I have a 2001 Ford Ranger with a 4.0 V6. I recently broke the valve cover bolt on the top right hand corner of the passenger valve cover ( the bolt closest to the belt). 1. Can I drive it like this and since 7 of the 8 bolts are in it should it leak worse. 2. How do I fix it, and 3. How much would this cost to have fixed if I took it somewhere. Thanks for your help
I've seen enough heads blocks and other equipment ruined to say take it to a machine shop. The bolt can be drilled out and removed then the threads cleaned up with a tap. However trying to do it with hand tools will, 99% of the time, end up a disaster. You need the proper tools to make sure that drill bit is centered and runs straight and you only get one chance. Sometimes it won't leak with an upper bolt missing, especially if the bolt is in the middle. But if it's a lower bolt or a top one near the end, it's a pretty good bet to leak.
Yes you can drive the vehicle with 1 broken bolt to the valve cover. The valve cover should leak a little due to the lack of tension at the broken bolt. The leak may be minimal. If you remove the valve cover use silicone as a new gasket, you can use extra silicone at the broken bolt. Allow the silicone to dry before tightening the valve cover bolts. The extra silicone may stop any oil to blow by the broken bolt problem solved. The valve cover does nothing more than stopping oil from leaking. A leaky valve cover nothing more than leak will not affect how the vehicle runs. The cost to have the broken bolt replaced should be around $100.00 (if the broken bolt is accessible) The cost is strictly labor (time). About $100.00/an hour. To repair this you have 3 options; 1) You can extract the bolt. This may be very easy depending on the accessibility (can you get a drill over the broken bolt?). If you can drill a whole in the broken bolt, you can lightly tap an extractor into the whole with a hammer. Then with a wrench or a pipe wrench you can try to extract the bolt by turning the extractor counter clockwise. Use WD40 or a catalyst to loosen the broken bolt. The longer the catalyst (WD40) has to work the better. ie- spray the broken bolt 3 or 4 times a day allow the oil time to loosen the broken bolt. You can purchase extractors at any auto parts store for about $15.00 I can't emphasize the importance of WD40 enough!!!! 2) The 2nd option is to use a healy coil. You would need to drill out the bolt to a specific size (the healy coil package will tell you what size drill bit to use). After drilling out the bolt you can insert a healy coil that will allow you to use the same size bolt you just drilled out. The healy coil package will have detailed instructions. This is very easy to do! Healy coils can hold a lot more torque than valve covers require. 3) The third option is to drill out the broken bolt completely tap new threads insert a larger bolt.
easiest to just remove the valve cover completely and then there might be enough of the broken bolt left to get a pair of vice grips on it and unscrew it out, go to parts store and get a new bolt and a new valve cover gasket and reinstall.If you drive the car the way it is it might leak a little oil around the broken bolt.
