stripped a thread on the plenum bolts

[hipwell]

I was replacing my inlet gasket this morning and when screwing the plenum back down 1 of the bolts to the left of the coil pack managed to strip and now its not gripping it just turns inside, i can get it out but obviously the bolt is doing nothing weather its in or out now.

Im guessing the threads on the screw and the thing it screws into are now nackered, what do i do? the other 6 are all in fine.

 

[Fred@BTM]

don't worry about it as long as it seals

 

[hipwell]

don't worry about it as long as it seals

i though it was sealed but then i realised there another big hole at the rear of the plenum which goes into the rocker cover, i doubt this bit will be sealed as theres only 2 bolts at the back holding the plenum down.

What do i do if it isnt sealed?

Oh and while ur here, whats the ideal torque for the bolts as i dont wana nacker anymore of them

 

[sideways danny]

it'll be ok, see a fair number with those bolts missing and not leaking

 

[Fred@BTM]

nipped (not wanged) is the correct torque

 

[hipwell]

ok fair enuf then cheers lads.

any rough idea of a number on that fred? ive done them pretty tight but not sure if its too tight, or too loose lol.

 

[A.J]

If you're really worried about it you could always helicoil it.

 

[sideways danny]

ok fair enuf then cheers lads.

any rough idea of a number on that fred? ive done them pretty tight but not sure if its too tight, or too loose lol.

mechanical sympathy is a big part of this. Experience tells you when to stop

 

[Budgie]

Tight enough that it won't fall off, loose enough that you won't damage it.

 

[Soot1e]

I have exactly the same bolt as you stripped.It won't be the bolt that is stripped it is the hole thread that is stripped as the coil mounting alloy is softer than the bolt material. You can fit a longer 10mm bolt to catch the the thread further down the hole and use threadlock so vibration will not loosen it.

 

[DMS]

Or you can re-tap them to use M8 bolts rather than M6 (IIRC), which is what I'll be doing because one of mine is the same.

 

[hipwell]

Yeh I was thinking about helicoiling it.

What size are the standard bolts that go into it then if I wer to try a longer 1?

 

[Russ_16v]

its about 14nm from memory, i just nip them up, as Danny and Fred have said, you get a feel for when they are tight enough

 

[Soot1e]

The head size is 10mm. You can go up to 50mm. long, and there is an opening at the bottom so you can blow out the debris if you decide to re-thread it.

 

[hipwell]

Right, so is there anything underneath it? It's not actualy the rocker cover is it it's an extra bit of metal.

Could I not just drill all the way through it With a 6mm drill bit and then just clamp it down with a nut and bolt??

 

[Soot1e]

There is about a 10mm. gap at the bottom off the hole so drill down gently until the drill breaks through into that narrow void, the rocker cover is below so don't drill to hard. Getting a nut in there is tight, haven't tried it myself. If you look at the lefthand side, bottom of the plenum cover you will see the small void under your stripped hole.

 

[Soot1e]

Forget the above^^^^^ The only way is to change the plate around the throttle opening which includes the coil mounting or helicoil it. Just had my plenum cover of to change the plugs.

 

[D1CKY]

Drill and tap out to the next size up (as mentioned above) or just leave it if its making no differnce to running of car.

I'm sure the one thats left on the right side will be holding it down enough.

I use a 10mm Socket on my 1/4" Ratchet to make sure i don't overtighten my plenum bolts as i aint buying a small torque wrench for all the times i torque up bolts that size asnd my 1/2" Torque wrench doesn't start at a low enough torque

 

[Fred@BTM]

its about 14nm from memory, i just nip them up, as Danny and Fred have said, you get a feel for when they are tight enough

14nm is way too much! its more like 7nm if that, finger tight + 1/2 a turn

 

[Russ_16v]

Really mate? Im sure I read it was that, oh well ignore me tonight lol