Help! Snapped off valve cover bolt

Being the genius that I am, I decided "one more good pull" was a great idea when tightening the valve cover bolts after changing the valve cover gasket. Snapped one of the bolts.

Any suggestions on how to get the bolt out and replace it? ''''92 Accord EX. The shop wants about $150 to fix, not covering gasket replacement which I can do.. well maybe I shouldn''''t on second thought.

Also, before this mistake, the car was overheating within a few minutes of startup everytime, but the coolant resevoir was always full with new fluid and I didn''''t see any leaks. Any ideas? Is this typical of a bad water pump? If so, how do I find out for sure and how difficult to replace?

Appreciate the help!

Full reservoir doesnt really prove the actual radiator is full.  Open the cap (not when its hot).
 
It could be a bad thermostat, plugged radiator, or even a bad temperature gauge sender.  Gotta do some testing before you go out to buy a new waterpump.
 

Sounds like you just snapped the head off the bolt? You''ll have to get a special drill bit. You''ll drill down through the bolt a little bit, then the "screw" part of the drill bit will catch hold and unscrew it out.


Dont tighten the COMPLETE bejesus out of bolts...they are strong

Yea drilling the bolt out is the option there, its what the dealership/garage is going to do anyway. If you dont know how to do it, or are uncomfortable doing it find a friend that has done it before. Thats what i had to do when i couldnt get a sensor off of my old intake manifold.

careful not to tear up the threads either when pulling it out... you''ll then have to die-cut the bazza afterwords otherwise... and those tools aren''t cheap!

did i say that right? die-cut? i can''t remember the real term.. but i''ve done it before on some threaded stuff and it hurt my wallet pretty bad at the time (like $75 per set)

ive done the gasket replacement a couple times and you do not need to tighten the crap out of the bolts. as long as you eat it right and use the honda bond or whatever at the corners you only need like 6 ft/lbs of torque on those bolts or so. the guy who had the car before me mustve tightened the crap out of it because the gasket was mashed and was leaking oil.

The gasket sits trapped in a groove, so the metal on either side of the groove comes down to contact the head.  Once that contact is established, any further tightening does NOTHING to improve the seal.
 
O-rings do not seal better when theyre mashed & flattened out.
 

If any part of the bolt is sticking up cut a slot in the top with a hacksaw or dremel tool.  If there is enough sticking up you could use some vise grips.  If it is broken off flush then use an EZ-Out.

Left-handed drill bits actually do exist, but hard to find.  They often grab the broken bolt & spin it out as you drill the hole for the EZ-out.
 

I''m in the same boat dude. Honestly, you can drive with it how it is for awhile. Just check the oil and make sure it isn''t leaking/spraying all over inside the hood. Until winter comes, you should be ok doing this.


But for fixing it, you will have to drill the broken acorn stud piece out of the head.

I snapped two of mine off when I did the motor swap a couple of months ago.  If/when you take the valve cover back off, you should just be able to grab what''s left of the stud and screw it out.  If you''re not going to take it back off then you''ll want to get an easy out.  You drill a small hole in it, tap the easy out into the hole you drilled and then spin it out that way.  It''s actually an easy fix.

you gotta use a drill to make a small hole in the bolt then use a easy-out bit to take it out,sears hase them