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Intake Ground Stud-bolt

B

Brooklyn Tow

9 11 Never Forget
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Brooklyn, NY USA
OK....WTS Ghost is giving me trouble....Cleaned and tightened the thick ground and thin ground that are attached to the intake stud location.

Now, the other 2 "thin" ground wires connected to the intake stud/bolt at the rear of the engine, closest to the firewall, that has the tranny dipstick connected also......So there is the 2 skinny grounds, the nut, and the tranny stick tab mount all connected to this stud.

So been having MAJOR dead PCM/WTS ghost.....I disconnect the tranny tab bolt, push the stick over to get to the 2 grounds (Skinny black wires and the braided strap connected there.

When I go to loosen the nut holding the grounds to the stud the grounds seemed to be "FUSED" to the bolt/stud and the whole bolt starts to loosen, (NOT the Nut) the nut just turns the whole stud.......As the stud is loosening, I see antifreeze coming out of the loosened stud.....This is normal if you were to remove that stud? And shouldn't there be another nut under the grounds securing the stud to the intake?

The antifreeze worried me some, but I'm hoping that, antifreeze is supposed to run under that stud/bolt and I'm just not seeing the whole picture and the second (bottom) nut. It was dark and pretty poor conditions standing on the push plate w/ the reel light positioned to shine in that rear engine location.

Please tell me that that is a head bolt and the antifreeze is normal in that location. When I tighten it back down the coolant stops leaking from the loosened stud.

Am I OK?


Thanks,
Louis
 
IIRC that stud for the trans dipstick also doubles as one of the water block off plate bolts. If the entire bolt is turning i can see getting some anti-freeze around it since you are loosening the block off plate on one side.

Just make sure that it stops leaking when you tighten it back down. Otherwise you may have to pull the plate off and buy/make a gasket for it and re-install it.
 
Some of those bolts do go to water so you should be OK. I use thread sealant for that very reason, as was suggested to me last year when doing the S to F change.
I experienced the bolt, ground, nut fuseing issue as well the first time I took it all apart. Had to cut the wires to keep them from wrapping up. Then I seperated the pieces (vice grips on the lower side and socket on the top), attached a new ring connector for the wires, sealed the threads for the re-insertion and torqued to spec. Then I used the electrical connectivity stuff on the top side threads for the ground and re attached the nut/tranny stick but only snugged it up to prevent a repeat of the first fiasco.

Hope this helps.

Paul
 
Still trying to get the grounds unfused from the bolt/stud so I can relocate the grounds to another intake stud.......Is there supposed to be another nut under the grounds, to lock the stud down and provide a grounding surface for the said grounds?
 
I have a 15mm wrench that I ground thinner to fit between the nut to hold the stud from turning. I believe those are wet holes[go through to the water jacket].
What i'm doing now on any of the studs that the grounds attach to is put a stainless steel nut on the stud and another to tighten against the cables. The stainless nuts won't corrode so the connection should stay good longer but still should be checked occasionally.
 
Paveltolz said:
Some of those bolts do go to water so you should be OK. I use thread sealant for that very reason, as was suggested to me last year when doing the S to F change.
I experienced the bolt, ground, nut fuseing issue as well the first time I took it all apart. Had to cut the wires to keep them from wrapping up. Then I seperated the pieces (vice grips on the lower side and socket on the top), attached a new ring connector for the wires, sealed the threads for the re-insertion and torqued to spec. Then I used the electrical connectivity stuff on the top side threads for the ground and re attached the nut/tranny stick but only snugged it up to prevent a repeat of the first fiasco.

Hope this helps.

Paul
Click to expand...

So you pulled the whole stud out and held one half with vise grips without pooching the threads, am I understanding you correctly?.......What was the torque spec for that stud?
 
bk95td said:
I have a 15mm wrench that I ground thinner to fit between the nut to hold the stud from turning. I believe those are wet holes[go through to the water jacket].
What i'm doing now on any of the studs that the grounds attach to is put a stainless steel nut on the stud and another to tighten against the cables. The stainless nuts won't corrode so the connection should stay good longer but still should be checked occasionally.
Click to expand...

Ah, so there is a "thin" nut under the grounds that secure the stud in place......After I pulled the tranny stick tab off, it almost seemed like the stud worked loose and was only hand tight, allowing some coolant to fuse the connectors to the top nut.

need torque specs so tomorrow (In the day light) I can repair this mess.....15mm ground down to what.......1/8 of an inch?

Torque specs anyone, with a manual or info source?
 
ak diesel driver said:
are you sure that's an intake stud mine were all dry
Click to expand...

It's the stud that the tranny dipstick is also secured too....It's the furthest most stud (on top) that I can see........maybe someone else knows for sure, but Paul and Barry both agree they are wet and make it down to the?.......water jacket?
 
I changed the intake on my 94 about 1 month ago it was dry and I've had the IP off my 96 twice and it was dry
 
Did you remove the Tranny dipstick nut and grounds?.......And if you did, was that stud loose to hand turn/tight?.....maybe your stud never loosened up, hence, no coolant.

Dave, Paul, and Barry said, that last stud hits the water jacket or a coolant block off plate,......and it's a "wet hole":)
 
That stud may be wet, or the coolant could be from the edge of the blockoff plate no longer having any clamping force on it. I can't remember and it's been a while since i've removed one of those coolant blockoff plates.

I can tell you that I'm 100% sure the intake bolts/studs are all dry holes.

I didn't even bother to undo the trans dipstick bolt. The wires on mine were so bad they weren't held on by much at the connectors. I just ripped them free(didn't take much) and moved them over to the intake bolt with the rest of the grounds. The original connectors are still on the trans dipstick stud, 3 years later.
 
I believe that stud being wet is why its better to use a intake bolt. Better conductivity from lack of thread sealant
 
ak diesel driver said:
I believe that stud being wet is why its better to use a intake bolt. Better conductivity from lack of thread sealant
Click to expand...

10-4 on that brother, Just waiting for daylight......It was very hard too see in the dark, even with the underhood reel light.

Barry, you got that wrench handy (the ground down one).......Torque spec on that "wet stud".............Anyone?
 
My bolt was wet, but I didn't have water weeping or pushing out. That swap was a mess because of the damage done to the lower intake by the PO. The next time I removed that bolt it was dry. Just going off of what I was told a while ago. The word I got then was that some pass to oil, some to water so use thread sealant.
I viced the lower edge of the flared nut that is the main one on stud bolt as I didn't have the slimmed down 15mm wrench. That way I didn't pooch the threads.
Concur with AK, 35 or 37 ft lbs on the torque IIRC.
 
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