Tuesdaynightfever

Hey guys, my girlfriend has a broken head bolt on her 2000 civic dx. The car is bone stock, and has never been beat on. The head bolt I am talking about are the ones that appear right after you take the valve cover off. The mechanic said there are 10 of them, one which is broken. I was just wondering how severe a broken head bolt can be. My logic is that there are 9 other good ones, so maybe nothing will happen. On the other hand, it's a broken bolt in the head of the car, and I'm sure that could cause some potential risks.

A few questions (if it is severe)..

Do I need to replace all 10 of the head bolts, or just the broken one?
How much will this cost if I buy the parts from Honda?


Thanks in advance for any help

EG2Driver

you might warp the head and lose compression. Cheapest way would to swap, unless you can do the work yourself. I would keep the head bolts and reuse them only if they are not stretched or damaged, otherwise, just replace them.

Also change the HeadGasket at the same time.

gezzuzz

why did the bolt break? was was being done to the car to even discover it?
is it rounded out? striped? or head broken off?

you need all 10 !! 9 will fail

MasterKwan

Are you sure you're not talking about the bolts that hold the cam's down? A head bolt's not the kind of thing that just "breaks" out of the blue. There are 14 bolts that hold the cams down. Have you seen which bolt it is? When you pull the cover off, there are at least 24 visible bolts not including the valve adjusters.

Tuesdaynightfever

It was discovered when changing the timing belt.

The mechanic said it was a head bolt, and could be seen when the valve cover was removed. The bolt head broke off of the bolt.

EG2Driver

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Tuesdaynightfever &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">It was discovered when changing the timing belt.

The mechanic said it was a head bolt, and could be seen when the valve cover was removed. The bolt head broke off of the bolt.</TD></TR></TABLE>

whatever it is get it replaced.

Syndacate

Pull the engine and start ripping things apart. If it comes to it you might have to drill the head bolt. Why would somebody take such an aggressive move towards an engine like that?

One, it's a DX, the Y7's aren't exactly rare or in high demand.

Two, if the engine's gonna be fucked anyway, there's no harm done in trying to fix it.

It probably won't cause damage as being "broken" off as in things are flying around in your engine, but it may cause damage by not applying equal pressure on the gasket. Where there's not equal pressure the head will warp and conform to the gasket in its stretched way. You'll end up with a warped head, then the gasket will blow out...or vice versa (hg blow out then warped head).

So I'd start taking it apart, just what I'd do. It's probably stripped in there.

Jtuned DC2

Have another mechanic look at it and it wont be too much from honda. It would be safe just to get it replaced no matter how much it cost. Just maintain it so it stays alive.

Tuesdaynightfever

Thanks for the info guys. Basically, I know its a y7 and not "mad jdm" or anything, but it's my girls car, and it's her daily driver. I guess I'll take the cover off tomorrow and see whether or not the remainder of the bolt is stuck or not..

Bump for anymore info or experience with this problem.


Modified by Tuesdaynightfever at 11:03 PM 1/9/2007

hard charging 929

Depending on where the bolt is broken off at, it's not too much of a problem to fix.
If you can do the work yourself, then either buy some new headbolts from Honda(should not reuse stock headbolts; not that all people do what they should, but do it right the first time), or get some ARP headstuds for $100 or so. Buy a new headgasket.
Take off head, and if the broken headbolt is broke like i'm picturing it in my mind, then it's kind sticking out like a headbolt. Just take it out. And then check the deck and head for warpage(true bar and feeler gauges=rent from parts store)
All is well, apply headstuds and gasket and put the head back on, torque to spec and there it is.
Hope it helps

Tuesdaynightfever

Thanks man, appreciate the help.