So Screwed...

[chembrad]

Went to change the nut kit, the #27 torx screw stripped when I went to take it out. Great...

There is no room to get any drill or anything back there.

I need some help. Am I going to have to take off the top of the engine? Any ideas?

[troubles789]

Just the lower intake Id say.

[chembrad]

OK, so how do I take off the lower intake? What are the tricks/tips involved? Thanks

[BlazerLT]

You sure it is stripped, how the hell can you strip a torx bit?

[rlith]

Originally Posted by BlazerLT

You sure it is stripped, how the hell can you strip a torx bit?

by using the wrong bit... easy to strip torx bits

[BlazerLT]

true, probably one size too small. Ouch.

Only thing I could suggest to get it out is to weld the torx bit to the screw somehow and getting it out that way.

[troubles789]

Be sure to mark your distributor before pulling it out first.

[chembrad]

No, I used the correct torx bit. It is a #27 for taking out the nut bracket screw. The loctite on the threads made it hard to take out.

I also stripped a torx bit screw while removing the IAC valve. That was a #15. Is there a trick to taking out screws that have red loctite on them? It just takes a whole lotta torque to remove them normally. And the torx heads tend to strip on me.

Has anyone replaced the torx heads with hex heads? I would like to know the thread sizes (MAP, IAC, TB sensor).

I did find a hex replacement for the nut bracket torx screw. It is a 10x28 thread. So I am going to put that in (instead of the torx head).

[rlith]

I just checked the 2 kits I have and my truck, it uses a T30 torx not a t27

[BlazerLT]

oh ohhh!

That would explain it.

[Bagel191]

if you cant get it off with a the right size torx bit try a standard or metric allen wrech sometimes you can get enough bite to loosen it up

[rlith]

Last time a buddy of mine did that we just used a vice grip. Had little room so we could only manage a 1/4" at a time and took about a half hour to get off! LOL

[chembrad]

Oh well, from the looks of all the black crap accumulating around the lower intake and valve covers, it might be a good thing to replace both valve cover gaskets and the lower manifold gasket anyway.

When I pulled the thermostat housing off, the thremostat was practically welded into place with white crap. I wish I could post a pic to show the condition of the thermostat. I have not seen one this bad. Ever. Everything that has to do with the coolant system on this vehicle is in incredibly poor condition. I'm going to have to wire brush all the crap out of the thermostat so that the new thermostat will seat properly.