Valve cover stripped thread?

[zachattack_5491]

The other day I had to remove my valve cover to remove my old disgusting spark plug wire and as I was torquing the bolts down I got to the one on the front right side and I just kept turning and turning it. There was still some resistance so I just stopped not wanting to make it worse. I didn't want to even remove the bolt to see if it's just the bolt, or if it's the threads on the head. What kind of complications can this cause? Is the valve cover under any serious pressure? It's still down pretty tight, no oil leaking or air coming out, but I don't want to end up with any more serious issues. Any help will be appreciated =)

[Patarach]

Well just hope that the bolt is stripped and not the threads on the female end, although its almost always the female end. other than that, If you have no air or oil leaking I can't see any problem, other than that you have got a jacked up thread. Screwed threads can be a real headache when you get to where you want to fix that though.

time for a tap set

[Vegascorbin]

You can use a Heli-Coil to repair the threads if running a tap through the hole doesn't work. (normaly it doesn't)

Just get a heli-coil the proper thread size and follow instructions . Use a new bolt while you are at it. A pain in the #ss to fix but not the end of hte world.

[verSat1l3]

Yea, heli coil that mother. Make sure you don't get any of the shavings into your open head while you do it. Use some wide masking tape and cover the gap between the head wall and the cams. Then drill, tap and insert. Make sure you get the drill hole straight, and don't over drill. I use a piece of tape on the drill bit to make sure I don't go too deep.

Best of all, a heli coil-ed hole is actually stronger than the original aluminum threads. They're supposed to more evenly distribute the load across the threads. Still, don't over torque it or you're going to need a larger bolt.

[zachattack_5491]

Alright cool, I've never heard of that so I'll check it out. Thanks guys.