Stripped Valve Cover Bolt/ Cleaning Intake Manifold

[5speedSHO]

Well I went to do the valve cover gaskets, and one of the valve cover allen bolts stripped... agh. Does anyone have any recommendations on getting it out, they're all awefully tight (over tightened)

Also whats the best way to clean the intake mani while i have it off?

 

[Mac]

Use a dremel tool or cut-off wheel to make a slot in the top of the bolt. Then use a power drill with a flat blade screwdriver bit to loosen it.

 

[sdpatt]

You can grab the outer diamter of the bolt's head with Vise-Grips (if accessible) or hammer an appropriately sized Torx socket into the bolt head for an interference fit to get the bolt off. The bolts are installed with only 8-11 lb-ft of torque.

 

[5speedSHO]

sadly im pretty sure these bolts have 40+ftlbs on them for some stupid reason....

im going to try a torx in it, and if not a drill and easy out will be next in line.

 

[ohfosho]

try different sizes of allen and hex keys...there are metric and standard sizes for these too...i found out this past summer...almost striped a few myself!

 

[platoribs]

Before you apply the torque to the head of the bolt make sure you give it a good rap to help break the threads loose. We had a tech session at my place a year ago and broke off 5 of those. They all broke way down in the head, after first stripping the allen head. Best luck with it, if you do break them you can use an easyout on the leftovers down in the head.

 

[shoebilly]

Use a dremel tool or cut-off wheel to make a slot in the top of the bolt. Then use a power drill with a flat blade screwdriver bit to loosen it.

Or hammer & sharp chisel & strike it counterclockwise.