Hi all,

Opened my head cover to check the condition and when re-bolting the cover back on one of the bolts just snapped off! I didn't even torque it that hard (Helms says 8Nm).

Any opinions as to whether it's dangerous to drive with one broken bolt? (I don't see why it would be...)

Incidentally it's one of the centre bolts near the plugs vs outside near the edges.

 

just open the cover again, unscrew the stud & replace it. Simple.
Yuri K

 

How does the bolt sit? Does it come through from the bottom of the cylinder head? I'm thinking I'll need to remove more than just the head cover to get to the bolt...

 

Checked my friend's Helms... I see what you mean now. Thanks YuriK...

 

does that mean 8 in./lb.?


[Modified by ssr265, 8:37 PM 8/7/2002]

 

did you tighten them in sequence? you are talking about the valve cover bolt right? and yes they need to be torqued down by specs and sequence

CM

 

I tightened them in sequence but my torque wrench doesn't go as low as 7.2lbft = 9.8Nm (not 8 like I earlier mentioned). So I set it at the lowest setting ~10lbft. Once the nuts were screwed down in contact with the head cover, I started to tighten them one at a time in sequence, 1/2 a turn at a time. On my second pass (didn't hear the torque wrench click to tell me it was tight enough yet) I definitely hear a click -- more like a snap. The whole bolt broke off.

I guess this was too much torque! Hehehehe....

 

Just put something in the hole until you get another bolt. Or better yet, just leave the broken bolt there until you can replace it with a new one. I'll bet you won't make that mistake again - those bolts are like $8 a piece from the dealer.

 

sounds to me like not many people who have posted here have had this problem. i speak from experience here. first off, i wouldnt go driving around with a valve cover bolt missing. the gasket between your valve cover and head depends on all 4 of those bolts being tightened to spec. if youre short one, you might end up with an oil leak. bad idea. just take off your valve cover and remove the 12mm bolt that you broke off. call honda or check out http://www.hondaautomotiveparts.com and order one, as well as the 6mm nut that screws onto the bolt. i think the reason you snapped that bolt was because i think its suppsed to be 7 lb-IN on those 6mm bolts. check out helms. i know its in there. if not, email me and ill scan it and post it on here.
mailforjon@yahoo.com

 

Actually I'm pretty sure it's 7.2 lbf ft (lbs of force x feet)... not lb IN like you suggested. I have the Helms in front of me now. It's the same torque for the bit that screws into the camshaft holder and also for the bit that screws into the head cover.

I don't think the oil leak is a major issue since it's one of the centre 4 bolts (like I mentioned) but I will definitely not be leaving this problem unsolved! Thanks for the help.

BTW my torque wrench doesn't even go down to 7 lbft! Damn ****...

Thanks for the help!

 

All it takes for those valve cover bolts to snap is an extra 2.8lbs/ft. Next time use a torque wrench that can go as low as required

 

forgot to mention. i did post a thread on this before, cause i had a similar issue. i didn't torque them down myself, i trusted a friend who was helping me out that day(also a little bit mechanically inclined) to torque them down for me, as i was preoccupied with something else, until i heard him curse at himself, and there you have it, he snapped it in half. what we did was leave it in there. we had a high temp silicone hangin' around, so we used it. to finish this story up, in hopes it will not leak, i'm hoping i'll get my b20 in by next summer.

CM