Hey guys,
While changing the timing belt in my sisters' "new" Mazda Protege5, I snapped a valve cover bolt while REMOVING the valve cover. Don't ask me how, it just happened and I was like ???.
Anyhow, if you look at this example picture, the one that broke is in the lower left:
There are 4 across the top, 4 across the bottom, and 3 across the middle. The broken one is the very lower left one. I tried removing it with extractor bits but they just shattered even though I followed the instructions to a T. The last one that shattered got lodged in the pilot hole so flush w/ the top of the remaining bolt that I had to try drilling it out, but the extractor bits are very very hard metal and would not drill out AT ALL. So, I was forced to try to drill around it with smaller bits, but all that did was mess up the existing threaded hole and cause a mess, so I stopped, cleaned the area of any shavings and debris thoroughly, and decided to put the valve cover back on.
I used a blob of RTV silicone in and around the snapped bolt hole area (same stuff as directed to use by Mazda in 4 particular spots near the cams). I then sat the valve cover according to the directions, with the exception of this one missing bolt.
Do you guys think I'll be OK running the car this way? I don't have a tap/die set, nor do I want to try it on a soft aluminum head and make things even worse. Since there is a bolt immediately north and immediately east of the missing one, there is probably enough clamping power on the gasket, in my opinion, to hold. I measured the gap between head and valve cover and it's 100% even between the 10-15 sample areas I measured around the valve cover... so it is at least sitting very flush!
Sorry for the novel but I need to know what steps to take, if any, next.
Thanks,
Eric
While changing the timing belt in my sisters' "new" Mazda Protege5, I snapped a valve cover bolt while REMOVING the valve cover. Don't ask me how, it just happened and I was like ???.
Anyhow, if you look at this example picture, the one that broke is in the lower left:
There are 4 across the top, 4 across the bottom, and 3 across the middle. The broken one is the very lower left one. I tried removing it with extractor bits but they just shattered even though I followed the instructions to a T. The last one that shattered got lodged in the pilot hole so flush w/ the top of the remaining bolt that I had to try drilling it out, but the extractor bits are very very hard metal and would not drill out AT ALL. So, I was forced to try to drill around it with smaller bits, but all that did was mess up the existing threaded hole and cause a mess, so I stopped, cleaned the area of any shavings and debris thoroughly, and decided to put the valve cover back on.
I used a blob of RTV silicone in and around the snapped bolt hole area (same stuff as directed to use by Mazda in 4 particular spots near the cams). I then sat the valve cover according to the directions, with the exception of this one missing bolt.
Do you guys think I'll be OK running the car this way? I don't have a tap/die set, nor do I want to try it on a soft aluminum head and make things even worse. Since there is a bolt immediately north and immediately east of the missing one, there is probably enough clamping power on the gasket, in my opinion, to hold. I measured the gap between head and valve cover and it's 100% even between the 10-15 sample areas I measured around the valve cover... so it is at least sitting very flush!
Sorry for the novel but I need to know what steps to take, if any, next.
Thanks,
Eric
