[Mcardona96]

Hello my good people.

About 3 or 4 weeks ago, I got under the hood to replace the valve cover gasket.

This is the second time within a year that I need to take a look at it again due to the smoke coming from under the hood (especially when I come to a complete stop at a red light) and the strong odor of burnt oil coming through air vents.
Perhaps I didn’t replace it correctly, although the leaking and strong smell did stop for almost a year, but here we are trying to eliminate the possible causes.

When I got the the point where I needed to remove the valvetronic motor, I only managed to remove the bottom bolt and the left bolt. It was not possible for me to remove the remaining bolt because now the 6 points on the head are now smoothed down and the socket will no longer grab onto the head. I thought about taking a smaller socket and hammering it down but I ran out of time that day and this vehicle is my daily driver.

Refer to the photos.

So I put everything back together and it remains the same since then. Haven’t got the chance to get back in it due to being very busy with work and family and simply because I have no other ideas on how to remove the bolt.

If any, I would like some suggestions based on the fact it was rounded off like that and because of the tight fit of where it’s located because there is not a lot of room to work with.

Grateful for any suggestions thrown out there and look forward to hearing from you guys 🙏

[Efthreeoh]

Are you using an e-Torx socket and turning it counter-clockwise?

[e90yyc]

Was it like this when you started the job or did you round it off while trying to loosen it? Asking because these bolts should not be torqued tightly and should not be difficult to remove.

You might try a 12-point box-end wrench, but will have to see if anything fits on snugly enough to not just make things worse. (This is a useful method for removing e-torx bolts when there’s limited clearance, provided they aren’t torqued too tightly. I’m not sure I’ve ever tried it with a stuck e-torx bolt though, so exercise caution if you do.)

I wouldn’t normally recommend this, but in some cases an impact driver (not an impact wrench like you’d use for wheels and large fasteners) can be useful to provide a bit of shock and break things loose, while reducing risk of slipping off the bolt head. But I’m talking a light touch here. The last thing you want is to shear the head off. If anyone else reading thinks this is bad advice please let me know, ha. If you do this, the key is to have the socket on there as firm and straight as possible before applying force.

If all else fails you could use a bolt extractor (the socket style that bites into the bolt head).

Take what I’m saying with a grain of salt though. Biggest concern is not snapping the bolt head or getting into a situation where all you’ve got left is a rounded-off circle.

Good luck!

Edit: Had originally stated that this bolt is aluminum. It’s steel. (Thanks Efthreeoh!)

[Efthreeoh]

Originally Posted by e90yyc

Was it like this when you started the job or did you round it off while trying to loosen it? Asking because these bolts should not be torqued tightly and should not be difficult to remove.

You might try a 12-point box-end wrench, but will have to see if anything fits on snugly enough to not just make things worse. (This is a useful method for removing e-torx bolts when there’s limited clearance, provided they aren’t torqued too tightly. I’m not sure I’ve ever tried it with a stuck e-torx bolt though, so exercise caution if you do.)

I wouldn’t normally recommend this, but in some cases an impact driver (not an impact wrench like you’d use for wheels and large fasteners) can be useful to provide a bit of shock and break things loose, while reducing risk of slipping off the bolt head. But I’m talking a light touch here. This is an aluminum bolt and the last thing you want is to shear the head off. If anyone else reading thinks this is bad advice please let me know, ha. If you do this, the key is to have the socket on there as firm and straight as possible before applying force.

If all else fails you could use a bolt extractor (the socket style that bites into the bolt head).

Take what I’m saying with a grain of salt though. Biggest concern is not snapping the bolt head or getting into a situation where all you’ve got left is a rounded-off circle.

Good luck!

OP,

e90yyc is spot on in his assement. He wrote what I wanted to write. The Valvetronic bolts take a few pound-foot of torque and bolt into the cylinder head and are constantly bathed in hot oil, so the threads should not corrode in-place and should back out easily based on the low torque value.

You said you've been in the cylinderhead cover previously, so did you ape-torque the bolts down last time? The camming on the bolt head seems to show they were stressed in the clockwise direction, so way over tightened. The bolts are steel, so a lot of force was used on the bolt in the pic. A 12-point SAE socket let alone the correct e-Torx socket (an E10 I think) should not damage a correctly torqued bolt like shown in the pic.

What tools are you using? A 6" or 10" 1/4-drive extension and ratchet is all you should need.

[Mcardona96]

Originally Posted by Efthreeoh

Are you using an e-Torx socket and turning it counter-clockwise?

The first time around when I did this job I was using just a regular hex deep socket. Had no trouble taking it off then but putting it back on I may have torqued way too tight.

[Mcardona96]

Originally Posted by e90yyc

Was it like this when you started the job or did you round it off while trying to loosen it? Asking because these bolts should not be torqued tightly and should not be difficult to remove.

You might try a 12-point box-end wrench, but will have to see if anything fits on snugly enough to not just make things worse. (This is a useful method for removing e-torx bolts when there’s limited clearance, provided they aren’t torqued too tightly. I’m not sure I’ve ever tried it with a stuck e-torx bolt though, so exercise caution if you do.)

I wouldn’t normally recommend this, but in some cases an impact driver (not an impact wrench like you’d use for wheels and large fasteners) can be useful to provide a bit of shock and break things loose, while reducing risk of slipping off the bolt head. But I’m talking a light touch here. The last thing you want is to shear the head off. If anyone else reading thinks this is bad advice please let me know, ha. If you do this, the key is to have the socket on there as firm and straight as possible before applying force.

If all else fails you could use a bolt extractor (the socket style that bites into the bolt head).

Take what I’m saying with a grain of salt though. Biggest concern is not snapping the bolt head or getting into a situation where all you’ve got left is a rounded-off circle.

Good luck!

Edit: Had originally stated that this bolt is aluminum. It’s steel. (Thanks Efthreeoh!)

So, I had rounded it off this 2nd time for this job. I tried a few things like regular hex socket and a deep socket. I even tried to insert a few layers of paper towels for better grip but that was unsuccessful. I gave up after that and didn’t want to make it worse than what’s showing in the picture.

I will consider all options but to be very honest I am leaning more towards the bolt extractor.

Do you think EZ Grip would assist in removing the bolt?

[e90yyc]

Originally Posted by Mcardona96

So, I had rounded it off this 2nd time for this job. I tried a few things like regular hex socket and a deep socket. I even tried to insert a few layers of paper towels for better grip but that was unsuccessful. I gave up after that and didn’t want to make it worse than what’s showing in the picture.

I will consider all options but to be very honest I am leaning more towards the bolt extractor.

Do you think EZ Grip would assist in removing the bolt?

I would probably go straight to the bolt extractor, to avoid further rounding it off.

How did it manage to get on there so tight?

[Efthreeoh]

Originally Posted by e90yyc

I would probably go straight to the bolt extractor, to avoid further rounding it off.

How did it manage to get on there so tight?

Do you think using the proper tool in the first place might work. I think it's an E10 socket that fits the bolt. If I were the OP, I'd buy a set of good quality impact E-Torx sockets and hammer on an E10 (or whatever the correct size is) and try that first. I think the bolt head has enough meat on it where an E10 will get good purchase of the bolt head.

Your original suggestion of using an impact gun on it is still the best idea offered here AS LONG AS THE CORRECT E-TORX SOCKET is used with the impact gun.

My 2 cents.

[TheMidnightNarwhal]

I'm sure those flower like cutting rounded bolt extractor should do just well.

[The Nightman]

Originally Posted by Efthreeoh

Do you think using the proper tool in the first place might work. I think it's an E10 socket that fits the bolt. If I were the OP, I'd buy a set of good quality impact E-Torx sockets and hammer on an E10 (or whatever the correct size is) and try that first. I think the bolt head has enough meat on it where an E10 will get good purchase of the bolt head.

This. And you get a set of proper etorx sockets for the next thing that breaks

[e90yyc]

Originally Posted by Efthreeoh

Do you think using the proper tool in the first place might work. I think it's an E10 socket that fits the bolt. If I were the OP, I'd buy a set of good quality impact E-Torx sockets and hammer on an E10 (or whatever the correct size is) and try that first. I think the bolt head has enough meat on it where an E10 will get good purchase of the bolt head.

Your original suggestion of using an impact gun on it is still the best idea offered here AS LONG AS THE CORRECT E-TORX SOCKET is used with the impact gun.

My 2 cents.

Oh shit, yes! I just assumed that he had actually tried the socket that matches the bolt .

OP: If you don’t already own a set of torx and e-torx bits, you NEED these if you’re wrenching on this car. As mentioned by Efthreeoh, the bolt isn’t so far gone that the right socket wouldn’t work.

You mention having tried a standard and deep socket, but don’t mention what exact socket(s) you used. You did mention hex, so I assume it wasn’t a 12-point socket. (A 12-point would have been a much wiser choice from the get-go if you didn’t have an e-torx, but that this point I wouldn’t recommend continuing with trying to use the wrong tool.) Using EZ grip or a bolt extractor makes zero sense if you haven’t even tried the correct socket yet.

Can you let us know if you have?

[Mcardona96]

Originally Posted by e90yyc

Oh shit, yes! I just assumed that he had actually tried the socket that matches the bolt .

OP: If you don’t already own a set of torx and e-torx bits, you NEED these if you’re wrenching on this car. As mentioned by Efthreeoh, the bolt isn’t so far gone that the right socket wouldn’t work.

You mention having tried a standard and deep socket, but don’t mention what exact socket(s) you used. You did mention hex, so I assume it wasn’t a 12-point socket. (A 12-point would have been a much wiser choice from the get-go if you didn’t have an e-torx, but that this point I wouldn’t recommend continuing with trying to use the wrong tool.) Using EZ grip or a bolt extractor makes zero sense if you haven’t even tried the correct socket yet.

Can you let us know if you have?

Yeah so I did use E8 regular socket. Not the deep socket. Perhaps if I had used a deep socket it might’ve helped with the tight space in that spot. I’m thinking I might have to hammer on another size just to get it off and at this point, while I’m at it, get a new set of bolts for the valvetronic motor.