Did i Just kill my Jeep? Valve cover bolts...

KauaiCrd · **Posted:** Fri Mar 29, 2019 12:42 am

Just replaced my rockers after what i thought was a bad rocker, but upon disassemble I think the sound I was here was from a bad injector seal. (Number 2 was gunked up), but rockers were already soaking in oil so I couldn't return and was already in this far so why not.

With some assistance I got valve cover back on with out disturbing rockers. Went to torque everything down and heard a pop which initially for a second i thought it was the torque wrench but realized now the bolt just continues to spin.

My mistake was I was thinking 24Ft. Lbs. when reality the guide states 24.5 N-m and 18 Ft. Lbs.

I did this to one bolt towards the right rear and the front left bolt.

Assuming I blew out the threads in the head. Which my initial thought is i Just killed my jeep and will now have to to potentially replace the head(Great part is I spent $3K last spring having the head gasket replaced)?

Looking for any thoughts while I try and do some research.

Thanks.

WWDiesel · **Posted:** Fri Mar 29, 2019 1:01 am

Get a 6mm x 1.0 Heli-Coil kit. Tap out stripped hole, install Heli-Coil thread repair coil and you are back in business.
Amazon lists them and many parts stores like NAPA or a hardware store sell them. :google:

https://www.amazon.com/Helicoil-5546-6- ... B0002KKPXK

They are a great repair for stripped aluminum threaded holes.
Just be careful and don't get too deep.
Watch some UTube videos on how to install.

KauaiCrd · **Posted:** Fri Mar 29, 2019 1:33 am

Roger. Will do some research. Hopefully one of the auto parts store here has it on the island, otherwise will have to order. Waiting for injector Orings/copper to come in mail on monday anyhow.

Will I need any additional tools for the helicoil? and will it change the torque specs?

Tanks for the response.

TKB4 · **Posted:** Fri Mar 29, 2019 10:48 am

remember these bolts mainly have two functions

1. to provide enough pressure to seal the valve cover gasket evenly.
if not sealed good will leak some oil and may suck in some air etc.
likely this would not be a problem with two even left out not adjacent

2. To provide the downward pressure for the overhead cam lobes to open the valves
there is likely enough pressure provided by the remainder bolts to do this also

so as long as you get them back in with helical etc shouldn't be any problem at all
even if they were left out would be unlikely to affect it much if any

However, some of the female holes may also connect to oil passages etc and that would be a problem.

Just get something tight and sealed in there and you will be ok

These bolts also break off fairly easily. I had one break with just the 18 lbs and had to remove cover to get to remainder of bolt to remove with vice grips

WWDiesel · **Posted:** Fri Mar 29, 2019 11:00 am

KauaiCrd wrote:

Roger. Will do some research. Hopefully one of the auto parts store here has it on the island, otherwise will have to order. Waiting for injector Orings/copper to come in mail on monday anyhow.
Will I need any additional tools for the helicoil? and will it change the torque specs?
Tanks for the response.

No additional tools should be required.
Will not change torque values. Actually, HeliCoil threads in aluminum are slightly stronger than original if installed correctly. :wink:

Mountainman · **Posted:** Fri Mar 29, 2019 11:13 am

TKB4 wrote:

remember these bolts mainly have two functions

1. to provide enough pressure to seal the valve cover gasket evenly.
if not sealed good will leak some oil and may suck in some air etc.
likely this would not be a problem with two even left out not adjacent

2. To provide the downward pressure for the overhead cam lobes to open the valves
there is likely enough pressure provided by the remainder bolts to do this also

so as long as you get them back in with helical etc shouldn't be any problem at all
even if they were left out would be unlikely to affect it much if any

However, some of the female holes may also connect to oil passages etc and that would be a problem.

Just get something tight and sealed in there and you will be ok

These bolts also break off fairly easily. I had one break with just the 18 lbs and had to remove cover to get to remainder of bolt to remove with vice grips

X2. The oil "pressure" in the case is actually a slight vacuum, so you could easily just forget about that one bolt also, although if you're unlucky it might seep a tiny bit of oil. I've opened more than 1 of these where 1-3 bolts were completely loose (not adjacent) and not leaking...
*don't do EHM

KauaiCrd · **Posted:** Fri Mar 29, 2019 8:38 pm

Well I just went to pull cover back off and bolt that popped towards the rear had a helicoil that came out with it. Upon closer inspection I realized that the front bolt had a helicoil on its threads as well. The head was machined when it was rebuilt so not sure if they just install them or if the incompetent shop that did my work botched the job. The coils that came with the kit i just got seem smaller and would just drop into the hole as the thread cutting tool does as well . Does this mean I need to size up the coil or am i running out of luck?
Thanks again for any info

KauaiCrd · **Posted:** Fri Mar 29, 2019 9:11 pm

Looks like mine are 8mm not 6mm. So off to autoparts store to try and find next size larger. Going to attempt to redo and maybe add some red loctite to coil to help keep it in.

KauaiCrd · **Posted:** Fri Mar 29, 2019 11:26 pm

Well after some back and forth, got home and the 8mm was to big for the hole, so guessing the shop used 7mm??

The 8mm seems to thread on the bolt just fine but is to big for the hole on the head.

WolverineFW · **Posted:** Sat Mar 30, 2019 11:21 am

KauaiCrd wrote:

Well after some back and forth, got home and the 8mm was to big for the hole, so guessing the shop used 7mm??

The 8mm seems to thread on the bolt just fine but is to big for the hole on the head.

Follow the helicoil instructions. You have to use their specified drill bit size to drill the hole out to fit the helicoil into the spot.

Sent from my SM-G965W using Tapatalk

KauaiCrd · **Posted:** Sun Mar 31, 2019 12:43 am

Well had the Helicoil tool strip out while installing the coil. Tried using a flathead adapter on a socket and in the process the flathead fell out of the socket and went right down a intake port. Does anyone by chance know where to find a internal diagram for the head. Waiting to find out if a friend can get a bore scope to see where it went and see if I can avoid removing the head.
When it rains it pours......

Mountainman · **Posted:** Sun Mar 31, 2019 11:45 am

KauaiCrd wrote:

Well had the Helicoil tool strip out while installing the coil. Tried using a flathead adapter on a socket and in the process the flathead fell out of the socket and went right down a intake port. Does anyone by chance know where to find a internal diagram for the head. Waiting to find out if a friend can get a bore scope to see where it went and see if I can avoid removing the head.
When it rains it pours......

A tiny magnet should solve that. Sounds like you should forget about the two missing bolts if they're not adjacent and see if it leaks. I would retorque the bolts after a few heat cycles. Remember, it's not under any significant pressure

geordi · **Posted:** Sun Mar 31, 2019 2:12 pm

KauaiCrd wrote:

Well had the Helicoil tool strip out while installing the coil. Tried using a flathead adapter on a socket and in the process the flathead fell out of the socket and went right down a intake port. Does anyone by chance know where to find a internal diagram for the head. Waiting to find out if a friend can get a bore scope to see where it went and see if I can avoid removing the head.
When it rains it pours......

Oh you poor bastage, you are definitely having a fight with this one.

Some good news for you though - the ports in the head are short and just go to the valves, there's no eccentric shapes - it's just one turn. So you should be able to use a flexible-head magnetic pickup tool to probe and get the bit back. Nothing else is magnetic in there other than the valve - and that's not moving.

As far as the helicoil - an 8mm helicoil is the right size for the bolts, you have to drill out the hole in the head using the helicoil's drill bit size and then tap the hole so that it is properly sized for the helicoil. The installation tool is often meant to break off that tab at the bottom of the coil, it is sometimes easier to run the tap 3-4 times through the hole first to "wear it in" so that the coil threads smoother.

Or... Just forget about these two bolt locations, the valve cover bolts are NOT critical. Seems like whoever ham-fisted the engine before you already boogered these holes. You may have a tiny bit of oil seepage around these locations, but it WILL NOT HURT ANYTHING AT ALL to not have bolts in these two places.

KauaiCrd · **Posted:** Sun Mar 31, 2019 9:17 pm

Tried the vacuum with no avail. Tried a kitchen fridge magnet tied to fishing line and piece of duct tape, but but scared it might brake off the line and join the party when it stuck to the valve....
Borrowed a bore scope from a buddy and sure enough their it was just hanging out. Attempted to use vacuum again with visual aid of scope but not luck. Asked the neighbor if he had a flex magnet or one of a string... turns out he had crafted one to get a bolt out of his motorcycle gas tank. Stuck it down there and 2 seconds later pulled it out. Wish I had asked him first :banghead:

Re threaded helicoil and got a second one in. Time to put her back together and hope she starts!

Sidenote: Was surprised over half of the holes had actually been helicoil'ed. Not sure what the shop did or how they would potentially botch so many holes.

KauaiCrd · **Posted:** Mon Apr 01, 2019 8:44 pm

Not sure how I missed it before when disassembled but just found that one of my injectors was being held down by a crowfoot socket head and a missed sized, shorter/stripped threaded/bent bolt.
Just when everything was going back together smoothly, timing belt on and ready to do test fire....

Wish I could go back and fire bomb the shop!

https://photos.app.goo.gl/CiUZAeXaLXxkLHsA8

geordi · **Posted:** Mon Apr 01, 2019 9:17 pm

KauaiCrd wrote:

Not sure how I missed it before when disassembled but just found that one of my injectors was being held down by a crowfoot socket head and a missed sized, shorter/stripped threaded/bent bolt.
Just when everything was going back together smoothly, timing belt on and ready to do test fire....

Wish I could go back and fire bomb the shop!

https://photos.app.goo.gl/CiUZAeXaLXxkLHsA8

Jeez! Were these orangutans working on your Jeep?

I think I've got a couple of the real thing floating around, if you need one. Just LMK.

Did i Just kill my Jeep? Valve cover bolts...

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