driver side.... rear fuel rail bolt is snapped, with the lower end stuck inside the intake manifold.... how i get it out?

 

Well i would start by taking off the entire rail.

If the bolt is above the intake, you can prolly grab it with some vice grips. If it broke off down low, you are stuck with drilling/trying screw extractor. Worst case drill it all out and insert a helicoil. Depending on what kind of speciality tools you have, you may be able to do it on the car, but chances are you will be pulling the intake off.

Honestly though, having broken off a few bolts in bad places, i suggest you do nothing at all. Go to bed, go watch TV, what ever. A clear mind does wonders.

 

but you dont think the lack of pressure on that particular part of the rail is going to cause problems? thats the only reason im thinking of messing with it... i dont want a fuel/vaccuum leak.... lemme know id love to just rest my mind about it... but its been buggin me..

 

Sorry, i wasnt suggesting you leave it like that permanently, just for tonight. When something like that happens to me, i was always too upset to see the easy way of doing things, or the right way for that matter.

Honestly, it likely wont make much difference only having 3 bolts instead of four. Those injectors are so tight in there that you could prolly not have any bolts. HOWEVER, if one came loose and started leaking fuel = uh oh. Just because of the system that its on, i would try and fix it.

 

dammit....... i mean its TIGHT on there.. but im not trying to take off the intake manifold.... if i do that i might as well replace it with an LS1 style or some other higher performance intake.... and i dont WANT to do that.. its a LOT of work... and i would rather leave it alone if there is a chance its cool to do so... ive shaken and twisted the rail and injectors to try and assimilate a harsh condition, and nothing.... so really.. what should i do?

 

You should start by pulling off the fuel rail and seeing what you are dealing with.

Undo the 4 bolts. Then pull up on the front 4 injectors. They will pop out of the intake. The back four will follow. It will take some strength, but will wiggle out. Once thats out of the way, you might be able to just grab the broken bolt and spin it out.

 

im positive i cant do that.... it was really hard to tighten down when i snapped it, and thats why i snapped it.... plus the part that snapped is below the thread line... so im going to need an extractor at least...

 

Well you arent going to be able to extract it with the fuel rails on it...

 

man... im gonna leave it alone for now... u think im pullin it off at 2 am? LOL wow... if i do anything about it at all, it will be when i have the $$ for it...

 

The real question is why in gods name were you tightening it beyond barely snug? It's a friggin fuel rail with plastic injectors and rubber o-rings.

 

well, im going to assume for a moment you have no idea what happened... because you dont... but check it out... i DIDNT tighten it above snug, it was NOT cross threaded, but for some reason toward the end of the tightening process, the screw head was about 2/16 above the fuel rail, so i had to tighten it more to seat it properly... and i didnt give it too much torque, but it snapped anyways... dont know why, but now i need to know if it will be ok with what i have on it right now.. which is 3 bolts holding it all together, with little, if any play in the fuel rail, and no visable leaks either vaccuum wise or fuel wise... ive driven the car for a while now how it is, and i see no problems.... and i REALLY dont want to have to take the intake off just to take a bolt out of the top of it... unless i REALLY needed to... i figure with the amount of pressure on the injectors now, plus the amount of pressure the fuel system put on the rails (approx. 15 PSI if im not mistaken) i dont think there would be an issue.... like i said, there is little to no play in the rail, and all the injectors are seated properly with no gap or additional play (side to side) on the area in question (cyls 5 and 7) so is there even anything to worry about?

 

Cross-threading a fuel rail bolt, THEN breaking it. That's even better. 45 PSI in the rail, but three bolts should hold it fine. The rails are pretty stiff, though I'd look into getting that bolt out sooner rather then later. Gas leak + manifold = you burn

 

i didnt cross thread it man.... as i told you up there.... it went in by hand all the way to about 2/16 of an inch away from seat... then i tried to tighten it and it snapped.... aint my fault... so how am i sposed to get this thing out? do i SERIOUSLY have to take out the whole intake?!?!?!? and like i said.... there is NO fuel leak... that i can see anyways... and ive checked NUMEROUS times... and there is doubtedly 45 PSI in the fuel rail... there is a fuel pressure regulator attached to it and to my knowledge the fuel pump only puts out 15 PSI anyways.... if it was under such pressure, i doubt some of the fuel fittings would be functional... of course i could be wrong, but judging by what ive heard, and what ive done... it just doesnt seem like it should be a problem... maybe i should think of another way to tie down that fuel rail? i dont see how, but maybe there is a way without having to take half my upper end off to do it...

 

If there was 15 psi, your car would likely not move. Your pump probably puts out close to 70-90 psi under no/low load. There is 40-45 psi in a healthy lt1 fuel rail. And if the bolt magically wouldnt turn, it got cross-threaded, or the threads were previously messed up. Whats the big deal with the intake? It takes 20 minutes to take it out.

 

Ok not trying to be a dick, but everything we say you just try to discredit.

I think we both said you could likely leave it like that without issues, but i know for a fact I wouldnt leave mine like that, and pretty sure spinner wouldnt either. Its simply a safety concern, and neither of us want your car being toasted into a flamming marshmellow on our conscience.

The injectors are held into the rails with clips (assuming those are there and in good shape). The manifold is a vacuum. The injectors shouldnt go anywhere, but crazier things have happened. Honestly though, you can have the entire rail off in under 5 min.