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Bolt holding dipstick tube!

sprklw

NAXJA Forum User
Location
Springfield, MO
Need some suggestions on how to get this bolt out or off. I have a hole in my dipstick tube which is causing a leak and want to replace it but cannot get the bolt loose. Tried female torx head with negative results. Any suggestins would be greatly appreciated, Thanks.
 
Year? You're talking about the oil dipstick bolt that also has the big engine ground wire under it right? That's a stud going the block and not a bolt, the end of it does look like a torx as that's how its originally installed. There is a big nut on there you need to remove. 5/8" I think.

While you have it that ground wire off, it would be a great time to wire brush it down to clean metal and replace the battery-block ground wire if its in poor condition.
 
Nevermind, I just realized that the stud has a shoulder and it needs to come out to get the tube bracket off. It's a reverse torx head. Or you can thread two nuts onto the bolt, tighten them together and use the wrench on the one closest to the block. Might need to apply some heat and its probably loctited or seized.

How did you get a hole in the dipstick tube anyway? Smearing the hole with silicon sealant and then sliding some rubber tube (or heat shrink tubing) over the hole might be an easy fix.
 
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I have no clue how I got a hole in my tube (LOL). Thought about the quick fix, but the bracket is in the way to slide a rubber sleeve over it. First gonna try PB Blaster and brute strength, then I''l give your double nut (LOL) a try. Sorry about the innuendos.

I look back at this response and laugh.
 
It's a stud - use a vise-lock if you need to.

Replace with 3/8"-16x3/4". Use flat washers to take up the slack if needed (you can use a capscrew there instead of a stud - I've done it before without any trouble. Just make sure the head hits the things under it before the tip of the screw bottoms out in the hole - I'm pretty sure I had to use a couple-three flat washers to make this happen.)
 
Thanks 5-90, big help. :)

Telling you specs on the replacement tells you everything you need to know - if a stud is stuck enough that you can't get it out fairly easily, you're going to wreck the thing trying.

When you put the new screw in, a little never-seez won't go amiss. If you use it, torque to 20-30 pound-feet (no more!) or turn to contact with your fingers and go not more than an additional 3/4-turn with a wrench. Using never-seez, it gets painfully easy to pull the threads out of castings...

Since that's an electrical screw, I'd suggest using brass, bronze, or CRES to replace it. The Zinc plating on carbon steel is supposed to prevent the steel from rusting, but why not just use something that isn't supposed to rust in the first place?

Besides, if you use something that won't rust, you can cut it shorter to fit if you need to.
 
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