Rounded cap head bolts, help

[commievid 8]

Hi all,

 

So, I've not had much luck finding a complete GTI6 engine to replace this one whose cambelt snapped a few months back. I've decided thus to take the head off to see if the block has any scoring, which would write the engine off from what I gather (certainly not make it worth while to save).

 

Of course, the garage who replaced and repaired the head three years ago (shall be nameless) decided to really over-tighten the cam cover bolts and use no grease. Thus one of them started to round off almost instantaneously.

 

I've attached two photos which currently show the state of the play after a couple hours. No amount of dremeling a slot, blowtorching (unwise I know) and use of a hammer have made this thing budge. From the images you can see I haven't given a monkeys about the cover any more.

 

I suspect I'm just ranting and just want to let off steam at this stage. Now that I'm writing this, I think my next set of steps will be to get the engine more upright, so I have enough space to simply drill out that bolt head and leave the remains in there for now. The head is going to need some sort of work (valves, skim? etc.) anyway so repairing a bolt hole for the cover probably isn't too much hell.

 

Knowing my luck, there'll be loads of cylinder wall scoring, making this whole exercise moot. But yeah, any words of encouragement would be appreciated.

 

I'm thinking to move the engine around, I'd have to loosen/unbolt the bottom mount, engine mount, maybe loosen the mounts around the gearbox, and unbolt the exhaust manifold. The inlet manifold has been removed so there should be lots of space to tilt the engine about.

 

Also, can the master cylinder simply be unbolted and moved or would the brake lines make this a bit too messy a job?

 

Starting to calm down now...

[Callum 13 1 Cars]

Can you not drill the heads off the bolts?

[Tom Fenton 1,541]

For future reference, you would have been better off finding a torx star bit slightly too large, hammering in in, then undo your bolt. If that failed then next step is as said drill the head off. 

Those gti6 cam cover bolts are made from cheese it seems which doesn’t help.

[commievid 8]

2 hours ago, Tom Fenton said:

For future reference, you would have been better off finding a torx star bit slightly too large, hammering in in, then undo your bolt. If that failed then next step is as said drill the head off. 

Those gti6 cam cover bolts are made from cheese it seems which doesn’t help.

Duly noted!

 

I think I tried with a T30 but didn't have enough bite, and next available size was T40 instead of T35.

 

Oh well.

 

Angle of the engine means I can't get a drill on it, but I'll try and get it upright tomorrow hopefully.

Edited January 12, 2019 by commievid

[wicked 103 3 Cars]

Drill it with slightly and hammer a 12point torx in it. Don't know the official name for the 12point torx; they are used more often on vw. They grip much better on a drilled bolt than 6point torx. 

The trick has never failed me on rounded torx. 

 

[petert 586]

Needs to be a quality Torx bit too. eg Snap-on.

 

[Thijs_Rallye 87 4 Cars]

If they are really stuck, it often helps to first tighten the bolt a touch further. And as above, a good quality torx or multi tooth bit with help. (next time)

[JeffR 51]

If there's anything left of the cap head, I'd be taking to it with a small cold chisel in an attempt to shock/undo it. Something like this-

 

https://jimytools.com.au/product/5-piece-cold-chisel-set-41271500

[commievid 8]

Hi all,

 

Just an update to this.

 

Managed to get the bolt out by just giving up and taking a drill to it straight down. This took enough of it to then make the chisel and hammer technique work. That bolt hole is totally wrecked, so that cam cover needs replacing or repairing.

 

Amusingly, one of the exhaust nuts started to round off as well, so I ended up really damaging the head by trying to rotate it to get some clearance. Regardless, I've attached pics of the cylinders, and one of them has a rather noticeable vertical scratch.

 

From what I've been gathering on the internet, if it can be felt by fingernail, that might imply honing or even use of oversized pistons and a rebore.

 

Worse case scenario hence is that the engine isn't worth the effort to save? Just wanted some confirmation either way so I can plan appropriately...

 

 

[Richie-Van-GTi 71 2 Cars]

looks like you have debris in the pots, if its not from your cam cover debacle than you need to investigate that before making any decisions.

Why were you stripping in the first place, does the engine have running problems, does it smoke or run lumpy etc?

 

[commievid 8]

6 hours ago, Richie-Van-GTi said:

looks like you have debris in the pots, if its not from your cam cover debacle than you need to investigate that before making any decisions.

Whilst trying to remove the head once the bolts were undone, it turns out one of the exhaust manifold bolts was still not removed.

 

It obviously decided to be the last one and also round off, so in order to get some clearance, I started moving the cylinder head around as much as possible, to get a Bolt Grip in there with subsequent breaker bar to get it to start.

 

There's all sorts of scrapes and scratches on the cylinder head mating surface as a result, so it could be that any sort of debris could have just ended up flying in there. That's certainly what I'm hoping it is anyway!

6 hours ago, Richie-Van-GTi said:

Why were you stripping in the first place, does the engine have running problems, does it smoke or run lumpy etc?

Cambelt snapped, and an option is to repair the cylinder head, really dependant on whether the block is ok. Most sources suggest bore score equates to just getting another replacement engine. I imagine a cylinder head repair will still be more expensive than an engine, but obviously, I still don't find one for sale anywhere...