98 civic smells like fuel in the car

I finally figured out why my passenger
compartment was wreaking of unburned fuel. Seems
that one of my valve cover bolts stripped its
thread, and was not seated properly to seal the
valve cover, allowing unburned combustion gases
to escape, and ending up venting into the passenger compartment.

Now I gotta figure out a way to fix the damn
thread... Probably a helicoil, but I can't find
a place that will sell me just 1 M6x1 helicoil,
they want me to buy the whole kit for $29.

Any ideas? I am in Winnipeg Canada.

t

 

Go with the kit. That's actually a pretty good price. You will need all the
parts anyway (you may have the drill but I bet you don't have the special
tap). The last kit I bought was $59 US, but when you need it you need it.

Mike

 

The last time I needed just a helicoil, the parts man at the local VW
dealership was willing to sell it to me. I found them to be a good source
for odd tools and repair parts like this.

 

Boy, that's something I'd never have guessed. :-/

Can you not just get a self-tapping screw of sufficient size to fit the
hole the stud used to go in? If it's big enough, you should be able to
torque it down enough to prevent oil leakage. A #10 Robertson maybe?

 

On the 98 civic, the bolts for the valve cover
have a special flange, as well as a seal that
fits on it. I guess its concievable to go
oversize with a different bolt, but I am unsure
as to whether it would be a good idea due to
the application, and probably a custom length.

I had the same problem with the longer ones
on the valve cover as well, when they broke.
Fortunately, Honda admitted that they probably
over torqued them that time, and replaced those
bolts for free...