A&Q about 350Z
Q:
right. so i did the oil change today, got my mullered sump plug out and replaced it. new oil in. thats all ok
next job was a new rocker cover gasket (RCG).
i start disassembling the relevant parts, in the process i need to get the inlet man. off.
this requires a 7mm hex socket (or a 7mm allen key). well i had no 7mm hex socket, so went out and got a set, hoping to make it an easier job. it worked nicely and i got all but one off. the final one has rounded.
what does anyone recommend? ive soaked it in WD40... would it be any good to put coke on there too?
it was getting dark so i had to call it a day. would it be wise to try hammering a torx socket into it and getting it off that way?
if this cocks up i may need to buy a whole new inlet manifold
A:
Hi, never heard the coke one! I presume you mean the drink ;-)
Try using the Dremel to grind a slot in it them use a fat screw driver, one of the ratchet types so you can get some leverage.
Or drill off the head and use mole grips to get the shaft out.
Last resort drill out the whole bolt, then use a tap to rethread the hole.
Will
A:
You're bound to be able to shift it with a hammered-in spline or torx bit and a ratchet.....
A:
yup, ill get a replacement one on order from vw.
the man. was last off at stealth, i saw them being put back on. it did not look like they were over tightened, but at the time i did think it would have been an idea to put some grease in there.
its on its 5w-40 synth now, idle sounds fine. i dropped a bolt down by the bulkhead. was missing for ages. an hour later i find it tucked up behind an exhaust heatshield, along with the throttle body gasket that i lost about 5 months ago
A:
Hi, never heard the coke one! I presume you mean the drink ;-)
Try using the Dremel to grind a slot in it them use a fat screw driver, one of the ratchet types so you can get some leverage.
Or drill off the head and use mole grips to get the shaft out.
Last resort drill out the whole bolt, then use a tap to rethread the hole.
Will
Grind a slot in it but then use an impact driver to get it off. If you rounded it, then a slotted screwdriver won't work, and will just chew up the head even more. By the way, which engine is it? 16V?
A:
Drill the head off with a 8mm drill.
Head will come off and remaining part of bolt will come out easy once manifold is off.
Had to do this every time with the KR engines I have removed the manifold from.
I can only assume you have access to bolt with drill.
A:
sounds like a nice idea dave. the bolt head is accessible with a drill, so its certainly a possibility.
i can understand getting rid of the bolt's head, but if the top half of the man. threaded also then i think im still stuck. ill get the other bolts out and see.
this may involve driving the car for a week with a bolt missing from the top half of the intake man :D
cheers fellas.
in regard to the oil leak, on inspection when changing the oil, there appears to be a big leak that goes up to about half way up the back of the block... if its the high up then it must being coming from the rocker cover.
round the GFs at the moment. tempted to dash home now and get started :P
A:
Torx bit is by far the easiest way to sort this. Good idea to sharply hit the head of the bolt quite hard with something like a pin punch first as it loosens the bolt and then hammer in your torx bit. Do this at least once a week in work.
A:
done :D ill upload some pics later of the engine with the rocker cover off, not something you wanna see everyday.
i found out the torque settings for the rocker cover, so thats been replaced nicely.
i used a chisel to loosen the allen bolt, it was pretty easy after that.
there was a leak down the back of the block... hopefully its cured now!
cheers guys
A:
just hope the oil leak is not from the headgasket!
A:
haha... evil sod... it WILL be that gasket (it wasnt the oil filter housing gasket, the job to change it nearly killed me)
there is definately a leak quite high up the block, so can only be the RCG surely :D
A:
yup, ill get a replacement one on order from vw.
the man. was last off at stealth, i saw them being put back on. it did not look like they were over tightened, but at the time i did think it would have been an idea to put some grease in there.
its on its 5w-40 synth now, idle sounds fine. i dropped a bolt down by the bulkhead. was missing for ages. an hour later i find it tucked up behind an exhaust heatshield, along with the throttle body gasket that i lost about 5 months ago
your a nightmare dude
A:
i couldnt beleive it when i saw it. the reason i hunted for an hour was that the bit went missing, my hex socket set would be completely unusable.
i was hoping to find a wallet or a phone i lost last year down there too