Ok messed up valve adjustment NEED HELP

[CRXperiment]

Ok so after adjusting all of my valves and put the valve cover back on, i broke the valve cover ground bolt. My damn torque wrench only goes as low as 10 ftlbs and i had it on 7ftlbs for the bolts, so it just kept tightening. So yeah i broke the damn bolt and i kicked myself.
After starting the car i hear excessive valve tick (much worse then before i messed with it) and the car starts acting all wierd since my valve cover ground is gone. The lights dim, my temp guage shoots up and just a bunch of crazy shit happens... Im gonna work on the valve adjustment again but i need to fix this broken bolt.
My question is.. how can i get this important valve cover ground bolt replaced or fixed??? PLEASE dont tell me i need a whole new head Thanks

[FrodoGT]

Get some extractors..craftsmen makes a set..simple to use..

[CRXperiment]

The screw the the bolt goes into was shortened after i broke it so even if i try to screw a new bolt on it i cant. Do extractors just take broken pieces of screw out of a bolt? If thats the case, then that wont help. Do i need to take out the whole head to replaced this broken-threaded screw?

This is kind of what happened to me, one of these screws was cut after overtightening, do i need to replace the whole thing? Any tips on what i should do? I appreciate the help

[FrodoGT]

The extractor just bites into whatever is left in the hole, and backs it out..

[2poor2tune]

my friend did this to his b16 when he was swapping his valve covers around

[bambam89lx]

Originally Posted by CRXperiment

Ok so after adjusting all of my valves and put the valve cover back on, i broke the valve cover ground bolt. My damn torque wrench only goes as low as 10 ftlbs and i had it on 7ftlbs for the bolts, so it just kept tightening. So yeah i broke the damn bolt and i kicked myself.
After starting the car i hear excessive valve tick (much worse then before i messed with it) and the car starts acting all wierd since my valve cover ground is gone. The lights dim, my temp guage shoots up and just a bunch of crazy shit happens... Im gonna work on the valve adjustment again but i need to fix this broken bolt.
My question is.. how can i get this important valve cover ground bolt replaced or fixed??? PLEASE dont tell me i need a whole new head Thanks

you don't need a whole new head man. Is there ANY bit of bolt sticking out of the head when you take the valve cover off? If there is, needle nose that shit out. If there isn't get a small extractor bit from craftsman...or a decent company that wont break on you. I got a few from home-depot before from black n decker.

You'll never need a torque wrench to tighten town the valve cover. I know the book says 7 ft. lbs man. But all that means is hand tight, then a quarter turn. if the bolts are at 6 ft lbs or 8 ft lbs doesn't mean the thing is going to come flying off ya know?

As for the valve adjustment, I hope you did it fully cold. What feeler guages did you use? Did you use a valve adjustment tool or just a 10mm and a flathead? Because that way is tough as shit to stop the nut from spinning after you have it where you want.


[/quote]

[bambam89lx]

Originally Posted by CRXperiment

The screw the the bolt goes into was shortened after i broke it so even if i try to screw a new bolt on it i cant. Do extractors just take broken pieces of screw out of a bolt? If thats the case, then that wont help. Do i need to take out the whole head to replaced this broken-threaded screw?

This is kind of what happened to me, one of these screws was cut after overtightening, do i need to replace the whole thing? Any tips on what i should do? I appreciate the help

and I don't understand anything you were trying to explain here. The "screw" and the "bolt" mean the same thing. That bolt that you have pictured is just one piece. You can't fix that bolt, it's garbage. You'll need a new one, once you take the broken end of that bolt out of the head.
Then you'll just screw the new bolt down.

[CRXperiment]

Originally Posted by bambam89lx

you don't need a whole new head man. Is there ANY bit of bolt sticking out of the head when you take the valve cover off? If there is, needle nose that shit out. If there isn't get a small extractor bit from craftsman...or a decent company that wont break on you. I got a few from home-depot before from black n decker.

As for the valve adjustment, I hope you did it fully cold. What feeler guages did you use? Did you use a valve adjustment tool or just a 10mm and a flathead? Because that way is tough as shit to stop the nut from spinning after you have it where you want.

There is like 2-3mm of thread that is still left. Can i just omit some of the washers that go under the bolt or are all of them nesecarry? Also please explain what an 'extractor' does anyway. Does it extend the thread? I dont see how thats possible and i dont wanna yank on this bolt any more and end up breaking something else.

When i adjusted tha valves the car had been sitting for like 3 days so it was definitely cold. I set the cam at TDC by aligning the white mark on the cam pulley with the arrow on the TBelt cover. As for the other cylinders i followed the instructions in the helms manual and made adjustments by solely looking at the cam gear. Does every like millimileter matter? If so, i need to know a fool-proof way of seeting the other cylinders at TDC. Also i used feeler guages (.17-.22 for intake; and .22-.27 for exhaust) with just a ghetto screwdriver and 10mm wrench. But after tightening, i made sure the clearences were OK. Also, for those of you that are more experienced, what does the manual mean exactly when is says "the feeler guage should move with a slight bit of drag." Exactly how much drag clearance are we talking about here? I just made it slightly looser cause i know its safer to be a little loose than too tight. Thanks for the help

[FrodoGT]

An extractor is just a bit wit very sharp teeth that, it bites into whatever metal is left in the hole and spins it backwards and screws it out. The manual means that the feller guage should fit into the gap, but shouldnt be forced in..or be too loose, just a slight bit of drag on the guage.

[CRXperiment]

Can i hook up the valve cover ground to any one of the screws on the vavle cover or does it have to be that one bolt? Im thinking maybe i can extend the ground wire and hook it up to the bolt next to the oil fill and still have a suitable ground?

[bambam89lx]

Originally Posted by CRXperiment

There is like 2-3mm of thread that is still left. Can i just omit some of the washers that go under the bolt or are all of them nesecarry? Also please explain what an 'extractor' does anyway. Does it extend the thread? I dont see how thats possible and i dont wanna yank on this bolt any more and end up breaking something else.

When i adjusted tha valves the car had been sitting for like 3 days so it was definitely cold. I set the cam at TDC by aligning the white mark on the cam pulley with the arrow on the TBelt cover. As for the other cylinders i followed the instructions in the helms manual and made adjustments by solely looking at the cam gear. Does every like millimileter matter? If so, i need to know a fool-proof way of seeting the other cylinders at TDC. Also i used feeler guages (.17-.22 for intake; and .22-.27 for exhaust) with just a ghetto screwdriver and 10mm wrench. But after tightening, i made sure the clearences were OK. Also, for those of you that are more experienced, what does the manual mean exactly when is says "the feeler guage should move with a slight bit of drag." Exactly how much drag clearance are we talking about here? I just made it slightly looser cause i know its safer to be a little loose than too tight. Thanks for the help

dude i don't know what those clearances are measured in...but god daym. On bseries cams it's like .007 to .009. It does make a difference from .007-.009 which is thousands of a milimeter. So YES milimeters do count. By "a little drag" it means you should have to tug on it just a little bit to slide it out.
This is how you do it...
put the feeler guage in. Tighten the screw down. Then start loosening it till the feeler guage slides out while you are giving a little tug on it.
To set each cylinder to TDC, stick a long screwdriver in each cylinder. Spin the motor and wait till you see the screwdriver handle reach it's peak...that's TDC.

extractor bits thread into a broken bolt (the one in the head) and then you loosen the extractor bit and it unscrews the broken half from the head. If there is still a little bit of broken bolt sticking out of the head, just use vice grips or needle nose pliers to take it out.
The bolt is garbage man. It can't be repaired. Remove the broken half from the head, then get a new valve cover bolt. It's not that complicated.

[CRXperiment]

Ok im wondering if i can extend my valve cover ground wire and hook it up to the bolt next to the oil filler cap? Would it work that way? Does the wire HAVE to be ground on the bolt that i broke or can it be grounded on any bolt on the VC? thanks

[bambam89lx]

Originally Posted by CRXperiment

Ok im wondering if i can extend my valve cover ground wire and hook it up to the bolt next to the oil filler cap? Would it work that way? Does the wire HAVE to be ground on the bolt that i broke or can it be grounded on any bolt on the VC? thanks

it HAS to be grounded to one of the bolts that thread into the head...doesn't matter which one. Think about it...it's a ground for the motor right? So it has to be connected to some metal from the motor right? The valve cover bolts go down and connect to the head.

Do it right though. make sure you extract the broken piece from the head, and get a whole new valve cover bolt from honda or another motor.