Stripped Head Bolts

After doing a bit of research, I can't seem to find a double-hex 12mm socket anywhere. There are plenty 12mm triple square sockets, but not 12mm double-hex. I can only find 8 and 10mm double-hex sockets. However, now that I think of it, since the 10mm allen/hex fits the bolt, a 10mm double-hex should be the same size, just with 12 points instead of 6. So a 10mm double-hex should be very close to a 12mm triple square. Meaning the 10mm double-hex I that was linked earlier should in fact be the correct size.

10mm allen/hex vs 12mm triple square:
Allen vs hex

10mm hex in bolt:
Allen

12mm triple square in bolt:
hex

10mm allen/hex over 12mm triple sqaure:
compare

 

For the next time you have a stripped bolt, try Gearwrench Boltbiter. On the expensive side, but amazing what they can grab.

 

These photos should help relieve your stresses. Either the tool I have, as it has stood the test of engines , or the one you are considering. Which is specifically listed in the photo.

 

Thanks again for all the replies everyone. I've been a little busy recently so I had to stop working on the Tacoma.

Several of the bits I ordered came in, and they all seem slightly different. I havne't yet ordered the snapon bit, but may be doing that here soon.

I received another 12mm square head bit. It seems to fit better than the one I had previously. (I tried cancelling the order but it was too late.)
I also received the 10mm bi-hexagon bit. However... that bit seems slightly too large to fit inside any of the bolts..... I feel like I could tap it in slightly, but I'm not sure if that's a good idea.

I did some searching around and managed to find the actual bit sold by Toyota, but it's going to be about 60 dollars after shipping. I would buy that if I knew if would be perfect, but after all the bits are giving me trouble and I've already spent over 100 dollars on various bits now, I'm not sure if I want to do that. I may still opt for the STSM12E snap-on bit since TORSP has had great results with that.

 

The Toyota bit and the Snap-On are both the approximate cost.... I don't know of the Toyota one carries a warranty, but the Snap-On one will.

 

OP I can't help you with your problem, but if you would round up all the 'engineers' responsible for all the new types of fasteners and line them up, I will kick each and everyone in the nuts. Twice.

 

You deserve a beer sir.

 

So upon cleaning the driver side head, I noticed I nicked the valve spring with the cutoff wheel. I can't see how bad it is, but I don't feel comfortable using it. However, I can't seem to find replacement valve sprigns online anywhere....

Does anyone have a part number for a replacement spring, and know what tool I need to use to get these springs off?

 

Well my local Toyota dealer was able to order a spring for me so I should see it next week. Now I just need to know what type of spring compressor to use. The standard compressor tool I've used on for and chevy heads won't work since this spring looks enclosed by the head.

 

Cheap/wrong set of tools.

 

Damn, I would see if ARP makes a set of external 12pt bolts for your heads.

 

Yeah.. I'm not fan of the fasteners for this head. Before I had any trouble, I ordered fel-pro head bolts because I felt they would suffice and fel-pro stuff on Ford-Chevy stuff has been good for me in the past.

I did make sure to get an OEM Toyota gasket set though, I haven't heard great things about other gaskets for this motor, and with how involved it is to take these heads off, I didn't want to skimp on the gaskets.

I've done a lot of work on other vehicles in the past, and this truck has been giving me more trouble than anything I've work on before. Granted, a lot of it IS my fault, but those damn head bolts.. I don't see why they couldn't have used a standard style bolt head or at least a significantly more common triple square bit, instead of double hex.

My wife really wants her truck back, but I keep getting huge setbacks and it's taking longer and longer.... I was hoping I didn't mess anything up when I had to grind out that bolt, but the spring is definitely damaged well enough where there's no way I'm assembling it without replacing that spring. I'll have to wait about another week for it to come in.

At this point, it's looking I'm starting to wish I got a used motor, but they just cost so much for this truck....

 

I'm glad you found that spring, and are fixing it.

ARP has head studs available.

Possibly some head bolts that are 11mm and match the length. Never looked those up before.

 

enjoyed your write up , do you do tutorials for a living ?

 

Thank you, you mean the write up for the double hex vs triple square?

I don't do tutorials for a living no. I got my bachelors in mechanical engineering in AZ so I try to be pretty thorough when I go over things. I also like creative stuff a lot like tinkering around with 3d modeling for Skyrim, painting vehicles, mechanical upgrades etc. I've done some tutorial write-ups on Ford-Trucks for my Bronco and had a semi detailed thread about the 7.3 swap I did in that. I enjoy seeing what other people do so I try to document what I do at times.

Right now I do missile maintenance for the Air Force, so I'm not really using my degree.. but when I do decide to get out, I'll hopefully be able to use my degree to make some decent money! I was (and maybe still am) considering trying to commission as an officer, but my wife wants to move back to AZ and I feel financially we'd probably do better outside the Air Force. Plus, I'm not too keen on moving all over, I'd like to have a big shop I can set up at home, and I'd also like to move back to AZ. All of that would be very unlikely to happen if I stayed in the Air Force for a long time.

Thankfully, the house we have here has a pretty nice sized garage. Unfortunately, the housing market in Cheyenne Wyoming is extremely inflated, so we couldn't get that nice of a place and a bit of the house is falling apart/asbestos filled. However, I have enough room to work on vehicles and do some woodworking things so that is a plus. I'm just worried the terrible hail up here is going to total out one of our vehicles some day... Maybe we'll get lucky and it won't happen before we move out of here though.

 

AZ Airforce base?

 

I wanted to try and get stationed at Luke in AZ. My wife's parents live really close by and that part of Phoenix is getting a lot nicer. However, I work on ICBMs so I have very limited places I can get stationed unless I try and cross train to a different job. The nice thing about my job is that we don't get moved around too often. A lot of people join to see the world and move around but that was more of a downside to me. I have too many tools and like having a big workshop where moving constantly would be too difficult to maintain that, so I got lucky in where I don't move often, I just don't have the greatest places to be stationed! It's not too bad here in Cheyenne, but I can't say we like it too much. It seems to be winter for about 8 months of the year, and gets extremely windy with an almost guaranteed hail storm with baseball sized hail at least once a summer. It snowed and shut down a highway outside of Cheyenne just a few days ago! Surprisingly, AZ seems to be more lush and green than Cheyenne most of the year. When plants do grow here, they grow quickly and it does look pretty. However, that doesn't last long at all.... southern AZ CAN be green all year round as long as long as you water your plants enough during the summer.

 

I just wanted to give an update:

I got everything back together and it seems to be running great! I had to buy a deep wood clamp and cut a brass tube in order to get the valve spring in with the keepers. I'm kinda surprised how well that worked.

After everything was back together, I let the truck idle and then drove it for about 15 minutes until it was fully warm. I used my block tester and I'm happy to say no more exhaust gasses in the coolant were detected! My wife is definitely happy to have her truck back.

I did forget to plug in the fuel pressure regulator vacuum back in the intake manifold the first day.... It seemed to drive well and my wife didn't notice, but on the morning drive back from a dispatch (I'm working overnight this month), I remembered that I told myself I would forget that... so I plugged it back in!

Thanks again for all the help and advice here. Hopefully no one will have to do this anytime soon, but if they do then maybe hopefully this thread can be of some assistance.

 

Bravo sir. Bravo!

 

Nice work. Thanks for keeping us updated throughout. And thanks for your service!!