coil pac bolt striped

That aluminum sure is soft. I was worried about stripping it, so I looked up the torque specs. 7 foot lbs. Not much. The dreaded feeling of the bolt going from hard to turn to loose, that means a strip, I never got to 7 foot lbs. That or my new torque wrench is wrong. I did the other 4 with the 2 finger tighten. When it feels snug, time to quit. I guess there is a hilicoil, or tap job in my future. Besides keeping moisture out, is this an electrical connection? Ground to the coil pac maybe? What is a good solution? Has anyone ran into this with a 2.4 before?

 

Where did you look up the torque spec? I didn't see the 2.4 coil spec in the FSM I have. At least for the 3.4l it's not 7 ft lbs. It's 69 inch lbs (5.75 ft lbs). That still seems high to me. Stick with the finger tight, plus a small nudge with the wrench.


Either way, what's done is done.

I would assume a Helicoil is going to be your best bet.

 

69 inch pounds / 12 inches per foot = 5.75 ft pounds

What is the range on your torque wrench? They aren’t accurate at the edges of their ranges.

 

Torque wrenches come in various ranges, so you really gotta pay attention to the details on the torque specs.

The small ones (like 1/4" drive) are usually in inch lbs. The one I have is 20-200 in lbs.
Mid sized ones are usually in the 10-80 ft lbs.
And there are mega ones that can go up to 250 ft lbs.

 

I would buy a cutter bolt one size up and call it a day.

 

Most torque wrenches are most accurate in the upper 3/4 of their range. I know they say 10-100 or whatever but if I'm looking at the teens in ft/lbs, I use my 30-250 in/lb wrench. Also, if it isn't a critical bolt I'll fudge down a bit and consider a very small dab of blue Loctite. I hate stripped/broken bolts...

 

Yeah, helicoil it, but these just need to be held in place. Get creative especially if you don't get drastic to make the helicoil option unavailable down the road.

 

They just hold the coil down. One screw, no big deal. Just snug them up. Don't overthink it. If even a few threads catch I wouldn't worry about it. They're usually snug as they are.

 

There are a few tricks you can try.

1. Get a longer bolt and see if it will catch the clean threads further in.

2. Take a few strand of copper from a wire and stuff it along the length then screw it in. Has to be redone everytime it is removed.

3. And lastly, helicoil.


I use a CDI 0-300 inch pound torque wrench for sensitive bolts...none of those made in china ones. Not worth the frustration. Good luck.

 

The torque wrench I have is pretty big. 1/2" drive and 18" handle. Maybe its not accurate at low ranges. Maybe I need to look into a small one. Another option would be to re-tap the thread without increasing the size, then get the next size longer. Like 1/4" longer it it will fit. When all is done I need to keep moisture out and make a solid connection. Still unclear if the electrical connection needs a chassis ground at that bolt for the coil pack to perform accurately.

 

The valve cover is aluminum, not sure on how much it's grounding the coil pack.

 

I had to repair one of those that cycled through .

I cheated silicone for the win as a temp fix That is still working years later..

You can use a piece of round stock in the hole with silicone . Silicone the bottom of the coil pack set in place let it cure.

If you later need to clean things out and use a thread replacement simple clean up.

Since the patents expired on Heli-Coil many brands out there on the market.