Missing Engine Cover Bolts
 

So my 2006 Infiniti G35 has a bad camshaft sensor so I was attempting to replace it and when I was removing the engine cover, one of the bolts broke. I checked the other bolts and it turns out the previous owner also broke one of the bolts. I don't really know much about these cars. What kind of bolts do I replace them with? How do I get the original bolts out?

If you are talking about the giant plastic engine cover I recommend leaving it off. It serves absolutely ZERO benefit having those things installed over an engine. It's purely cosmetic and on a microscopic level it's actually trapping heat in a very bad location around a component you want to remain as cool as possible.

As for removal of a broken fastener, your primary option is with a bolt extractor, commonly referred to as an "easy out" It's basically a reverse threaded tool steel cone bit, The best option is to first use a center punch and punch the center of the broken fastener, then a smaller drill bit to make a shallow hole in the fastener. Finally use the bolt extractor, the trick it to apply a great amount of downward pressure so it bites into the broken fastener instead of just chipping away at the edges of the hole you drilled.

The bolt I believe was a 10mm head, 6mm x 1 thread pitch.

Youtube should have plenty of videos of folks using a bolt extractor.

Thanks a lot for the input! If I take the cover off and I live in snowy/rainy conditions would it damage my actual engine at all?

Nope, the top of the engine never gets wet unless you're driving without the hood. The most important cover for the engine is actually the one on the BOTTOM that covers the entire engine bay from road splatter and debris.

Just to verify, we're talking about the big plastic cover that goes over the top of the entire engine and has a huge INFINITI logo on it. Purely cosmetic.

Alrighty i'll probably just end up taking it off then

Took them off of both cars myself. Work on them too much to put them back on haha - If I did ever put a cover back on I might use a 350z cover. Like Cleric said purely cosmetic. like the M45, holy cow that's a lot of covers in a engine bay!

I bought my grandma a 2013 Ford Escape titanium ecoboost last fall and the engine dress cover on that thing is so freaking huge it covers EVERYTHING except the dipstick and oil fill cap lol.

On one hand I get it, most folks don't work on their own cars and can be overwhelmed by all the stuff under the hood. If you cover it up then they only see the two things they NEED to see, dipstick and oil fill cap.

On the other hand... wtf...

Lol pretty much every posted reply on every thread I've started on this topic across multiple forums now agrees that it certainly seems more likely than not that whatever is going on, it's NOT the bolts as they claim. Yet someone answered the little poll survey that the dealership is right and I'm wrong. lol.

^^^^
Pretty sure he replied to the wrong thread.

:bowrofl: whoops sorry all

Auto scroll claims another victim! (Been there, done that.... Welcome to the club)