HELP: Valve cover bolts wont come out!!

[nkb93]

Hey everyone,

Currently in the middle of my valve adjustment..

I've successfully loosened all of my rear valve cover bolts without too much problem. But I'm only able to completely remove the two closest to the passenger side and the two small ones on the drivers side.

The other six bolts move up and down freely until one of thelittle flanges on the bolt shank hits something, which prevents it from coming out the rest of the way. Do they just need a little more force, or are they interfering with something I don't want to force?

Any help is greatly appreciated!!!

Nathan

 

[Ishodu]

You don't even need to take the bolts right out just as long as they are not seated in the threads you can remove the valve covers.

 

[SHOtimer]

Some of mine did that also when I was removing them. Just pull and keep pulling and they will pop out. Then just push them past the seal when you put them back in. Make sure you are not pulling on them if they are still threaded and when pushing them back in only push them in on the valve cover, don't push them into the threads.
Good luck, Doug

 

[SHO--ripper]

If they are out of the threads just give them a yank. What part of CT are you from? burnout

 

[Dr.Evil]

with a little jimming they will pop out. try different angles of pulling. when you go to reinstall, don't torque too much, they tend to snap off even at factory torque specs.

 

[autobahnsho]

6 of mine never came off. I just left them in and was careful while I re-installed to try to get the seal properly...

 

[sdpatt]

There is a flare near the threads that is the seating surface and this flare is an interference fit through the (hardened?) rubber grommets at the valve cover's surface. You can pull up on the bolt while you rotate and wiggle the head to get them out, but you can also leave them in the valve cover.

If you leave them in, pull them up and hold them together with rubber bands. Do this to keep the threaded tips from scratching any camshaft lobes as you work to get the cover off.

The front cover is an easy lift, but the rear cover has interference from the wiring harness on the passenger side and the heater hoses and EGR (sorry ATX'ers) on the driver side.

Be very careful when you reinstall the bolts to only use the 8-11 lb-ft that can be generated easily with a single finger and a gentle twist on a 1/4" drive socket wrench.

 

[nkb93]

Thanks for everyone's advice.. it just took a little bit more pressure to pop the bolts free from the little rubber seals.

Speaking of which.. When reusing the valve cover bolt seals, do you have to use RTV to keep them from leaking? I popped mine out of the valve cover so I could clean them and the cover completely. Hoping they're not gonna leak after removing and reinstalling them..

Nathan

 

[munkee]

I just did this on a 92 and I couldn't get the middle six off by hand, even wiggling them etc. They didn't even come off easier the second time. madflame I had to use a pair of vise grips under the head of the bolt (not locked on the shaft) and a pair of pliers underneath for leverage to pop them out. Next time I will just rubber band them. Any speculation on why thes six don't like to come out?

 

[sdpatt]

You can use a small amount of RTV on the valve cover bolt bushings, but realize that there are two sealing surfaces of the bushings - inner and outer.

The reason some of the bolts don't pass through the bushings is that the bushings have swollen from oil exposure and hardened from exposure to heat.

 

[OSHSHO]

When I re-assembled my valve covers, like many, the rubber grommets were damaged from age/heat. I went to the local hardware store and bought small rubber o-rings to fit tightly against the shaft of the bolt. This seems to "fill" any gaps that were apparent from the ill-fitting/hardened grommets.