Greetings y'all.
Long time reader but first time posting on this site. I have a 2008 Fit Base model with Manual transmission. I carried out a valve lash adjustment, which went well (damn the exhaust valves were tight)... Before putting the cover on, the service manual says to put "liquid gasket" on 2 spots just above and below the camshaft sprocket, which I did. After that, I was putting the Cylinder Head Cover back on and was tightening the bolts... I don't have a torque wrench and did it manually, and ended up stripping the bottom left bolt (or actually I think it's the thread that the bolt goes into). Now the bolt just turns without gripping into the bottom thread.


The job is now on hold until I can figure out what to do.

Just pointing to the loose bolt here. God damn... things were going so well...





This is what it looks like underneath. I think it's the thread of the hole that is stripped, not the bolt itself.





This is where you put the liquid gasket.



So I have 2 questions.


1. What would be the proper way to fix this problem?


2. What would be the half-assed way to fix this problem? Could I get away with doing nothing? There are good 7 bolts all around and liquid gasket near the stripped bolt... is that enough? What's the worst that could happen if I leave it as is? Like is the point that it's insanely vacuum tight for some complicated combustion related reason? ... Or just tight enough that there is a good seal so hot oil doesn't sputter out of the engine? If it's the ladder, perhaps I could drive it as is and just keep an eye on if any oil is coming out of the seam?


Cheers


PS - The moral of the story: I'm gonna go buy a torque wrench.

 

Is the bolt stripped/thread messed up or is the threading to the head messed up? If the threads in the head are messed up I would try to chase the threads. Hopefully that works.

 

The cylinder head is aluminum, the bolt is steel so the threads in the head will strip first. Since the bolt just spins there are no threads to chase in the head.
The main purpose of the gasket is to prevent oil leakage.

I don't know if leaving the bolt out will be ok. It may work with well enough to prevent oil leaks but it will probably weep. If you don't mind doing it over in ase it leaks too much it may be worth trying. If you chose that option apply a thin layer of gasket cement to the top of the gasket between the missing bolt and the 2 bolts near it.

The correct method to repair the damage is to use a threaded insert. You will need a kit and the correct size insert. Installing it requires drilling a hole for the insert, a tap for the new hole. If you don't understand how to do the job I suggest you get a machine shop to do the repair.

You realize the manual states the final torque is 7.2 ft. lbs. Most torque wrenches will not go below 5-10 ft.lb. They are not very accurate for the desired 7.2 ft.lb. torque for the head cover. A inch/lb. torque wrench will usually check as low as 10-20 in./lb. You need 12 x 7.2 = 86 in. lb. of torque for the head cover.

I wouldn't try other suggested fixes like JB Weld and others. I'm saying that because those fixes have never worked very well for me.
Good luck on whatever option you chose.

Clifton

 

Sounds like a lot of good advice. I would try the extra gasket cement first. If it weeps excessively then bite he bullet and have it re-threaded(insert) done professionally.

 

I've used Helicoils to fix a similar issue when rebuilding the motor on my 300zx TT, they worked pretty well.

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