[maximus20895]

I drained the coolant and then refilled it back up. I saw coolant going everywhere. Dumb me forgot to screw the plug back in…

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Yea, he’s in the country. I know my mom had to get her two valve cover gaskets and her main seal gasket replace and Toyota charged $2200…I think he charged $600.

It’s been two days and he hasn’t called me yet. I’ll just call him sometime Monday!

[maximus20895]

I did remove the cam retainer. The bolt was 3 inches down, but since I removed the cam retainer it shortened the length to 2 inches since the cam retainer is about an inch.

So as it stands, it’s about 2 inches down so I can’t see if its’ flush with the head or not. I did some rough calculations and I would say it’s about 1/8 of inch above the head, I’m not sure.

I tried everything I know to get the bolt off, short of removing the rocker assembly and cam shaft since I don’t have that knowledge and frankly extremely intimidated by doing it so I just towed it to a shop yesterday afternoon. They said they could get the bolt out for around $45.

I’ll keep you guys updated. Thanks for all the help!

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Well, I bought a right angle drill and got the right size left handed drill bit, but every time I was drilling there were more metal pieces everywhere. It’s like it was disintegrating. I’m not sure what to do other than take it to a shop.

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I called the shop they said they would do it for $45 and towing is $100. So now I have that option if need be.

I used a magnet to get the shavings out. I’ll try to put tape on it the drill bit…never heard of that before…so I don’t understand how that works?

Could you please explain this?

Thanks

[maximus20895]

I understand. As of now, the problem is that the bolt is 2 inches deep in the hole so I can’t really angle a punch in there that great. I will go get a punch and try it though.

If you do it and like it then it must work quite well!

I also chiseled a groove and tried to turn it with a screwdriver, but the bolt seems to be “shredding” and little bits of it get on my screwdriver. Do you think the punch idea would still work even after all the torque that it needs to overcome? I guess it will by looking at your video since you can get it out with the punch, but not with an screwdriver.

[maximus20895]

Well, I tried chiseling it and it seems I can get a groove, but every time I try to remove it with the screwdriver the bolt just falls apart and there is tiny metal pieces on my screwdriver. I don’t know if this is a good or bad sign.

I’m going to try the jb weld next.

[maximus20895]

Yea, I know. This has literally been on my mind since Tuesday or Wednesday pretty much non-stop, I can barely sleep. When I can’t complete something I obsess over it and that’s what I’ve been doing over the past week..and trying to save some money…

I took a 1/4 inch chisel (the bolt is 8mm or .315 inch) and tried to chisel a slot for a flathead. Then I took the flathead and tried to turn it as it seem stuck. All I got so far was just little shavings of bolt. I have tried this around 15 times and I get the same result over and over (go figure).

I haven’t tried JB Weld yet. I did a test run of the JB Quik, and I twisted the bolts and they just came right off like it was nothing. So I guess I’m going to scrape that idea.

Next idea is to get a left hand drill bit or take it to a shop and have them get the damn thing out. I’m really over this and my head hurts from constantly thinking about it and researching. This has been my life for the past week and I just want to get the bolt out..

[maximus20895]

I don’t know if it’s safe to turn on the vehicle with one of the camshaft retainer bolts missing. Some one could chime in on this.

[maximus20895]

That makes sense. For some reason I kept on reading nut instead of a bolt. I will try that tomorrow If I get off of work early.

I am not comfortable removing the head, and right now, I think the most I would have to remove is the rocker assembly.

Too bad the bracket is only 1 inch deep. It connects to the rocker assembly unlike older Hondas. So in order to find out if it’s broken at the head or not I would have to remove the camshaft retainer (which I did) as well as the rocker assembly which requires removing the camshafts which I’m entirely uncomfortable in doing. I looked at one of your videos yesterday on replacing ..uh what was it…spark plug seals I think. Any way you had to remove the rocker assembly I believe too, I’m not really sure.

I’ll watch the video right now.

Thanks everyone once again! I can’t wait to give these a try.

[maximus20895]

Thanks! I couldn’t get the cam retainer off, but i’m really hesitant about messing anything up after I over torqued the bolt. So I will try again later. I bought a chisel and tried to chisel into one of the broken bolts just to see how it would react and it’s not doing much at all. So I think I’m going to try to remove the cam retainer and possibly get a left handed drill bit in there. We will see.

As of right now, I’m waiting to see what my aunt says to do after she talks to her husband.

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Hmm, I was thinking of using JB Weld, but I’ve never used it before. Is it pretty strong? I will go look at youtube to see. That’s quite a creative ideas that you have! I would be scared to get JB weld on the walls of the rocker assembly, but definately something to think about and ponder.

I love all these idea you guys come up with. Very informative and quit entertaining as well. It really helps out alot!

[maximus20895]

Well, I can’t fit even a 1/4 ratchet socket down there since the socket flares out. I was thinking though of getting a screwdriver and putting some JB Weld on it and letting it rest there for a while? Any inputs on this?

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It’s a 2007 Civic Si 2.0L.

He quoted me 13 hours of labor which is $1600.

He called around and found a left hand drill bit that long enough to go into the hole so I’m hoping that will work since I don’t have $1600..not even close.

I’m extremely depressed and in tears with this matter. I’m not even 25 and I barely work so I don’t make much at all. I might have made $1600 in the last 5 months..

My Aunt is talking to her husband about it since he knows some people and he works on cars at his place. I don’t know what else I’m going to do.

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I might I might try that. I just don’t have enough room to hit it with a hammer right now. I will see what I can do. There is a little raised part of the bolt and I tried that and it catches it sometimes, but then it let’s go unfortunately.

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