Tad

OK i've had SO many vc bolts snap on me,
and some friends of mine want me to do some work on their cars for em.

I'm really worried about busting a vc bolt.

is there any way to go about safely removing these??
Engine cold or hot??

I've broken em for the most part tightening em down,
but they're snapped just loosening them, or just BARELY tightening em..
loosening is the scariest because i'll do it super careful and SNAP for no reason.

Anyways, any advice appreciated,
thanks.

jdm1994hatch

isnt there a certain sequence you have to go by? im pretty sure there is but im not possitive which ones are first, second, etc

Tad

ok one vote for cold,
thanks.

any more input?

Tad

up 4 vc blts

TurboLaxx

hot, cold...it shouldnt matter. Just spray wd-40 or ZEP on the bolts before you take them out and let it soak in for a few minutes. then take them out. Maybe try using anti-seize on the bolts next time you put them back in so you wont have problems taking them out again.

Syndacate

like he said, prollly room temp (maybe about 65-75), you want it cold that they're not weak, but not too cold that they're frigid, use a short rachet...I figured this out today on accident :-P - When yu use a large rachet ur putting a lot more torque than you think on the VC bolt, using a smaller rachet you should be able to tigthen it down w/o cracking it (Just make it snug, not neccessarily all the pressure possible)

I just broke the top screw on my dizzy cap today when putting it because I had too large of a rachet, barely putting anything into it, because the screws are cheap pot medal, and torque gets transferred in high magnitudes through more leverage...

so if u use one of those 6 inch rachets (that's liek big enough for your hadn to go around) you can have a good idea of how tight is tight enough but not tight enough to snap it.. As for loosening them...I'm stumped, just do it while the engine is completely ice cold (like you can stick ur hand on the manifold and it's cold feel....but not like 30º weather...

Also, when you tighten VC bolts, isn't there a certain torque ur supposed to set them at because of the VC gasket? Or is that only with a head gasket when bolting on the head..?

EDIT:
I mean ****, if it's a really old valve cover, and they're rusted 'n ****, sometimes there's nothing you can do...no way to break them w/o breaking them (no pun intended)

Tad

OH and yeah, vc bolts recommended tq is only 7lbs!!
Takes practically nothing to hold the vc on there and seal it tight.

I'll take all ur advice, thanks alot.
I think doing it cold is key,
engine musta been hot when they broke on me when loosening them.

antiseize is a good idea for a preventative measure too!

HackeN

I've only broke one, that was when my car was sitting for about 3 days, kinda cold weather. Wasent even turning it hard and snap :x

When I pull my engine out for a rebuild I plan on replacing all of those bolts/studs just cause of that one time heh.

Briman2021

I haven't had any problems just using the smallest 1/4 drive ratchet I have, and kind of palming the ratcheting part so I don't get too much leverage.

The only VC bolt I have broekn was one that fell off the VC when I was putting them back it, it broke in half when it hit the driveway.

Rx7

the tq. on those things are really low dude. your best bet is to do what briman2021 does and use a 1/4" ratchet. Feeling tight on that ratchet is probably the perfect tension you need.

Tad

yeah,
i'm not worried about them breaking while tightening down. i've learned my lesson and can be very careful/gentle.

it's loosening thats the problem, because i've had them break with 0 effort, I was even loosening it slowly and carefully.. but still SNAP

SovXietday

I've had two break on me. The first one I simply torqued far too much, and the second I couldn't remember which way it was to loosen it, so I tested one way and SNAP... wrong way.

Obviously you don't want to do it after the car has been running hard, when any kind of metal heats up it becomes more brittle. Just take it easy on them, or just get a lot of extras!

Sketch_hs

WTF? i've never broken one and i've taken prob 100 VCs off

be gentle!

Tad

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Sketch_hs &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">WTF? i've never broken one and i've taken prob 100 VCs off

be gentle!</TD></TR></TABLE>

ah i've done it like probably close to 40 times myself..

I think part of it might be cuz I like those jdm d15b's..
which often just doing nothing for so long after they're shipped over here.
Maybe they get exposed to the elements or something.. who knows.

but yeah, gotta be gentle.

Good ol' Screwtape

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by SovXietday &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">I couldn't remember which way it was to loosen it, so I tested one way and SNAP... wrong way. </TD></TR></TABLE>

Absolutely the wrong way to figure out which direction does what;

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Briman2021 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">The only VC bolt I have broekn was one that fell off the VC when I was putting them back it, it broke in half when it hit the driveway.</TD></TR></TABLE>

Good thing you accidently dropped it; This way it broke on the driveway instead of halfway through your VC.

Syndacate

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by TurboLaxx &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">hot, cold...it shouldnt matter. Just spray wd-40 or ZEP on the bolts before you take them out and let it soak in for a few minutes. then take them out. Maybe try using anti-seize on the bolts next time you put them back in so you wont have problems taking them out again.</TD></TR></TABLE>

Yeah I didn't even think of that, when ur bolting it back down, spray some anti-sieze stuff on it, that should help you out next time u have to remove it, be it a long time or rust sets in..

Sketch_hs

this must be some east coast stuff

CA people are like "wtf is rust?"

Syndacate

haha yeah, everything rusts over here, everyday driver or sits for a year.., it all rusts :-P

My friedn has a toyota...toyota something, small 4 banger, not a camary, ... anyways, it has 218k on it, the engine is the most SPOTLESS engine I've ever seen, not even a bit of rust on the heat shield or anything, I asked how he did that and ****, he says he sprays some **** on it....I g2 get my hands on this stuff, his engine looks brand ******* new, it's amazing O.O

And here in NY, a engine that's that old nad not rusty is like, omg amazing, that's like N/A stock D16 owning a GSR, be all like O.Ox10

Tad

haha,
yeah we don't really have any problem with rust here in cali.

if u get a 15yr old car thats been in cali its whole life, the engine bay will be FILTHY and gross.
but one washdown with a pressure hose/degreaser and it'll look like brand new