Hey guys, today I was doing some routine maintenance, changing the valve cover gasket, vtec solenoid seal, front camshaft seal, and sparkplug seals. When I had finished replacing the vtec solenoid seal, I was putting the camshaft holder back on and tightening the bolts in the recommended order to the recommended torque specs according to the Haynes manuel for my car(99 SI, B16a2) when the first bolt I tightened broke. Theres only about 2-3 threads on the piece of the bolt that I got out and the rest is in the head I believe or maybe if I’m lucky but I pretty sure I’m not some part that detaches from the head. The bolts were in there pretty good (86lbs per inch). It’s on of the middle ones on the cam closest to you when your are looking at the car. Do you guys think I should try and take it out with a drill and one of those reversed thread bolts, have a machine shop take it out, or do you think it will be OK?
Another option I was thinking of, maybe, would be to run it like that for a while due to the fact that I am pretty sure I am going to have to have my valve guides replaced due to what seams to be the beginning of a leak, or it might not as I replaced my PVC valve which I believe was clogged and causing massive back pressure which probably cause all the leaks to begin with.
I’m open to suggestions and if anyone knows how much this will cost and time it will take?

 

It really depends on how you do things. If you want things done right and want to expect your head to last, pull the head and have a machine shop repair it. If you dont fix it, MAYBE it will last and MAYBE it wont. No one can say 100% if it will cause a problem. You may choose to ignore it and go on with your plans and it works no problem. You may choose to ignore it, and it breaks and destroys not only your head but possibly your block. I am sure some will reply 'eh no big deal you can run it fine' just remember its a gamble and you'll end up with two thoughts about it down the road, 'Yay it held up' or 'I really should have had it fixed...'.

Personally, id get it fixed. whatever the machine shop will charge for the repair im sure is less than replacing what goes wrong in a worst case scenario.

good luck
-Rich

 

thanks for your advice and i hope i do get some insight into my problem. i guess best thing to do would be to fix it but i dont have the funds right now. maybe i could fix it without pulling the head off?

 

some people may have a method of extracting the rest of the bolt, but im not familiar with using bolt extractors (only used one once and the extractor broke inside the block )

 

with my experience, parts on autos at least hondas are designed stronger than they need to be(ie wheel studs and lugs, you can run with one missing) for reliablility. i know this is not a good philosophy but i am hoping it is the case.

 

pull the cam caps off, you might be lucky and some threads are still sticking out. just use some pliers and take it out. then go to HONDA and get a new bolt

 

cam caps? is that the same thing as the cam shaft holder or those long pieces of metal in the pic? if so i did take them off, the part of the bolt that broke off is not sticking out of the head.

 

you have to remove all the caps and the cams and you should see the hole where the bolt threads in

 

Cool, ill go get right on that and see if i am lucky enough. it is possibel to remove one cam instead of both right? or in this cas am i going to have to remove both?

 

ive been running my car like that for like a year...

 

upon further inspection i only have about a millimeter of the bolt sthicking out of the head after the removal of the cam caps(thanks fmrprojects) and i just realized that i tightened that first bolt not by lbs per inch but by the foot. 25lbs per foot which corresponds to 300-350inch per inch. Son of a B%TCH! My fault.

According to the funds-O-meter, i will probably have to run it like this for a while. thanks spracer03 for the input and experience, this makes me feel a little better.

STILLLLL!!!!, i am looking for suggestions and ideas as to what i can do with $20 in funds, all the time in the world, the willingness to try, and your guys' knowlegde. Also, maybe a honda tech in the austin area that is bored, i do have my car in a garage and alot of tools!
THANKS YALL

 

if your broke all the time, you should have gotten a sohc. Last time i checked i could go out and buy a sohc for 200$

 

Extractor set... Tape off/cover everything all around it... use the extractor kit as described... clean/chase threads if needed... put new bolt in...

http://buy1.snapon.com/catalog...talog

Make sure the extractor set you get is a left hand set.

edit:
start w/ a small extractor + go bigger if needed... finesse is key with using these things...

 

couldn't you use an easy-out or however you spell it. If you had a small enough one you could drill a little hole not very deep into the remaining bolt, tap the easy out in a little bit and grab some vice grips and turn it loose.

 

hey dude, go to Sears and pick up a screw extractor bit set. On one side is a small drill bit and on the other is like a screw extractor. I work there and I get customers all the time with that problem

 

just use a really sharp pick and use a lil hammer and try getting it out that way ( take the pic at an angle that would screw out the bolt and tap it, there shouldnt be any force on the bolt anymore and it should come out pretty easily)

 

just get a tap set. you srill a little hole, run the tap in, and unscrew.