Valve cover screw snapped. Need help!
 

I was painting my valve cover and when I was putting everything back in, one of the two top screws snapped. Now the end with the threads is stuck in the whole and I have no idea how to get it out. Will this affect the motor or anything? How can I get this fixed?

https://img.photobucket.com/albums/v...47429_3300.jpg
https://img.photobucket.com/albums/v...32325_3300.jpg

go to the hardware store
buy a new hard metal drill bit and an ez out
drill a hole in the snapped bolt, still in the head
use the ez out to remove the threaded section (they are reverse threaded)
Replace w/ a new bolt, tq only to 7-8ft/lbs

Since the ez out is reverse threaded, it will screw into the bolt and, at the same time, unscrew the bolt that you broke. Its easy


Oh, and dont drive your car to the store to get this. If you do, and dont have the bolt in, you're oil will probably spray out from under the loosely connected valve cover.

Re: (pdiggitydogg)
 

just tab it out

Re: (pdiggitydogg)
 

The screw that broke is really small in diameter. Will I still be able to drill into it with a small enough drill bit? I can't drive?

This sucks. https://honda-tech.com/forums/images/smilies/emsad.gif

Re: (pdiggitydogg)
 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by pdiggitydogg &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">go to the hardware store
buy a new hard metal drill bit and an ez out
drill a hole in the snapped bolt, still in the head
use the ez out to remove the threaded section (they are reverse threaded)
Replace w/ a new bolt, tq only to 7-8ft/lbs

Since the ez out is reverse threaded, it will screw into the bolt and, at the same time, unscrew the bolt that you broke. Its easy


Oh, and dont drive your car to the store to get this. If you do, and dont have the bolt in, you're oil will probably spray out from under the loosely connected valve cover.</TD></TR></TABLE>

not hard at all, I wouldnt even sweat it

Re: (LShatchie)
 

just did the same thing
need to go get an easy out

Re: (Hella_JDM)
 

All I can say is I know how you feel. TB pulley anchor bolt snapped on me when I rebuilt my Z6. I just said fuck, tossed the DIY attitude away and went to a machine shop. Done in 10min and only cost me $20 https://honda-tech.com/forums/images/smilies/emthup.gif .

Re: (LShatchie)
 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by LShatchie &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">not hard at all, I wouldnt even sweat it </TD></TR></TABLE>
I'll give it a try.

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Bond &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">All I can say is I know how you feel. TB pulley anchor bolt snapped on me when I rebuilt my Z6. I just said fuck, tossed the DIY attitude away and went to a machine shop. Done in 10min and only cost me $20 .</TD></TR></TABLE>
Oh really?...

What to do now...

Re: (00ekcoupe)
 

its so easy , theres no reason to take the car to a machine shop

Re: (Hella_JDM)
 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Hella_JDM &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">its so easy , theres no reason to take the car to a machine shop</TD></TR></TABLE>
I'm was just worried because the screw that broke is realy small in diameter. Do you guys think that would be a problem? Can I use any small drill bit that will fit? Or is there something specific I should buy besides the ez out?

Re: (Hella_JDM)
 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Hella_JDM &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">its so easy , theres no reason to take the car to a machine shop</TD></TR></TABLE>Yeah because if you were to take it to a shop you would have to either tow the car, remove the head. Patience is a virtue.. https://honda-tech.com/forums/images/smilies/emwink.gif DIY will always save $ in the end.

Re: (HondaFanatic708)
 

Is my car really not drivable without that one screw holding the vc down? All the other 4 out of 5 screws are still intact.


Modified by 00ekcoupe at 10:55 PM 9/3/2005

Re: (00ekcoupe)
 

your car is driveable
put some rtv gasket on the hole to cover it up

like i said b4
get a punch and slowly hit it at an angle to turn it lose until its out all the way

Re: (komat)
 

i took a plug from the firewall and put it over the valvecover , put over 200 miles on it with NO problems what so ever. so yes you can drive.

Re: (pdiggitydogg)
 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by pdiggitydogg &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">go to the hardware store
buy a new hard metal drill bit and an ez out
drill a hole in the snapped bolt, still in the head
use the ez out to remove the threaded section (they are reverse threaded)
Replace w/ a new bolt, tq only to 7-8ft/lbs

Since the ez out is reverse threaded, it will screw into the bolt and, at the same time, unscrew the bolt that you broke. Its easy


Oh, and dont drive your car to the store to get this. If you do, and dont have the bolt in, you're oil will probably spray out from under the loosely connected valve cover.</TD></TR></TABLE>

Exactly!! https://honda-tech.com/forums/images/smilies/emthup.gif

Re: (JDM-EJ1)
 

Thanks guys for the quick responses. I'm gonna give this a try today so we'll see what happens.

Re: (00ekcoupe)
 

i went today to autozone and bought the bolt extracter kit for 20 bucks , came with one small enough to do the vc bolt , id be done but im tryin to find a drill

Re: (Hella_JDM)
 

reverse drill bits work good too https://honda-tech.com/forums/images/smilies/emthup.gif

Re: (dat_flip)
 

I bought a drill bit and an easy out. Do I drill into the bolt regulary (clockwise) or reversed (counter clockwise)?

Re: (00ekcoupe)
 

you drill the pilot hole like normal , then with the easy out you reverse it

Re: (Hella_JDM)
 

What do you mean by pilot hole? Have you gotten yours out yet?

Okay this is what I'm doing:

1. I tried to drill a small hole into the bolt with a small regular drill bit.

2. Now I use the easy out drill and drill it counter clockwise to get in? Then clockwise to get out?

Or vise versa?

Re: (00ekcoupe)
 

small hole with regular bit = pilot hole.

what im going to do (havent found a drill yet) is drill the small hole like normal , then put the easy out in the drill , and counterclockwise start to back the broken bolt out. no need to screw it in as it might screw it in more.

Re: (Hella_JDM)
 

https://honda-tech.com/zerothread?id=567450

Different bolt, same instructions.

Re: (dwnthehatch)
 

Thanks for all the input, you guys were a BIG help. GOT IT OUT!! https://honda-tech.com/forums/images...es/emsmile.gif It really wasn't that bad either. Now time to look for a new bolt.

ROCK ON HONDA-TECH!! https://honda-tech.com/forums/images/smilies/emthup.gif https://honda-tech.com/forums/images...s/emsmilep.gif

Re: (00ekcoupe)
 

ez out https://honda-tech.com/forums/images/smilies/emthup.gif

Re: (00ekcoupe)
 

shit you got luckier than me. mine didnt come out

Re: (00ekcoupe)
 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by 00ekcoupe &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Thanks for all the input, you guys were a BIG help. GOT IT OUT!! https://honda-tech.com/forums/images...es/emsmile.gif It really wasn't that bad either. Now time to look for a new bolt.

ROCK ON HONDA-TECH!! https://honda-tech.com/forums/images/smilies/emthup.gif https://honda-tech.com/forums/images...s/emsmilep.gif </TD></TR></TABLE>A ton better than trying to take it to a machine shop. Check out http://www.hondapartsdeals.com for your VC bolt. Or at least the PN so you can order it from your local dealer, can be found here..

Re: (Hella_JDM)
 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Hella_JDM &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">shit you got luckier than me. mine didnt come out</TD></TR></TABLE>

Haha, sounds exactly like my luck.. So what happened?

Re: (Jimmy)
 

the bolt exracter kit didnt work at all

why dont you just get a dremel and notch it so you can take it out with a flathead screwdriver....seems easier then all these bolt extractor kits.

Re: (mike93eh)
 

its sunk below the hole so thats no good

Re: (Hella_JDM)
 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Hella_JDM &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">its sunk below the hole so thats no good</TD></TR></TABLE>

how far below the hole?

use a craftsman bolt extractor.

Re: (Hella_JDM)
 

mine sank bellow the hole as well, I got a rubber plug and put it in there and it looks like it came from the factory that way. e-z out didnt work 4 me, I wish I could find some arp studs that would fit my head so this would never happen again.

Re: (Hella_JDM)
 

How low is it in the hole? Can you reach it with a drill?

This is how I did it:
1. Drill a hole into the busted bolt. It doesn't have to be deep, just enough so you can start to drill in the ez-out drill bit.
2. Put some pressure onto the t-wrench when you turn (counter-clockwise) the ez-out drill into the hole of the busted bolt.

The thread on the ez-out bit are reversed so when you turn it counter-clockwise it drills itself in while drilling out the busted bolt.

Here's the tools I used, you can get them at any hardware store:

Put this...
http://brokentap.com/images/easy-out.gif
into...
http://doityourself.com/ori/200x200/5430905.jpg

Hope this helps.


Modified by 00ekcoupe at 1:58 PM 9/5/2005


Modified by 00ekcoupe at 2:00 PM 9/5/2005

ask me how i dealt with the rear LCA bolts... all of them rusted out and stuck... had to cut through all 6 bolts in two places each and then heat them like hell and twist them out with vise grips... took me a long as time... add to that taking out 6 bushings and you get me.. been doing this for two days... an hour here an hour there....

but then again, i got more time than money so DIY all the way!

if you have lathe/mill you can remove it easily if you remove the head... just drill straight through with a drill big enough to drill the bolt but not the threads of the hole... then clean the metal shavings with the same size tap... that should do it

like I said in the first place: EZ out

dont put the ez out in the drill use what 00ekcoupe
said or some pliers or sumin. if you put it in the drill ir will just eat the metal. and make sure you drill deep enough