middlerth

so i was replacing the valve cover gaskets tonight cause one of the top bolts near the spark plugs was leaking a little oil. everything went well when i was tightening the bolts, but like two ofthem just went loose all of a sudden when everything was nice and snug. i was wondering if that was normal or if something was just wrong with the bolts. you can move them but they wont tighten anymore, and the cover is stil pretty snug. any help would be greatly appreciated.

Eviscerator

possible broke those bolt holes from over tightenning the heads on these i do beleive or only alluminum

-HyJynX-

Unthreaded the bolts?

middlerth

well im going to take off the cover again and see whats up. i hope its nothing like screwing up the threading on the head, if anything i hope its just the bolts. ill get back to you ina bit

middlerth

so how can i rethread the head? i took the off the two that were loose and the had metal in the threading. is it safe to put plumbing tape on them and drive around till i really get it fixed?

Eviscerator

well atleast the bolt holes didnt crack i would try and retap it the original size but u might have 2 make it bigger and when u do this ull need bigger bolts and also u might need 2 make the holes in the valve cover bigger remember not to get ne shavings into the engine

middlerth

koo, thats what i was going for, but do they have anykits where you would end up with the original size of the threading? i kind of dont like the idea of having to make bigger holes. and whats the torque for the head bolts for the cover?

Eviscerator

oh i 4got try a helicoil there a little expensive u need 2 go slow with them or thell get mangled but it might work 4 u

middlerth

i went seraching all day today fro something and i found it, its called permacoil, a little expesnive so ill try and find what you mentioned. thank for the feed back

Eviscerator

perma and heli heala all basically the same it looks like a spring that get rethreaded into the hole u just need 2 go slow with them

l3ooherS14

Sounds like you stipped or broke the bolts. Try using a torquer wrench and torque it to the max torque thing.

middlerth

well im gonna buy the stuff this friday and do it (im poor and have to wait till i get paid again), ill let you guys know how it goes. oh yeah, the only thing that was stipped was the head.

anywho, i have this cheap torque wrench that has the metal rod, the ones that cost 25 bux or so, need to invest in something a little better, any recommendations?

Eviscerator

the flex torque wrenches work fine most of the time u dont need 2 tightne valve covers 2 much cuz the gasket does the sealling not the bolts

tweak302

STOP!, most likely what you experienced was the compression of the rubber or cork gasket, when you tightened the rest of the bolts, the first two you have tightened went loose, that's why you retighten them again, it doesn't sound like you need to do anything. to make sure, pull the cover and without a gasket or cover thread the bolt in to like 12-14 ftlbs and see it it jumps threads, if not put back together and crack open a beer

middlerth

im pretty sure the head threading was stripped, the bolts came out wrapped in aluminum. thanx anyways