valve cover bolts stripped! wtf

[Syntax360]

So i was on my way to school and my car turned into a smoke bomb. I popped the hood and the valve cover had come loose. I undid it and bolted it back on and used some silicon to serve as a makeshift gasket (the gasket was still there, but torn all to hell) and drove the thing to the shop. They ordered new gaskets, etc. and said it would run me an hour labor, so I said fine. I just got a call from them and they say the threads are stripped and they can either helio-somethin seal it for $500 or put on a new head. #^^#*$@@ Can anyone think of any other (cheaper) option? This *#(# car!

[yellow_jacket]

Not really. Heli coils should do alright since it is a low torque application. What they do is actually put a spring type thing down into the head. The bolt then screws into the helicoil.

Cheaper would be to do it yourself. The only other thing that I can think of is to drill them out and tap it to a slightly larger sized bolt. This is probably not a good idea though since you will not have much metal to work with.

No matter what you do, if you pay the shop to do it, it will be expensive.

How many are stripped by the way?

[Syntax360]

all but one :-) it was originally a $534.00, but since I go there a lot, and have prolly paid for my car twice in repairs/etc. with them, they did it for $381. Oh well....live and learn I guess. (btw, thanks for the reply :-) )

[1dollar240]

Not to be a ****, but you probably could have done that job yourself for about a days worth of work and around 30 bucks in parts.

[DAEDALUS]

Well, crap, if they were the shop that put the valve cover on last, then they should fix it for free! Geez, that's what, 15 bolts? They stripped 14 bolts before figuring out they were torquing it up too much? That's pretty lame.

[yellow_jacket]

Either that or he stripped them when he put the silicone in for the makeshift gasket.

[Syntax360]

i'm sure I did it....i think i torqued it down too much to seal it (w/o a new gasket, it was leaking like a mother).....so I tightened it till it stopped. It was my stupid error that put me out that much cash :-( oh well..

[DAEDALUS]

That sucks. We all have to learn the hard way every now and then. I was mostly concerned you had an experienced shop screw up. Still, it's pretty odd that the threads stripped. My experience has been that the bolts will break before the holes strip out, even with aluminum heads. I've broken a few bolts before. Now I use a clicker torque wrench for any critical bolts on the engine and suspension. It guarantees you get them just right every time.

[574-240sx]

i did the same thing on my honduh, you only need to torque valve cover bolts down to 7-9 ft/lbs. I used a reverse drill bit and it came out clean. Nick

[ricebike]

how about using some alumaweld sticks to fill in the holes, then tap them out to the original bolt size/thread pitch?

any1 used these products b4?

WELDING ROD KITS With a propane torch (not included), easily repair items which previously could not be repaired Choose welding kit for non-ferrous or ferrous metals http://www.jcwhitney.com/produ...=jcw2