Ok so I thought my valve cover was leaking but it isn’t. I’m now missing a bolt where the red arrow is in my picture. What the hell is this thing anyways (where the blue arrow is pointing)? I think an M8 or 5/16 bolt was in there, but the threads are all gone. Can I tap this out for a M10 or 3/8?
Why is there oil leaking out of here?
thats the vanos valve that opens and closes to let oil pressure into vanos to turn it on or off. oil is leaking because the gasket inbetween is full of oil from the head. you need that bolt to keep it tight so it wont leak.
So since I have no threads left, can I drill right through the head and use a sealed nut/bolt to hold it together, or should I try tapping it out to an M10 / 3/8?
If you have nut clearance on the other side, I’d go right through and use some sealant on it. Definitely better than tapping up a size.
Pretty sure there is more then enough clearance on the other side. Maybe I’ll attack this today. There is oil all over my engine bay. It used to be pristine.
why are you not just buying another OEM bolt? look up the part number from realoem.com then either call your dealer or order cheaper from one of the vendors on bf.c it’s probably only a $3 bolt
The head is stripped
my bad, I missed that…
why not helicoil that summabitch
That was what I was going to do at first, but a 5/16 or M8 Helicoil ends up taking out just as much material as re-tapping it for a 3/8 or M10 bolt.
I think I’ll go home and drill it out tonight and run a 5/16 bolt & nut straight through it.
aluminum threads suck, id helicoil it
Or not have any threads and use a nut like he’s going to…
Id just be worried about drilling through and finding something in there i wasnt expecting… but if your sure its clear (i cant see from teh pics) then drilling through and putting a nut should work fine…
I wonder how it will effect the strength of the lifting eye
probably not at all.
There is only about 1/4 of aluminum around the M8 - 5/16 thread. If I open that up to helicoil it that leaves me maybe a heavy 1/8 and I’m afraid it might crack.
I’m not sure if anything is behind it, I’m going to go ahead and assume nothing is. There is a valve cover bolt pretty close behind it as you can see in the picture, so I’m hoping they didn’t try to snake something in there.
It might weaken the head if that lifting lug is used to pull the engine. I’m willing to take that risk. The only time I’ll ever pull this engine is if I blow it up, and if that is the case I won’t care about it anyways. Well care about the engine I’d probably care if the lifting lug broke clean off and the engine crushed the front clip. W/E It will be fine. (I hope lol)
you CAN drill it through and nut and bolt it. but that kinda seams ghetto to me. i believe that bolt hole is dowelled so i wouldnt try drilling it too large. just clean out the threads and run a bolt/nut same size.
Already done seems to be fine, no oil drip yet and I didn’t have a problem drilling it out.