How do I get the valve cover stud far enough into hole that it will grab? Middle of stud is smooth but each end is threaded.
I broke one of the valve cover studs which is usually permanently threaded into
my car (I was changing the valve cover gasket and over-torqued the cap nut onto
the valve cover stud and POP !!! the valve cover stud was history). I have since purchased a new
valve cover stud but am having a heck of a time installing it in my car.
1. The hole and the new stud's threads are NOT stripped; I tested hole with a regular bolt and I tested the stud, on both ends, with the cap nut that goes on top of it which
helps hold the valve cover in place in my car.
2. There is no debris or piece of bolt stuck in the hole. I got the piece out...was able to
unscrew it quite easily and I can see through the hole all the way to the bottom of
casing. I can also see the threads in the hole, still intact. However just to be certain,
I screw a bolt in there and it engaged with no problem. When I tired to screw to
valve cover stud in there, it doesn't seem to be going down far enough into the hole
to reach the threaded section of the hole. What am I doing wrong?
I thought getting the broken bit of the old stud out would be the hard part and putting
the new valve cover stud in would be the easy part but no chance of that at this point.
Yes, it is the correct stud. The new stud is the correct length, and thread size. Thank you for asking.
Pictured is the regular screw I was able to use to test that threading still works, new valve cover stud is in the center and the old stud(with broken piece missing from the bottom) is the 3rd item in the picture.
DeeISRollin It turns out, the regular screw I used has coarse threading but the original stud (and hole) is finely threaded so that's probably why I was able to use it temporarily. I ended up rethreading the hole with a kit from an auto parts store and installing a threaded insert.
