Help!!! I broke one of the valve cover studs.

[napuli]

Bump!

Everything was going super until I started torquing the nuts and broke one of the studs that are used to secure the valve cover in place. What do I do next? Do I have to undo everything I done so far to replace the broken stud? Can I drive the car if i put everything back together w/out one of the valve cover nuts?

[yaofeng]

Sure. Drive the car. You will have a slight oil leak. Remove the cover. Double nut the broken stud to take it out. If it does not have sufficient extension for double nut you will have to drill it out.

[napuli]

Can you please tell me how to removed the broken stud? Do I have to revome the valve cover again to get it out?

[Miche]

Sure you can drive it without one of thos bolts, it'll in worst case just leak a bit.

I've broken one of those myself, but i was able to torque down another bolt into it with a washer on it because i didn't have another spare to replace with.
You should have enough room to remove the stud without undoing the valve cover though. Pretty easy to fix however.



Take pics and we can tell much easier on how you should do it, depending on how it's broken.

[yaofeng]

If the stud extends beyond the flat face the length of two nut thicknesses, put the nuts on and tighten both. Turn the bottom nut to loosen and remove the stud.

[napuli]

There are 2 nuts. The one that is used to hold the valve cover in place and to tignten the oil seal (the small O-ring gasket) is the one that broke the stud, and the stud is stuck inside this nut. There is another nut still attacked to the 1/2 stud that is still on the engine. Will turning this nut remove the broken stud?

[yaofeng]

Sorry I was mistaken in my mental picture. I think the stud is a nut with a stud on each end. If you break the top stud. Just remove it by unwind the nut and but a new one.



I don't have the misfortune of breaking the valve cover stud so my statement may or may not be correct.

[51mike]

I broken mine long time ago but fixed it like two weeks ago, it is pretty easy yeas u have to take of the valve cover you see the bolt on the pic they come right off with 10 wrench socket is better, just go to local junk yard or local bmw pick the bolts and replace them dont forget to get the top nut to b/c the broken piece is on it which is hard to take out. hope that helps and good luck.

[napuli]

Man, I already forgat, bump. I guess I will have to go back and find that piece. Well, the stud that broke is coming out of one of the camshaft caps. I was told at the yard that il wil be easier to replace the cap rather than to try to remove the old stud. I got the cap for $15.00 so not too bad. Part I hate is that I broke the stud while using a torque wrench, I was trying to be careful and all and had the torque wrench set to ~15N. Next time I will just do it by hand.

[yaofeng]

They are M6 bolt/stud grade 8.8. They should be torqued to 10Nm.

[napuli]

That will explain. I was following a DIY, so it is not all my fault. What do you think about replacing the camshaft cap instead of just the stud?

[yaofeng]

If they are still pliable keep them.

[upallnight]

You could get binding since camshaft caps are align bored with all the caps on the original head.

[napuli]

So not a good idea...I guess that I will try to replace the studs. As it turns out I found another broken stud. I losen all of the nuts but I am stuck until I gather all the parts I need.

[napuli]

I attached pictures of the broken stud...This sucks.

[napuli]

I attached a picture of the stud I need to replace on the new camshaft cap I pick up at the yard. The stud in the picture is the one I want to transfer to my car. Do these studs come out easy?

[bdejong11129]

Originally Posted by napuli

I attached pictures of the broken stud...This sucks.

Remove the cover and replace the stud. It will be easy to take off. Do the job right my man, no need to take a shortcut here. I removed mine twice after installing them to take care of a small alighnment issue with the rear half moons. Nothing worse than an oil leak. The gaskets will be fine.

Dont know about the stud removal

[napuli]

Yes, definetly commited to removing the valve cover. After that I will just need to replace the stud. I think I will just try pliers with the one in the car. Does anyone knows the part number for these studs?

[51mike]

look I told you on top you want to go short route it will coast u in the long run, remove the cover and the bolt should come off its a double thread get it from a junk yard both the bolt that goes on the head and the cap that u were holding on the pic since the bolt is broken inside it and u r done with ur new valve cover job. oh and i didnt use torque wrench did then all by hand.

[bdejong11129]

Use a TQ wrench, if you don't you could either break another one or over tighten the gasket which will cause it to flatten out to much and will lead to early failure. Do not short cut any repair.

[yaofeng]

Originally Posted by napuli

I attached a picture of the stud I need to replace on the new camshaft cap I pick up at the yard. The stud in the picture is the one I want to transfer to my car. Do these studs come out easy?

Do not remove the cam bearing cap. Double nut on the stud and remove the stud to replace.

[napuli]

Do you guys have any suggestions on a good torque wrench for this job? The one I have is too big and probably vey inacurate at low readings, which is why this happen. There is also no way to get the wrench in all of the nuts unless T star removing parts. I really think that I will just torque by hand.

[yaofeng]

Get a beam type 3/8" drive torque wrench with a proper range. You want at least two torque wrenches in your garage if you do decent amount of wrenching. A 3/8" drive and a 1/2" drive. IMO the beam type is more accurate without spending a lot of money on the click type.

[5mall5nail5]

Napuli not to freak ya out or make you concerned but the caps on engines are meant to follow the cam trays they came from. For instead, main caps are machined off the block for that block and that main cap. Same with cam caps. Maybe nothing bad will happen, but switching just one cap means you're going to have a not-perfect fitment on the cam tray. FWIW.

[napuli]

Thanks, I am not touching the caps. I am picking up new studs today and my plan is to remove the broken ones and replaced then with new ones.