Jump to content
SAU Community

Stuffed Bolts On Spark Plug Cover

Galois

By Galois,
in General Maintenance

 Share

Recommended Posts

Galois Veteran

Galois

Posted
Posted

ok, so i went to change the plugs yesterday. had about 2 hours of light left so it was always a stupid idea, but me in my ambition just went for it.

took the cover, various hoses and electrical plugs off and started unscrewing the 8 allen key screw things holding the cover on the plugs. got to the end, and unbelievably, the last 2 had had their allen key thread stripped. so what was meant to fit to fit the key was circular.

so after spending an unjustifiable amount of time fiddling desperately with allen key and pliers, gave up, and put it back together.

spoke to a mechanic this morning who said i should use a chisel and hammer to turn it. yay, that can't go wrong at all.

so yeah, thoughts? suggestions?

thanks in advance

Link to comment
https://www.sau.com.au/forums/topic/313301-stuffed-bolts-on-spark-plug-cover/
Share on other sites
**RB2530** Proficient

**RB2530**

Posted
Posted
spoke to a mechanic this morning who said i should use a chisel and hammer to turn it. yay, that can't go wrong at all.

Hammer and chisel to hammer it out!! ??? Maybe these are the only tools he can use properly.

Is the socket in the head 'completely round'? Sometime you can get away with tapping (gently) an imperial hex driver that is just slightly bigger than the metric size. By hex driver I mean one of the attachments that you find in those screw driver sets you can get. Alternatively get an imperial allen key and cut it down. The you have something to grip onto with vice grips etc.

OR

If the top of the head is raised above the plastic enough you can use a dremel with a small circular blade to cut a slot across the top of the bolt then use a flat blade screw driver to turn it out.

OR

If you are confident enough you could drill the head out so that you can remove the cover. Then you should have better access to what remains of the bolt and use vicegrips to turn it out...

Good luck with it...

Galois Veteran

Galois

Posted
  • Author
Posted

thanks for the replies guys, feel a bit better about it now. was never really confident in belting a chisel in the engine bay anyways lol.

so if i drill/grind the head off, how much access will i have to the bottom of the screw?

08yannch Rising Star

08yannch

Posted
Posted
thanks for the replies guys, feel a bit better about it now. was never really confident in belting a chisel in the engine bay anyways lol.

so if i drill/grind the head off, how much access will i have to the bottom of the screw?

little to none. u will be able to get the cover of but getting the the remainder of the bolt out of the head will be a pain in the ass.

i had the same problem with mine. dont cut anything u need an assortment of flat head screw drivers and a hammer. first try to hammer a flat head that is slightly larger than the alan key hole so that u can un screw it or if that dont work get a small flat head and get it in-between the outside of the bolt and the cover and hammer away what ur trying to do is just get the bolt to turn a little bit so that the first method i said will work.

grinding and cutting or drilling will be difficult with the bolts being at the back

ok mad082 feel free to under mind my post now :)

Munkyb0y Grand Master

Munkyb0y

Posted
Posted (edited)

i had a similar issue with an allen key bolt on my boss kit recently. thread was stuffed, and the hex became rounded in my efforts to get it out.

i used one of these bits. nice an tight, or slightly too big, and hammer it in there. it should grab enough for you to unscrew the bolt.

taidan8.JPG

Edited by Munkyb0y
Galois Veteran

Galois

Posted
  • Author
Posted

thanks for all the feedback guys. i got talked into trying an "easy out" screw thing. it was like a reverse drill bit. anyways, under surprisingly little drill pressure the top of the screw just sheared off the rest of the screw. And since i'd lost one i gave up and just drilled out the other one. i'll have a look at what's left on the weekend when i actually change the plugs.

not sure what i can do about the stubs, but its probably not worth bothering with.

thanks for the info, there's definitely a lot of options if this happens again

cheers

Birds Grand Master

Birds

Posted
Posted

Yep do what Paul suggested and cut a slit into the head for a flathead to go in. Alternatively, weld a cheap allen key to the bolt head and turn.

I'm thinking of leaving my cover off permanently because it's a pain in the ass removing the intake everytime I want to access the coils. I'm just concerned about dust/oil collecting in there.

mad082 Grand Master

mad082

Posted
Posted

i ran mine without the cover on. it lets the heat escape from the coils better so they last longer. as for keeping water out, i degreased my engine with the cover on and was carefull with where i was spraying the hose not to spray around the cover as i knew water would still get in. i still managed to get enough water in there to cause a bad misfire which actually took longer to go away because when the engine heated up and started to boil away the water the steam couldn't escape very well.

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
 Share
Go to topic listing


  • Similar Content

  • Latest Posts

    • MBS206
      Powder coating wheels

      By MBS206 · Posted

      I'm interested if anyone agrees with what you've said, and can give a good reason. Temperature of powder coating should be below any temperature you'd use to alter the wheel structure.  Powder coat typically 200 to 250. Annealing if that's what people are claiming would be occuring, starts at 300, and depending on the alloy, can need even up at 400+.   That's the only part I can think of that could cause an issue that people are believing it's from the rim losing hardness and becoming too soft.
    • MBS206
      One Headlight isn't working - Driver Side Fuse Keeps blowing

      By MBS206 · Posted

      Negative probe should be on the cars chassis. Positive on the wire.   Start as said above by unplugging everything (unplug the lights, and switches. Now at the switch, there is a wire from the fuse, to the switch, so out your positive on that terminal. It should read open circuit. If it reads something, especially a stupid low value, the short is somewhere between the fuse and the switch. If that's fine, now put the positive probe on the wire that goes to the headlight (at the switch plug). If it reads stupid low, the fault is from the switch, to the headlight.   Another quick test, is take the whole LED light setup from the left, and plug it into the right side, does it still blow the fuse? If you put the right hand side led light setup on the left hand side wiring, does the left hand side wiring now blow?  If the blowing fuse swaps from right to left doing this, your LED lights are the issue.
    • dyl33
      Powder coating wheels

      By dyl33 · Posted

      Anyone know if it's a problem to powder coat forged alloy wheel centers (Rays/Volk GT-C). some say it's bad and can damage the alloy, some say it's not a problem.
    • kevboost7
      One Headlight isn't working - Driver Side Fuse Keeps blowing

      By kevboost7 · Posted

      Hey guys, I'm reviving an old post but I'm finally getting around to working on this now. I removed the battery to get a better look at the wires and i traced the wires from the headlight to the fuse box in the engine bay, but the wiring looks fine? The wiring for the R/H headlight is 3 wires and then is bundled up with the large diameter wire that goes underneath the fuse box. I didn't take it apart yet. I know you said that its a short circuit somewhere between the fuse box and the headlight. But could it be the headlight switch on the dash? Also, i pulled out my multi-meter and set it on the Ohms, but i'm not sure where to put the negative probe and the positive probe.     
    • wrxhoon
      WTB R33 GTST Catch Can 2L or Bigger

      By wrxhoon · Posted

      I have a 2 lt in Sydney. It was fitted on a R33 GTR, not used for several years . If you are interested email me on: [email protected] I'm not on this forum much .
×
×
  • Create New...