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A few months ago I took my car in to the dealer to do a headgasket on my car. Upon recieving it they cracked part of my air filter.. which I guess isnt a big deal. But yesterday I realized while messing around in my engine bay that they also stripped a valve cover bolt. The bolt that is between the oil cap and the dipstick. Now my question is what the **** do I do. Its not leaking, but on my next timing belt (assuming it doesnt leak before then) what should I do? Can I just replace the bolt in the valve cover? I am hoping they didnt strip the ****ing threads that it goes into. But I believe they did. I dont want to mess with it since its not leaking, but I really dont like the idea that the bolt is just a dead bolt there. Any suggestions?
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A few months ago I took my car in to the dealer to do a headgasket on my car. Upon recieving it they cracked part of my air filter.. which I guess isnt a big deal. But yesterday I realized while messing around in my engine bay that they also stripped a valve cover bolt. The bolt that is between the oil cap and the dipstick. Now my question is what the **** do I do. Its not leaking, but on my next timing belt (assuming it doesnt leak before then) what should I do? Can I just replace the bolt in the valve cover? I am hoping they didnt strip the ****ing threads that it goes into. But I believe they did. I dont want to mess with it since its not leaking, but I really dont like the idea that the bolt is just a dead bolt there. Any suggestions?
Take it back to honda have tell those clowns to fix it.
Its been a few months since I noticed it, they will probably laugh in my face. Can I remove the bolts from the valvecover? I know they have special washers on em.
Its been a few months since I noticed it, they will probably laugh in my face. Can I remove the bolts from the valvecover? I know they have special washers on em.
Is your car under warranty? If so demand they replace it. If they refuse, call Honda corporate. They should not have stripped that bolt. Also if your intake is cracked have them replace that too.
what happened, is the bolt broken? or does it turn to come out? this could end up being VERY costly if they stripped the threads in the head. i would take it back and tell them you just noticed it and need it fixed.
well as I was cleaning my air filters and checking the oil I had a socket in my hand and figured let me see if they tightened all the bolts (I found a few bolts to the airfilter loose) And as I turned it I realized it was stripped..I am thinking that the threads in the head might be stripped or maybe the bolt. I am unsure if the bolt is broken since I cant take it out unless I pull the valve cover. I am going to take it down there tomorrow and make them fix it.
Tech took out the bolt and said it is either bolt stripped or they need to retap it.
Last edited by 04 Honda Civic; 11-04-2009 at 10:58 AM.
They said that they stripped the threads in the head and they need to put some sleeve in there.. I guess kinda like fake threads.. doesnt sound so legit, but I guess its better then nothing..
yeah it should be okay, since its not really a critical/hi torque bolt with moving parts and stuff. they are prolly gonna retap it and put a helicoil (like a new thread that you turn in). i did it to my seat bolt which is much bigger than the valve cover bolt and its holding nicely.
no it stays there. thats supposed to be a permanent fix. the screw comes off and goes back just like nothing happened. but if the coil comes out for whatever reason, usually you can just thread it back in and then put the bolt back.
helicoil is one brand of a style of thread repair. i'm a tech and i've used them before. they are used when the female half of a connection gets stripped, and the original bolt can still be used. it is a spring looking insert, and should come with a tap to rethead the hole. for each size, the package states what size drill bit to use. to install them is fairly easy. drill out the hole to the required size, tap it with the supplied tap, and thread the insert into the new hole, until it's just slightly below the surface. once it's in it's permanent. they come in all variety of sizes, so finding one to match a particular bolt is not hard. here is their website.
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