Today I decided to install my ignition coils outside, even though they said it was going to rain later afternoon. I figured it would only take a hr and it looked pretty nice outside. I decided to install the back 3 first because they were harder to do than the front 3. Got all back 3 coils installed, all i had to do was screw the bolt that holds them in. 1st f***king bolt i try to put in dropped into some unknow spot under the coil..As soon as i dropped the bolt, BAM!! starts to rain So im looking for this damn bolt in the rain for about 30 mins. Finally i decide to look for it later, and start on the 2nd back coil( that was no problem)..3rd coil was looking ok until I dropped the 3rd f***king bolt, and that one is no where to be found. To make a long story short, I m standing in the rain trying to find 2 stinking *** bolts for about 1 1/2 hrs. everything else is done the front 3 took 5 mins to install. Now its 7:30 pm its getting dark i'm soaking wet, finally i get a hold of a friend so he can take me to pep boys. Get there and they have no bolts that i need. So we go to home depot and search the damn store up and down. Finally, we find a bolt that is the right size, but is not exactly the same. So we get back to my car the new bolts fit fine.. My question is.. should i go to the dealer and get new bolts or leave the ones i have on now?? It shoudlnt make that much of a difference right, even though the new bolts dont have washers on them.?

 

get the right bolts. Also, might want to find the other ones....wouldn't want one of them to fall into a pulley or belt and really f-up your engine...

 

I know exactly the place you are talking about..... I too experienced that last week, although I had one tool that made the difference.. A magnetic twisty contraption, like $7 at pepboys.

Good Luck and if you are going to try to get the old bolts then you will probably need to remove the coil to get it.

 

is the old bolts in any danger of dropping on a belt or something like that. if not i think i will just get new bolts and not go through the aggravation.

 

did the same thing. now i use a magnetic rod to get them off and place them back on. rear of manifold...lift the car, get under and start searching..jack stands though, do not get under the car when it's on the jack...happy fishing

 

Yeah, that happened to me once, used my magnetic pick up tool (though I was searching for a while... turned out the bolt was in the place I least expected it). I hate doing the rears. The fronts are a piece of cake though

 

yeah those back ones are a real pain but when i was putting the back middle one in i didn't notice how head of the bolt was already cracked so when i put a small amount of pressure in it it snapped inside the hole so no screw could go inside. but thought of a way to hold it in

 

just changed my coils and plugs today, and dropped the bolt that holds in the rear middle coil...luckily i hit autozone before hand to buy a magnetic rod and fished it out, whew - all i could think of was this post when i dropped it

 

Personnally, I think the chances of the bolts getting caught between a belt and pulley to be somewhere between slim and none and wouldn't spend a lot of time searching. Also, unlike some of the other bolts (such as the caliper bolt I twisted off which cost around $7), these are nothing special. As long as they are metric, are the correct diameter/threads and are the same length or slightly shorter, I'd just leave them in. Of course, opinions are like a-holes, right...everyone has one.

 

You can buy magnetic inserts for your sockets at sears. You'll laugh but I used a dab of partially dried silicone on the socket to make the bolt stick. Worked like a charm.

 

well, i decided to just leave the home depot screws in place of the old bolts.. they fit perfect and i see no problem with them..And the stinking dealer wants a $1/bolt and they would take a couple of days to order them. as for the old bolts i still hve no freakn idea where they are. went looking for them today with a magnetic rod too..