Since the weather was nice and I had all the parts, I decided to give my '93 E a full tune up before the Big Game started today. Everything went smooth as scheduled. The old distributor cap came off fine and I had no trouble removing the old rotor (which was shocking cuz I read about the horror stories people had with it). When it came down to putting the new cap on, I over-torqued one of the small 7mm bolts and it broke off flush with the mounting hole.
For now, a zip-tie is holding down one side of the cap but I want to permanently solve it. Would a normal drill bit work to drill out the old bolt or do I need to go and purchase something special. BTW, what size would the drill bit be?
Another thing not related is the new PCV valve did not sit flush where it screws in (some threads are still visible) whereas the old PCV did snug flush with the valve cover housing. Has anyone else experience this? I didn't want to continue snugging it further since I was afraid of stripping the hole especially after what happened with the dizzy cap.
A regular drill bit with a spot of cutting oil (or any oil, really) should do the trick. I'm not sure of the bit size that you would need, but you might be able to find a bolt-out set that will have the right size bit and screw extractor. You could just drill the whole thing out, but you'll need a tap to clear the threads.
As long as the PCV valve is tight enough not to move or leak, its fine. I do believe that mine sticks out a little.
try and rotate it out with a small screw driver as a chisel. This is pretty small so i don't think an extractor will fit, but you might be able to find a really small one. Dont break the extractor as you will not be able to drill it out.
Do you know the bolt size ?
How about trying a left hand turn drill, when it grabs the metal it may just spin it out ??
Thank you very much for the suggestions. The broken stud looks about 4mm or 5mm in diameter. I called my local Ace Hardware and they don't have the 3mm screw extractor in stock, but I might try Ian's suggestion and just try a very small "jeweller's" screwdriver and tap it to make it turn. The bolt broke flush with the surface, so if I have just a little of that stub sticking out I'll grab it w/ the needle nose.
noobz, it's good to know your pcv's threads allow are exposed a little. Its funny how the simplest things turn out to be a hassle.......especially on Superbowl Sunday.
Linear Mode
