Cam Bearing Cap bolt stripped - now what?

[BlazinB5]

All of the bolts came out nicely, all except for one... The head of the bolt completely stripped over with how damn tight it was (I had the bit all of the way in too). I'm in the process of changing the cam chain tensioner, and this REALLY sucks...

Anyone know where to go from here?

[chris164935]

You could try torqueing all the cam cap bolts back down and use a vice grip on the head of the stripped bolt to loosen it first. Then, hope and pray that your local Audi or VW dealer has at least one of those bolts in stock.

[bhusted]

How bad does the bit look? You may try cleaning up the end of the bit with a grinder and hammering it in. Otherwise, I would try vice grips on that. The bearing caps and bolts in your picture look decidedly more crusty than any any valve cover I've pulled. The torque spec for those bolts is actually quite low, so I'm sruprised that its that stuck.

[BlazinB5]

Thanks for the input guys, but i decided against loosening the exhaust cam for my cam chain tensioner replacement. I managed to swap them out without touching the exhaust cam, but should I ever need, I'll have to get myself a vice grip. The bolt literally didn't move one bit, so I doubt it needs to be torqued down again.

Edit: the bit was mint (still is), and I agree, this motor isn't as clean as I was hoping. The previous owner must not have maintained the car and its oil changes all that well. Luckily I got the car as a winter beater for $1500 (high miles), so I suppose I can't ask for perfection. Luckily no oil pressure warning has came up.. Yet...

[bmos]

I agree, this motor isn't as clean as I was hoping. The previous owner must not have maintained the car and its oil changes all that well. Luckily I got the car as a winter beater for $1500 (high miles), so I suppose I can't ask for perfection. Luckily no oil pressure warning has came up.. Yet...

You should run some AutoRX through it. These engines don't like sludge (what engines do?!).

[crazyquik22023]

Worst case drill the head off just put a rag underneath to catch the shavings. But ya there was no reason to even be loosening that cam to do a chain tensioner swap.

[Blur2u]

There's bolt removers you can get to extract that bolt. Also those bolts aren't torque down very high, i think it's under 10ft/lbs.

[xthealienatorx]

I did the same thing on my exhaust cam a few weeks ago. Used some good vice grips and it popped right off, then i went to my project car and pulled the bolt from the outside of the chain tension er to replace them, then went to the junk yard and stuck some in my pockets to replace them on the project car. Just skip the project car bit and you'll be good.

[wolfe2118]

Rags around the bolt(or even use a shop vac while drilling for extra peace of mind), drill off the head and then use vise grips to twist out the bolt. Go to the hardware store and get a bolt with the same threads and length. It's a bolt that has an inch/lbs spec, it doesn't have to be anything special...no dealer needed.

[audinutt]

Those bolts are supposed to be one time use anyways

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[bhusted]

Those bolts are supposed to be one time use anyways

This simply isn't true. Yes, there are some torque to yield (TTY) fasteners on these cars, but not every bolt is. The cam bearing caps are only torqued to 10Nm or 7ft lbs. This is hardly enough to stretch the bolt.

[Nollywood]

Bash on a 12-point 10 or 12mm socket, and get that bitch off.

Always works for me.

[redline380]

I would just weld on a nut to the bolt. Should come right out.

OP, in case you need some bolts, I have so many that I have thrown them out recently. Down in the cities on a daily basis.

[vrmm]

I couldn't find my torx bit last time I did my ex valves, so I just used vice grips on all of them. Given that you stripped it in the first place it may not have been as easy.

From all the 1.8's I've seen that is pretty dirty. You could put some seafoam in your oil or atf and maybe clean it out. Or just clog the pickup tube worse.... ;) I've used atf to get rid of a tick in some of my lifters. It worked extremely well. I haven't tried it to clean a whole engine though, so I don't really know how well it would work.

[walky_talky20]

I wouldn't wait for an oil pressure warning. I'd put a gauge on it now. A permanent dashboard gauge would be ideal, but even a temporary gauge to get a reading would be good. Get it fully hot (oil temp 180F+) and get a pressure reading at idle, 1500, 2k, 3k, 4k, and 5k. Compare to healthy values.

[BlazinB5]

Sweet, thanks for the extra input everyone. Luckily that's the exhaust cam, so I shouldn't have to ever touch it again, unless I end up needing a cam chain.

I would just weld on a nut to the bolt. Should come right out.

OP, in case you need some bolts, I have so many that I have thrown them out recently. Down in the cities on a daily basis.

That's alright, but thanks though. I shouldn't have to touch the exhaust cam, now that I realize touching it wasn't necessary for the CCT replacement.

I wouldn't wait for an oil pressure warning. I'd put a gauge on it now. A permanent dashboard gauge would be ideal, but even a temporary gauge to get a reading would be good. Get it fully hot (oil temp 180F+) and get a pressure reading at idle, 1500, 2k, 3k, 4k, and 5k. Compare to healthy values.

I probably should. When I bought the car, I came across two scales in the seat holder (the kind for weighing weed/other drugs), so I literally couldn't have asked for a shittier previous owner.