Stripped out rockerarm mounting hole

[jadecker]

I have a chevy malibu 2002 V6 SFI and when I was torquing the rocker arm bolt it stripped out the hole some how. Bolt is find. A friend suggested to get a helicoil insert to repair the hole except upon closer inspection the hole had been repaired before I had even bought the car. The insert came right out along with the bolt. How can I repair the hole? The hole has been oversized by a previous repair in the past.

[tractorboy]

click the link " when it all goes wrong "

http://www.hotrod.com/howto/97018/



here is something else
http://store.summitracing.com/egnsea...8&autoview=sku

actually if it were me , i think i would pull the head ( s) do you know who had this car before you did ? what other stuff to look for ?

[bobss396]

Great tips on the Hotrod site. You may also look for inserts called Keen Serts which are also oversized for really messed up holes. MSC Industrial Supply Co. (www.mscdirect.com) may also carry them.

Is the head aluminum? If so you may only get another shot at fixing this with the oversized insert.

Just make sure that you have the recommended drill bit on hand and if possible, make up a block from scrap aluminum to use for a guide for the drill and one for the tap as well. Even hard wood and anything like hard plastic will work, it should be about 1.5" long.

Another option is to go ahead with the insert, but use a stud in place of the bolt, hold the rocker on with a nut and washer. Permatex makes a good stud anchor, which is like Loctite but a lot more permanent and stronger.

Keep us posted on developments, email me directly if you care to.

Bob

[Doc Doug]

Any luck in repairing the rocker arm bolt hole? My 2003, Rendezvous 3.4 did the same thing. Got the P0305 and sure enough the #5 cyclinder (both intake and exhaust) were stripped out. I hate to pull the head and will probably do a helicoil repair. Kind of tight, given it is the #5 cylinder on the firwall side.

Please advise if you had luck.

Thanks!

Doc Doug

[jadecker]

Hey Doug,
Wow after one year later, I thought this thread would be dead by now . Well Doug, yes I did get the the hole repaired. I turned out it was never repaired before so I guess I was in luck. A friend who is a tech at a GM dealership did me the favor of putting in the helicoil. I was affraid that if I did it myself I would probably ruin the head since this something that I have never done before. Well he made it seem pretty easy. I bought the helicoil and tap at Nappa. It was about $24. My friend already had the bit to make hole bigger. He drilled the hole into the head and as he did he would stop in intervals to make sure it was going in straight. He also used a can of compressed air (ones used to dust keyboards etc) to blow out the metal shavings from the hole. Once he did that he did that tap and then threaded the helicoil. He then inserted the rocker arm with bolt attached and tightened it to 11ft lbs. Done! 20k miles later, no problems. What made this simple was the fact that the problem cylinder was in one of the even side, front of the car.

Things I have done myself with this car:

Replaced lower and upper intake gaskets (Owners from Canada is suing GM for this)
Changed to "green antifreeze" non dexcool (another suit over this)
Replaced Thermostat
Replaced spark plugs with A/C delco platinum <- a must..
Replaced and recoded Iginition lock cylinder and switch with new keys cut by VIN# code, not traced (malibu would start, but gauges not working fyi)
Replaced Hazard lights switch (intermitten problem with turn signals working half of the time)
Replaced Blower resistor (speed 1 and 2 failed)
Replaced A/C control panel (A/C turned on and off, related to above)
Both front headlights (yellow haze)
Both rear tail lights (water leaking inside them)
Replaced Serp. Belt (on 3.1 you have to remove one of the engine mounts to change the belts, who enginered that??)
Cut and resurfaced both front rotors (borrowed a friends lathe, vibration while braking, knocking sounds)
Replaced center plastic vents (broken)

Once you fix all of that Malibu runs like a top . A lot of stuff to do for a car that is just turned 5 years old, I know... After all of that one asks themselves, why in heck do you keep the darn thing??? Well I like my Malibu.. Plus I like to turn wrenches and well, keeps me in my garage away from the wife. Maybe this is what GM had in mind all along haha.. nah, just kidding. Sorry I couldn't be much help in this. You migh want to check the yellow pages or classifieds for a mobile tech if you feel this is something you do not want to undertake. If you do decided to do it yourself, read up on it. I did and well, I thought it was best if I let someone that knows how to do it work on my car. Best of luck!!!

[tractorboy]

What does your mechanic friend say about switching to the green stuff instead of dexcool ? I myself like the Dexcool. When I do a coolant flush I do not use tap water. I use distilled water ( not mineral or spring) . I monitor the acidity of the coolant. Also when I top it off i use distilled. I hear that the grren stuff will wreck aluminum rads, like maybe your car has, plus it softens plastic parts.

[Doc Doug]

jadecker,

Thanks for the feeback. It makes me feel better that the helicoil should work. I found a Chevy mechanic that will come to my home and repair the two rocker arm bolt holes. What a find... and a bargain. I don't have to remove the head if this works.

Will be tricky with the #5, rear, cylinder.

Thanks again,

Doug