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Stripped valve cover bolt!!!!!

S

snakey

Experienced Member
Joined
20 February 2008
Messages
307
Well I was driving my baby last night and did a spirited blast testing the supercharger that I sometimes forget I have..

Next thing I know their is smoke everywhere..

Put her on the jack stands and get under their and see my rear vehicle side valve cover gasket has come out in a 3 inch area and leaked all my oil in two minutes....

Well I loosen the valve cover up and slide a screw driver in their and push the gasket back in...

Then I go through putting everything back to gether...I get to the very last screw and see.....


That the bottom left holding bolt on my valve cover towards the rear of the vehicle is completely stripped and the nut that tightens on the bolt is missing..

( for lack of better terminoligy Im talking about the four places were you screw on nuts to secure the valve cover)

My bottom left nut is gone and after trying to put on new nuts I saw that the bolt it's self is stripped...

So now it's pretty evident why the gasket came out right their...

So everythings back together but it is still leaking bad since I cant get a nut to tighten down on to the bolt..

What can I do?????
 
That's only a 6mm thread to begin with. I don't think that 5mm of thread will be able to secure with the amount of torque requested by the factory (not to mention not getting steel shaving over everything). Why not do the right thing - take the cover off (it would have to come off anyway to put a die on it), replace the seal, inspect the hardware, and replace the stripped stud bolt. Can't be more that a couple bucks at most.

Best off, take it to a professional. Stripped hardware doesn't just happen.
 
UPDATE

Well I drove her today...Of course she's still leaking a bit from that area but the gasket is staying in place....I looked at the desighn and Im gonna purchase a clamp from walmart to hold the valve cover down until I get the parts ect.

But I have a bigger problem....

The car is stuttering really bad...and seems to have less powewr....I had to stick in a screw driver to get the valve cover off..I stuck itin about 2-3 inches on acident..Based off the desighn of the roller rockers ect....Is it possible that I messed somthing up in their with the valves/roller rocker ect?

Or is that stuff farther down and theirs no way I touched anything...

My next guess is that since their is oil just drenching my cat converter wiring ect. That the sensor is malfunctioning and sending mixed messages and the pcm is comensating by reducing timing engine power ect.

Man oh man....My lincoln navigator just broke down and my wife drives my nissan so im stuck with the nsx driving to work everyday....


any guesses to the reduced power???
 
I wouldn't start the car or drive it even one inch. Get it towed to a repair facility and rent a car. You are playing Russian Roullette with a very expensive motor.
 
ChopsJazz said:
I would go back to the shop that did the work six weeks ago. There is a problem there.
Click to expand...

I agree with chops. In my experience, stripped out and broken valve cover hardware is a result of over-torquing by the technician. The factory torque spec. is 8.7 lb/ft in two or three steps. Oftentimes, the bolts and nuts are run down with an air ratchet resulting in the vavle cover being way over-torqued. I would take it back to the shop that did the work.
:smile:
 
First off, you should not be sticking a scewdriver there to pry the valve covers off.

Tap around it with a rubber mallet. Then try a rocking motion to left the valve covers off.
 
helicoil does offer an 'external' coil for stud repair but if thats the case then stud replacement is the obvious solution.
 
update

drove the car today...Ran great..Pretty sure it was just the oli on the sensor...

Im ordering parts and having her all fixed up..

What is the helicoil..That may be a good fix for now?
 
snakey said:
UPDATE

Well I drove her today...Of course she's still leaking a bit from that area but the gasket is staying in place....I looked at the desighn and Im gonna purchase a clamp from walmart to hold the valve cover down until I get the parts ect.

But I have a bigger problem....

The car is stuttering really bad...and seems to have less powewr....I had to stick in a screw driver to get the valve cover off..I stuck itin about 2-3 inches on acident..Based off the desighn of the roller rockers ect....Is it possible that I messed somthing up in their with the valves/roller rocker ect?

Or is that stuff farther down and theirs no way I touched anything...

My next guess is that since their is oil just drenching my cat converter wiring ect. That the sensor is malfunctioning and sending mixed messages and the pcm is comensating by reducing timing engine power ect.

Man oh man....My lincoln navigator just broke down and my wife drives my nissan so im stuck with the nsx driving to work everyday....


any guesses to the reduced power???
Click to expand...

over tq
 
Last edited:
Well I bit the bullet and bought a 2008 Dodge ram Lorena yesterday...Ill be driving that and let the nsx sit till I get her all good..

My mechanic is installing a new timing belt on my nissan quest so I have to wait a little bit...

Still runs good though and is only loosing around a quart a week...So other than a lot of smoke she seems OK..

Ill skip the helicoil and just let my mechanic do it the right way
 

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