2 weeks ago i installed my 1/2 plenum spacer....it installed fine but i only hand tightened it with no inch pound torque avaliable to me ....it worked fine all these 2 weeks but i wanted to torque it down to spec and i got a inch pound torque wrench one the first bolt as soon as i started tighting i heard a pop..im guessing it was the plastic spacer...the bolt now turns freely and i cant start the car for fear of sucking up plastic debris.....i have to wait till tomorrow to open it up......i heard this is not rare to happen with these plenum bolts......what would be the worst case scenario in your opinion?

 

Worst case scenario (and the most likely) is that the "pop" that you heard was the head of the bolt snapping off of the rest of the bolt. I really don't think it was any sort of plastic spacer.

If this is the case, then unscrew everything and take it all off. You should see the shaft of the snapped bolt stuck in one holes. Now you just need to figure out how to get it out.

 

any recommendations on how to do that anyone.......maybe i should just grab some pliers and slowly unscrew the one out?

 

Will depend how the bolt snapped, if its sticking up enough you could get it out if not you might need to drill it out. Take it apart and look first to be sure what happened. Dont start the car!!

 

^+1

It really depends on how much of the bolt shaft is sticking up. If it's flush with the surface then you might want to try buying a left handed drill bit.

Here's a nice little article to read:

http://www.asashop.org/autoinc/may2003/techtotech.htm

Oh and don't worry about it, it happens to a lot of people, myself included.

 

This exact scenario happened to me...


so I bought a brand new lower plenum!

I could not get the bolt out, even after drilling, etc, so I cleaned up the area as best as I could and reinstalled the other bolts. I drove like this for a week before I got my new lower plenum and installed it along with the spacer. Everything works great now, but I have a healthy fear of torque wrenches and aluminum.

Good Luck!

 

Keep us updated. With any luck it is the head and you can use a pair of vise grips on the shaft of the bolt to back it out.

 

thanks for the input you guys i will attempt the fix in a little bit.... the info really helped...ill update your later today

 

Tap and die set....

 

ya tap and die no reason to get a new one

 

if anything he can drill it bigger and install a helicoil insert they sell them at auto parts stores

 

it was the bolt that snapped and is still stuck its flush with the tread so im gonna have to either get one of the tap and die sets or go to a shop to get this done...i pulled it apart and cleaned it closed it back up minus the one bolt i did put the plastic spacer in and wanted to kno if it was ok just to run it like that?

 

That should be OK for a short time. Worst case now is that you will have a bit of a vacuum leak. When I break a bolt, I just drill a smaller hole in the end of the bolt and jam a small flat head screw driver into it and turn. It's worked for me every time so far.

 

damn i tried using an easy out....first i had to drill a hole in the broken bolt then tried to use the easy out....the easy out drill bit broke inside the bolt so now im really screwed(no pun intended)......i closed it back up stock and everything turned it on and so far so good.....so now im at either buying a new lower plenum or some professional help......any recommendations on a shop in San Francisco that an do it or maybe a member that had this problem in the bay area that might have expertise to do it...id be willing to paid for it to be done