I accidentally sheared off a 10mm grounding bolt in the upper intake manifold. One of these:



This brings up a general question: where do I go to get specific bolts? In general can we just go to Home Depot and try to match the bolt, or is it really more advisable to go straight to a Nissan dealer? Do dealers even sell individual bolts? If they do they probably charge $5 each, LOL. Thanks in advance for any info.

Also, part of the bolt is stuck in the bolt hole...do I need a tap or die to get it out or is there anything else I can try first? It may not be possible to get pliars in there due to the tight area.

 

I'd try home depot first. When I changed my y-pipe I was hoping to put in fresh, unrusted bolts. I went to the dealer and they quoted me $48 for nine bolts!

While I was waiting I got to talking with one of the mechanics, he asked me why I needed the bolts. I told him about getting a y-pipe for $160 from maxima.org group deal. He had a max, too, and got all interested, probably an .org member now!

But anyway, he told me to got to home depot b/c they were just regular 10mm self-locking bolts...

Yeah, bring one of those suckers with you to the hardware store and see if you can find a match!

 

The thing that concerns me when you are using bolts from a hardware store, have they been tested to the extreme temperatures that an engine bay or a y-pipe would generate?

 

I can't even imagine the OUTSIDE of your engine getting hot enough to damage any kind of metal part, but yeah, if you want to play it absolutely safe, go to the dealer.

Here's a little food for thought though, are there any WIRES near these bolts? Have they melted? Why would METAL BOLTS melt.

But please, use your best judgement and do what makes you feel safe and comfortable. We're not talking about a lot of money here (maybe $4 for the dealer bolt).

Good luck.

 

Go to a hardware store and match the bolt. Your engine doesn't get anywhere near the temperature required to deform metal. Don't you think the aluminum in your engine, with a 660C melting point, would go before the steel bolt (1370C melthing point)?

 

Yeah, well the ends of the bolts are quite tapered but I suppose that doesn't matter. Any 10mm bolt with the right thread pitch should work, so I'll do that. Thanks, guys.

 

you cant use bolts from home depot on your car, unless its for your interior or something. cars use bolts that are specially treated and alot stronger than ordinary home depot bolts. plus, cars have bolts that had very very fit threads, so if you can even find a bolt that fits, your taking your chances.

 

I disagree. I have replaced a fair number of bolts in my car's engine bay with hardware store bolts. Most bolts have a threading that's classified as "very fine" and you can find them at Ace, Home Depot, etc. Additionally, you can get "treated" bolts. If you need galvanized bolts, they're an extra dime. Big deal. Better than the stealership's $4/bolt. For VQuick's needs, a hardware store bolt will be just fine. You can also find tempered bolts for the extra strength you may need.

 

You have no idea what you're talking about...

 

If we were talking about brake caliper bolts, that would be another story, but we're talking about small bolts that attach ground wires here. They are not exposed to high tempatures (unless you consider 150 or 200° high ) and they don't do anything vital. And given how easily the stock bolt broke, it was just a cheap regular bolt that Nissan uses because, after all, it's just a ground wire.

 

I get all my broken bolts, and there have been alot, at NAPA. I've been told by people that they are tempered, they do seem stronger than stock ones.

 

I don't mean to be an *** about this but how do you know they "seem stronger"? Have you tried to break a regular bolt and the "tempered" bolt using measured amounts of stress to prove that the tempered bolt is indeed stronger? Again, I don't mean to be a jerk about this but comments such as that can have safety repercussions.

 

You may not have meant to come across as an ****, but it sure did seem to come rather easy for you. I'm simply stating what I have physically and visualy noticed, and by no means should anyone rely on my statement when it comes to replacing bolts on THEIR OWN CAR. And yes, I have and do use the NAPA bolts on both sides of my front brakes with no stripping or broken bolts after many more times taking them on and off than the factory applied ones, but please, "USE AT YOUR OWN RISK" I may not post alot but when I do it's to help others, not bust their *****.

 

All your huffin' an' puffin' didn't address what THT brought up: what evidence do you have for your claim that bolts from NAPA, which you "are told by people" are tempered, are stronger than Nissan bolts, other than your idea that they "seem" stronger? You have not measured the fracture points of the two bolts or any other such test, so your evidence is purely anecdotal. Which is fine, it's just the kind of evidence that suggests further study, not the kind of evidence to bank on.

 

All I said was that they "seem stronger", which is simply a personal observation--you know? I never claimed nor would I claim that they are in fact stronger. I do not have the means nor desire to perform a stress test on the two different bolts and was told by the NAPA employee that they are tempered, for what that's worth. I'm sitting here defending myself for absolutly no reason. Remember the days back in 2000-2001 when people didn't need to second guess a simple statement?

 

From working at the local home depot in the hardware section the metric selection of bolts is very slim if anything go to a sears hardware becuase I have had people come in for metric stuff and basically we just don't carry much of it.

 

To replace that specific bolt, an Autozone / Home Depot brand will be fine. Heck, I'm pissed I bought y-pipe bolts from the dealer, stopped by Autozone to find the exact same bolts for 1/5 the price.

 

Hey i work at Home Depot too; Tool Rental

 

hmm yeah I worked garden last summer and hardware over xmas.. not working there this summer though becuase the hr person was being screwy with me and my friends and wouldn't confirm that I could work there.. so now she is down like 4-5 people in garden becuase she didn't hire early enough.

 

The grounding bolts in question are very weak. You can use any bolt you want or if you are lazy like me, just move the grounded leads over to the next grounding bolt. BTW, I sheared the same one from overtorquing!

 

Yeah, I wanted to see what 15 ft-lbs of torque felt like because I couldn't use a torque wrench on the knock sensor bolt, so I put my torque wrench on that grounding bolt and just tried to tighten it a little to 15...bad idea.

Yep, that's what I did, put both leads on the one remaining bolt, but I'm going to replace the broken one when I get a chance.