Ok so last night i took off my front bumper to apply some touch up paint to it (I hit a wall backing out of my drive way ) anyways I was sitting there and I decided to take off the head to look at the VVT-I. So I took out the Spark plugs and removed the head. My first question is will that screw anything up if all I did was take off the head? OK heres the oops part, so when I was tightening everything back down I tightened the back left bolt on the corner of the head a bit to much and it broke off. So now half of the bolt is stuck down in the hole. . I know Im a idiot but how do I go about getting the rest of the bolt out. Flame away

 

you took the head off? that's a chore.

got a tap N die set?

 

I think that my dad has one. I know what they do but is it that hard to carry it out

 

First, no one should flame you for experimenting. Its your car, its good to learn about it. Besides, you're the one that pays for it, and has to pay for any expenses. So, I congratulate you on experimenting. ^^ Secondly, I would highly recommend you order the overly expensive tC Service Manual. You'll find it invaluable, especially in its easy to transport and read printed form. Along with the manual, which will provide proper removal, installation, and torque specs, I would suggest you get yourself a torque wrench if you don’t already have one. However, I'm afraid I cant answer your most prudent question which is how do you get the broken bolt out. Someone else will have to touch on that, sorry.

 

I found this article with a quick Google search. Might be of some use to you. I also have a question for you. How long did it take you to remove the head? And how difficult was it?

 

there is a tool to take out broken bolts. stop by pepboys and ask one of the peps at the parts counter. its never happened to me but i feel for ya man. good luck

 

It's called an E-Z Out. It looks kinda like a drill bit but the threads go the opposite way. You'll need to drill a small hole in the broken bolt shaft and then use the EZ out that fits. They usually come as a set of various sizes for about $10-15 bucks.

I would also recommend a torque wrench, but get one that is sized for the job. I found out the hard way that mine doesn't register low enough for something like a sparkplug - 13 ft/lbs... BTw, I had to use this same tool, two of them actually cuz the one got stuck,for that little tune-up fiasco...Mmm the joy of DIY...

Also, is that head gasket reusable? I'd be careful with what you disassemble...

 

the bolts are to be tightened to a specific torque, am I right?
If you over torqued it, you might have done some thread damage to the bolthole. which might have an ill effect.

Don't quote me....

Good Luck and... maybe read the manual first next time you try something like this.

 

^ what the scionic man said, they call it a bolt extractor set; or E-Z out is the brand name..try not to go generic extractor bits; if one breaks, then you're really screwed

 

head gaskets are NOT reusable.

 

I don't think he took the head off. If he wanted to look at the cams all he had to do was remove the vavle cover. It think that is what he is talking about. He would have been asking how to take the timing belt off and other things if he were to remove the head.

 

That's sounds more likely. I just figured he started unbolting and didn't know when to stop... I know I've gotten that way on the interior, everything comes apart so easily...

 

If it is the valve cover. Do you see the broke Bolt right at the edge of the cover? If so you might be able to take the valve cover back off and use vise grips if you have enough of the bolt to grab.

 

Yes your right thats my bad. It was just the value cover. There is a piece of rubber that runs around the edge in there between the value cover and the head. Is that reusable? Thanx to everyone else for their help. I will have to run by Pep boys this weekend. OO and yes i do have a torque wrench and when I was tightening the bolts back down I set the wrench to about 20 or so but i never heard it click so me being the dumbass that I am decided to keep on going instead of loosing up the bolt and starting over. BTW the value cover is really easy to take off it took me and about 10 minutes and I was on the phone the whole time. thanx again everyone

 

Ya I tried to take the cover back off but I couldn't. The bolt broke pretty much right at the top of the threads soo I think that Im stuck with boring it out. Thanx though

 

I'm sorry dude but I can't help but giggle like a school girl. I remember the first time I broke a head bolt in ATC. The instructor made me stay two hours after school pulling it all by my self. I haven't broken one since.

Tip: Buy yourself a high-quality torque wrench and follow all torque specs.

 

sorry about your valve cover bolt. a rule of thumb is that your valve cover doesn't need to be much more than hand tight with a nut driver. if you're going much more than that, either the head holes will strip out or, of course, the bolt breaks off. pray that the wall below the bolt wasn't too thin for the pressure you applied. and yes the valvecover gasket is reusable as long as it isn't torn up too bad. if you stripped out the threads in the bolt hole, they make kits to fix it. you drill a larger hole and tap that out, then insert a new sleeve that has the correct gauge and tpi. you're okay. you're not a dumba$$ either. not everyone knows everything and who can blame you for wanting to check it out first hand.

 

dude the torque on those valve cover bolts are MAYBE 12 lbs-ft. not 20. wow your lucky the others didnt break.

 

i'm not gonna flame you about the valve cover/head bolt (hoping it was the VC and not the head bolt) but I can't believe no one else caught this:

Ummm, am I missing somethign here? How in the hell do you hit a wall with the front bumper, backing out (i.e. going in reverse)??? Did you mean to back up, and instead drive forward and smash something??? Confuzled...

 

how did you get from doing touch up paint to taking off the valve cover? but it's ok hopeffully you can get it out. i remember i broke a bolt installing a new venom fuel rail on my car and i was on the phone. so i wasnt paying attention and broke it. so that's pretty much a wasted fuel rail =(.