Valve cover bolt droped into the abyss

[johnnygrace]

Well ive gone and droped a valve cover bolt while changing the drivers side. Looked for hours last night. Called the dealer and they say the only way to get one is buying the $150 cover with all the bolts. So what to do....just buy a regular bolt without the fancy metal insert grommet retainer and that will work ok or is it going to torque the cover in a bad way without this metal insert? Id go to a junkyard for one but no idea where a close one to me is. Im in seattle. Anyone have similar problem before with an aftermarket solution? Its the one with an inch of threads on the top side that holds the electrical for the spark plugs.

 

[KJ604]

google a scrap yard.

and make damn sure that bolt isnt inside the motor.

 

[turblediesel]

Try running a small extendable magnet into the abyss to get the bolt back. Better it's not in there when you fire it up. Mirror and flashlight might get enough light in there to get a peek.

 

[GunnerSchenck]

Likely hiding in the oddest place in the engine bay.. always are. Not many places for it to go with what you have exposed, but as its been said THOROUGHLY check inside.. if it's in there when you put it all back together.. you'll find out quick enough.

 

[LibertyTC]

Ya I've had bolts/nuts go MIA due to..
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Best to do a really good search as mentioned. Mirror, flashlight, telescopic neo magnet.
I suppose temporarily you could get another bolt from a fastener shop, but really the Junk yard sounds best if it truly is unrecoverable.

 

[GunnerSchenck]

^^^bahahahahaha

 

[rjkj2005]

It's a big area under the intake. If it did drop under there it won't hurt anything. Although you have 2 knock sensors down there and if that bolt starts rolling around and starts pecking one of them. It might start messing with them and start sending false info to the PCM. And then it might start changing the timing thinking it's and ingition ping trying to get right of the knock it's detecting from the bolt that's bouncing around.

Sent from my XT1585 using Tapatalk

 

[dude1116]

Since I just snapped my valve cover bolt...I have been calling around and doing my research. The reason we can't EASILY find the bolt for our engine is because it was seemingly replaced by another part number.

I found part number (for our engine) 53021309AA was replaced by 6508498AA. Most online sites show this latter part number as NOT compatible for our motor...so I'm going to go pick one up and give it a shot.

 

[dude1116]

Got the bolt. At first glance...it looks a bit shorter than the other bolt. Perhaps by design? Maybe that's the reason they discontinued the other bolt. Will get a real comparison later on.

 

[dude1116]

Bolt worked well! Couple of differences:

1) It's an 8mm head with built in washer. The old bold was 10mm with separate washer.

2) The grommet is a bit of a different shape. No problem there, really. It went through the cover and the gasket just fine.

Of course this might not help OP since he wants the studded bolt...but perhaps there is a studded bolt for the 2.4L Dodge Stratus engine that matches the part number I gave? Anyway...hope this helps someone in the future.

FYI torque value for these bolts are 105 in/lb

 

[johnnygrace]

Well I looked and looked for hours with a flashlight, mirror, extendable magnet - no luck. Been driving it around since without any problems. Havent checked the oil since but no oil sensor showing like before I changed the gaskets. Im left to assume if you drop a valve cover bolt into the abyss everything will be ok. My son was born about a week after my first post so you can imagine how much attention the jeep has gotten since. Thanks for the responses!