Anybody else ever bust a valve cover bolt off in the head?

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kirkwilson

kirkwilson

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Yeah, that's right, I did it. This is kind of a follow-up to my other post -'My bike's leaking oil like a BP deep-sea disaster'- Went to check the valve cover bolts- top left tight- top right tight then SNAP loose....
Thank goodness it snapped off fairly flat and I was able to get a centerpunch in there, give it a couple of taps, and give my drill bit a starting point- 1/8th inch was perfect and those valvecover bolts are about grade 2- drilled it out than the EZ-Out pulled it no problem.

Life Lesson Learned- When checking bolt tightness first LOOSTEN the bolt then torque it. If you start with a tight bolt and lean on it you're likely to end up like me- 'I'm just sitting here watching the bolt go round and round- I really hate to see it turn..." John Lennon's version was better....

So now I need a new bolt but besides that I didn't break anything.
 
Hate when that happens. Good you got it out without too much trouble. Might be a good idea to get all new bolts rather than risk another snapping off soon.
 
Good advise- I bought a auction of used bolts on Ebay-I'll have to check and see if you can still get new ones- they are some of the most custom bolts I've ever seen- first you have a hex-head - attached to a flange like a washer- then there's a long part just straight no threads- then there is a forged in ring that sticks out about a mm- then about an inch of threads- then a pointed- yes- point on the end of the bolt.
Per Honda you should set your valve clearance every 1000 miles- that means a lot of loostening and tightening- you would think these bolts would be harder but I can tell you they drill out like butter.... You can tell Honda is a quality machine, tho- there is s steel insert in the head for the bolt threads- there is probably enought material there to drill it out and rethread it in the steel insert if you need to- instead of getting into the aluminum head.
 
I broke off a valve cover bolt the same way except I then broke off the easy out in the head!!! I had to dremmel the bolt out to get the easy out - out and rethread the hole with a heli coil! :Awe:
 
I haven't broken one yet, knock on wood.
Actually in all the work of done on this bike swapping and splitting engines, almost a dozen head gaskets I haven't broke ONE bolt. From the sound of it I've been lucky I guess.
 
mcgovern61":2xohtlvk said:
I broke off a valve cover bolt the same way except I then broke off the easy out in the head!!! I had to dremmel the bolt out to get the easy out - out and rethread the hole with a heli coil! :Awe:
Click to expand...
I just went through that on my builder..turned out to br very easy :party: I had my machanic come buy and do it for me :beer: :clapping:
 
There's 'lucky' then there's 'good'- Dan, I'd have to guess you're 'good'-

I wrench for a living- What I did was just plain stupid, and I got lucky. Be careful and don't force things are two pieces of great advise when working on anything and I broke both those golden rules as well as the bolt- I'm just lucky it turned out as well as it did-

Gerry- Went through the exactly same thing with a Saab head- helicoil disaster- I wish there was a time machine you could rent down at NAPA so that you could go back and NOT do the stupid thing you just did...
 
You are right! Well, it was a good learning experience! I did that job on my old '81 diesel 1100. Someday, we are gonna open that engine up and find out what made all of the noise.
 
Very old mechanic once told me
If it's made in Japan you use a toque wrench
If it's made in Germany you will need a press with calibrated readout and adjustable release
If it's made in USA get a hammer, a big hammer

(and if it's made in England carry a oil drip tray with you) :smilie_happy:
 

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