So I was installing my new cams & I was tighing the 10 mm bolts at the ends. I was doing it by hand after I did 12mm bolts to spec. I was on the cam seal bolts and I said to myself half turn more and Im done when all of a sudden I hear somethinf snap and fly across the garage. I look down and the bolt is still there so I keep looking , well after 15 min. I found this Its just the corner piece. Do you guys think this is fixable or should I just leave it ? Will it leak ?

I cant find the piece that broke off yet so I was thinking about grinding the side down a bit and shoving a nut in there just incaseto tighten it.

 

bump

 

it probably wont leak......it doesn't look that serious.....if you want you can JB weld that small area or apply some grey RTV just incase it does decide to leak.

how tight did you tighten those bolts? not the same spec as the 12mm bolts i hope

 

no just hand tight. The thing is that bolt seems a bit loose , but Im thinking that bolt doesnt really make it seal , its the 12mm bolt that really torques it down and seals it .

 

I really like when people are too lazy to pick up a torque wrench and then cry about it when they hand tighten and expletive up threads in an ALUMINIUM head with a STEEL bolt.

 

Its torqued down to like 7lbs dude. I didnt feel the need to buy a torque wrench just for 1 bolt.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by BoostedEF &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">I didnt feel the need to buy a torque wrench just for 1 bolt. </TD></TR></TABLE>

and you wonder why it broke...... there is WAY more than just that one bolt that need 7lb of torque and you will break all of them thinking that way

 

Why is everyone on this forum so critical? You act like youve never messed up on anything or like YOU never ask questions . I know why it broke smart ***. The question is if its fixable.


Modified by BoostedEF at 9:44 AM 5/30/2006

 

no, this is stemming from your blatant ignorance.

Everyone on H-T isnt as critical as you might think and yes, we all ask questions.

The thing we don't do is break bolts in heads and then bitch at the people telling us why it happened and how to avoid it next time.

 

Those 10mm bastards in the block/head I'll just snug up with a 1/4" drive.

Like non-VTEC said.. try some hondabond or something.. it shouldn't leak though.

 

When did I ask how it happened ????????
Are you seriously saying that nobody here breaks bolts or anything else ? Is that why I jus t did a search and found 111 topics under broken bolts ? People like you give this site a bad name just answer the question if you have knowledge about it or if it interests you if not go on to the next topic.

 

Are you sure you used the correct bolt? The two 10mm bolts at the very end are different length.

 

Just because you use a torque wrench..it is not a guarantee the bolt is not gonna break. Over time, the bolt eventually weakens up and will break. Trust me...I know first hand on this matter.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by NVturbo &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Just because you use a torque wrench..it is not a guarantee the bolt is not gonna break. Over time, the bolt eventually weakens up and will break. Trust me...I know first hand on this matter. </TD></TR></TABLE>
Thank you finally a good point , Some people also dont know that after doing something over and over you get a feel for it , I honestly dont think this is a torque issue as the bolt is perfect. just that corner peice broke off usually the bolt will give out way before the head or just strip the thread out.

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by spoonek9 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Are you sure you used the correct bolt? The two 10mm bolts at the very end are different length. </TD></TR></TABLE> Yes I used the correct bolts the longer ones go on the dizzy side

 

Im wondering how in the hell that broke like that? Never seen that before!
Im guessing there was maybe a bit of water in the hole left after cleaning and as the bolt got tightened,the pressure was too much and "SNAP"...
If you find the piece, im sure you could have it welded on no prob. You could just start it up and see if it leaks.It may not even need to be addressed...
I dont usually torque those 10mm bolts either...If youve worked on cars for any length of time, you can guage 7 ft/lbs using your hand. Its not much more than finger tight...You can feel the bolts stretch also. If you get some old bolts and tighten them down, you will be able to tell if theyre stretched cause they seem to get tight all of the sudden.
Ive broken a 12mm cam bridge bolt using a torque wrench before cause the bolt was stretched. I kept tightening it with a torque wrench and it would not torque down.Then all the sudden, it got really loose. Sheared right off...
Moral of the story...You cant blame broken bolts totally on not being torqued properly...
good luck!

 

Water would come out via threads, it usually does, theres always slight space when you tighten it.

 

Rock ON!!! Anything under 15ft lbs is hand tight in my opinion and once youve been working on cars for more then a couple of years you get a feel for it. Not like some of these kids that work on their first car and think they are experts at it. <TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by PyroProblem &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Im wondering how in the hell that broke like that? Never seen that before!
Im guessing there was maybe a bit of water in the hole left after cleaning and as the bolt got tightened,the pressure was too much and "SNAP"...
If you find the piece, im sure you could have it welded on no prob. You could just start it up and see if it leaks.It may not even need to be addressed...
I dont usually torque those 10mm bolts either...If youve worked on cars for any length of time, you can guage 7 ft/lbs using your hand. Its not much more than finger tight...You can feel the bolts stretch also. If you get some old bolts and tighten them down, you will be able to tell if theyre stretched cause they seem to get tight all of the sudden.
Ive broken a 12mm cam bridge bolt using a torque wrench before cause the bolt was stretched. I kept tightening it with a torque wrench and it would not torque down.Then all the sudden, it got really loose. Sheared right off...
Moral of the story...You cant blame broken bolts totally on not being torqued properly...
good luck!</TD></TR></TABLE>

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Flashmn &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Water would come out via threads, it usually does, theres always slight space when you tighten it.</TD></TR></TABLE>

You do know that bolts dont bottom out right and theres always a little gap down there. The bottom of the bolt will never touch bottom. If there was water down there the bolt would have never reached it to push it out the threads.

 

The way you can fix that is to install the bolt then fill it by welding it. I had a chuck break off my friends tranny, so I installed the bolt and filled it up by welding it and it's hold like it never broke. The aluminum won't stick to the steel bolt so when you remove the bolt you'll have new threads. Then if you want sand it down and you won't even know it happened. Good luck

 

Thats an awesome repair!

So did you even find out what broke it? Its not like its even in a coolant passage, it looks to be solid right?
Hmmm, maybe it was just a bad casting...

 

I guess bad casting cause there nothingin that hole. Im think maybe some silicon got down there and when I screwed in the bolt it was too tight and the aluminum gave up and cracked. Its funny cause my wire wheel broke so I took all of the old silicon off the bolt with a pick and a blade. About welding it I was thinking the same thing. I could leave the bolt in there cause it wont bond or stick a punch in there just to give it shape and then retap but Ill see first if it leaks or not .

 

Your right, the reason that it broke could be related to a weak part in the head's casting. It is only cast aluminum, so by nature it's not very strong in the thinner areas.

You know the bolt the threads through the bracket on the bottom of the factory Honda exhaust manifold, into the block for support? I accidentally broke that piece off of the block of an Accord that I used to own, and I barely tightened the bolt down by hand (and that was a larger bolt than what you're dealing with).

I guess age, constant vibration, and other factors contribute to weakening the strength of aluminum castings.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by fuhsm1 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Your right, the reason that it broke could be related to a weak part in the head's casting. It is only cast aluminum, so by nature it's not very strong in the thinner areas.

You know the bolt the threads through the bracket on the bottom of the factory Honda exhaust manifold, into the block for support? I accidentally broke that piece off of the block of an Accord that I used to own, and I barely tightened the bolt down by hand (and that was a larger bolt than what you're dealing with).

I guess age, constant vibration, and other factors contribute to weakening the strength of aluminum castings.</TD></TR></TABLE>

Shhhh becareful they might hear you and start bitching at you cause you didnt use a torque wrench. Remember they are perfect.