Pats300zx

Well today I decided to tackle the install of my new polished plenum and Motordyne 5/16 plenum spacer. I must say that the quality of the Motordyne Plenum Spacer is awesome and the directions are top notch.

This was my first time tackling something like this so I took my time and made sure I had every layed out and ready to go. After installing the plenum spacer I noticed that I had a rough idle. I figured that somewhere that one of the bolts wasn't tight enough and I had a small leak. The car ran perfect but at idle it was alittle rough.

Well I decided to retorque all of the bolts and while doing #15 bolt back by the throttle body gooseneck and I heard a snap. Sure enough the bolt sheared off. I was trying to be so careful because I have heard of folks over torging and cracking the plenum...

GRRRRRRRRRRR I can't believe this I was torqing everything to the recommend specs etc.

Does anyone have any remedies to fix this??? I am wondering if the bolt can be drilled out and retaped with a new one. Its very easy to get to etc. Any ideas???

The car runs fantastic. I do notice that on occassion that the idle can be alittle rough but I am wondering if the ECU will learn the increased air flow over time.
All and all I feel the plenum spacer is a great mod. I can tell a big diff right out of the box as far as pickup goes.

Big props to Motordyne....

G352NV

iTrader: (13)

IF your lucky, remove the spacer and you might be able to take something with a good shape point on it and remove the snapped off bolt. Just scratch with it on the top in the direction you would to take off the nut. Odds are this will work. If not you will have to drill and get a ez out.

Dragonstyle

is there a sound difference now that the plenum spacer is installed?...like is the car louder?

Pats300zx

Yes..the car is slightly louder. I can tell a definite diff in acceleration. Its a great mod for the money...

Now all I have to do is resolve my one issue

O NO

I beleive Sears makes drill out bits for this type of thing. You can also try to dremmel out a slot where a decent sized flathead screwdriver blade could fit. It's all doable to get it out and use the same size bolt without resizing the original hole. You're not the first and def won't be the last to get into this situation.

Be careful and good luk with it.

G352NV

iTrader: (13)

Whatever you do PLEASE try what I said before you start drilling.

baileyrx

iTrader: (16)

Don't drill yet!! There are several options. Any pictures?

when you take off the upper plenum & spacer how much of the bolt can you see? Any?

imalazeeass

iTrader: (8)

i snapped one of my bolts while installing my plenum awhile back. I got myself a screw extractor and it came out easily. The only nervous part is drilling directly in the center of the screw..

Pats300zx

The car seems to run awesome even with the snapped bolt. On occassion I notice a slight rumble on idle but its not constant. I assume that I might have a very small air leak. I won't know how bad the bolt is until the plenum and spacer are removed. For now I might leave it as is until I can take it to a shop to have them look at it. The car is going in at the begining of Nov to have a UD pulley installed.

I might have them pull the plenum and spacer and look at the bolt. I would have to say that at least 1/2 to 3/4 of the bolt is broken off. I will def ask them to try a bolt extractor before drilling.

GRRRRRRRRR Its always something isn't it.

The good news is that the car runs fine and the polished plenum looks awesome.

imalazeeass

iTrader: (8)

show us a pic!

Pats300zx

Illl try and get some updated pics of the new plenum, Pithon locks, and other goodies this weekend.

JasperGTR

i know this sounds weird, but i too snapped a bolt, but, during my plenum install. i had a spare 4.5mm socket laying around, used a hammer to bang it on, attached the wrench, and it came right off.