problem. First time I've read it... Lol, I did get the tightening sequence though.

And I looked, this is the only bolt that isn't open on the bottom end. That was my first idea. Lol. Had to be that one...

I might try using a time sert to fix this.

What paint did you end up using>? ? Did you wrinkle? It looks good

and i feel your pain, yesterday i was working on my project b15 and the guy i bought it from somehow stripped 4 of the VC bolts, but it wasnt leaking oddly enought, it was sealed well...

I drilled one out and it should be fine but the other one (front right) the drill bit broke inside so now the hole is 2x the size... still debating on what to do with it

def use some RTV tho

its funny how small projects never go so smoothly but the VC looks great!

mmmaaaannnn..... you have to clean your engine bay.

Originally Posted by 2k4spec

What paint did you end up using>? ? Did you wrinkle? It looks good

and i feel your pain, yesterday i was working on my project b15 and the guy i bought it from somehow stripped 4 of the VC bolts, but it wasnt leaking oddly enought, it was sealed well...

I drilled one out and it should be fine but the other one (front right) the drill bit broke inside so now the hole is 2x the size... still debating on what to do with it

def use some RTV tho

its funny how small projects never go so smoothly but the VC looks great!

Yeah, VHT Wrinkle black under the VHT gold. Some parts don't look that great honestly, if you see it up close. I probably should have taken a lot of time getting a real equal fine sand, but not to bad for my first.

Do you RTV the whole thing? the FSM says just in 2 little spots, but the oil was POURING out (not even in the RTV spots) when I started it up. I kinda wanna do it all around just to make sure. Lol.


And and update, today I passed by Advance Auto, and they carry helicoils under a different name. I passed by NAPA because online they list a ratchet tap attachment. They didn't carry it, but the guy behind the counter found me an 8 side attachement or something that fit loosely . Told me to "bring it back tomorrow" Lol. It was worth a try since I can't get the injector line off without the tool (found out later).

So I drilled the broken bolt to dust, drilled the hole bigger, and then bigger, tapped it, and put the helicoil. I can get 3 rotations with a bolt, I hope that's enough. Gotta go find the right size tomorrow, and shoot a prayer before I put it all back. Lol

Originally Posted by BeOhSix

mmmaaaannnn..... you have to clean your engine bay.

Thanks, I guess I didn't depict the pool of oil it was sitting in very well. Lol.
Wrinkle black Intake manifold is next! I have 2 spares sitting in my garage.

nice.... post a pic when u finish it

Well...

Went to home depot today, picked up a bolt, and a few washers.

Getting that gasket to seat correctly without falling out or getting crushed is a real PITA I'll tell you that! Probably my original problem...

A few tips for anyone who removes their valve cover:
-If the bolt gets to hard to tighten with simple hand motion (no 2 hands, or body weight), then that's good, STOP before it's too late
-Clean the head where the gaskets gonna sit real GOOD! No oil. I wiped it down, then sprayed brake cleaner on a rag and wiped it down again. Remove old RTV as well.
-Use RTV in the corners by the timing chain, per FSM.
-Clean the inside of your VC from oil. It's only gonna drip on the head you just cleaned 50 times from dropping oil on it. Lol. You don't want a leak.
-Be 110% sure the gasket is seated in the valve cover. This was pretty difficult with the RTV sitting and waiting. seat the gasket in the VC, and hold it laterally with fingers beneath holding the gasket in place. Place one side at a time, removing fingers after it's sitting on them, and visually check to make sure there are no kinks.


I fired the car for a minute, it's smoking from all the oil I spilled, BUT no visual leaks just yet. I'll be monitoring it like crazy for the next couple days. I'll be driving with no hood, so it should be easy to see. Lol

Originally Posted by thesammythecurse

Yeah, VHT Wrinkle black under the VHT gold. Some parts don't look that great honestly, if you see it up close. I probably should have taken a lot of time getting a real equal fine sand, but not to bad for my first.

Do you RTV the whole thing? the FSM says just in 2 little spots, but the oil was POURING out (not even in the RTV spots) when I started it up. I kinda wanna do it all around just to make sure. Lol.

And and update, today I passed by Advance Auto, and they carry helicoils under a different name. I passed by NAPA because online they list a ratchet tap attachment. They didn't carry it, but the guy behind the counter found me an 8 side attachement or something that fit loosely . Told me to "bring it back tomorrow" Lol. It was worth a try since I can't get the injector line off without the tool (found out later).

So I drilled the broken bolt to dust, drilled the hole bigger, and then bigger, tapped it, and put the helicoil. I can get 3 rotations with a bolt, I hope that's enough. Gotta go find the right size tomorrow, and shoot a prayer before I put it all back. Lol

Got a closer up pic of the VC did you wrinkle it all then do outside in gold?
I got lazy the second time thats how it alway is, you wish you did more sanding.. never enought.

Crazy it was pouring out
i usually RTV the corners. I have a stripped one too...
if i wanna get ghetto with a bolt i can stick some locktite but it wont tq it down. But mine is fked up bad from pervious owner im thinking about drilling it out and doing a screw and washer on it (its the front one)

what bolt did you end up using?

Thanks for the tips and being the guinea pig.

Originally Posted by 2k4spec

what bolt did you end up using?

It was a 5/16" (standard FTL) and 1 and 1/4" long coarse bolt, it fits the only helicoils I found at advance auto parts.

And I'll get you some close ups. the VC suffered some damages in my rage, but still looks decent. I don't want to take it off again though

cool.. lookin fwd to the pics

Originally Posted by thesammythecurse

I don't want to take it off again though

So what? No Cams?

Yeah, probably no cams until/if I ever build this. And if that happens, I'll be sure to get this fixed correctly. Lol.

Jon, pics are here:
Modifying your valve cover info.