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Oil rail bolt..whoops

15K views 12 replies 5 participants last post by  NickUSN 
#1 ·
Did standpipes and dummy plugs yesterday, passenger side kicked my butt. At some point, I was about to pull the oil rail, but was able to get the standpipe out without pulling it. On reinstall of the oil drain rail bolts I dropped one inside the head and fished it out with a magnet. I then reinstalled all the bolts (so I thought) and moved on. Apparently, I set one bolt down on the truck when I dropped the other one (I had placed all the bolts on a shop towel as I pulled them). I didn’t realize I had missed the bolt till I was nearly done putting everything back together.

So how much trouble is this one bolt uninstalled going to be? I was just going to run it as is and reinstall next time, when/if I pull the valve covers.

Thoughts?

-Nick
 
#3 ·
I subscribed to your thread earlier to learn from the responses. I didn't respond personally because I don't know for certain if it can be reliably run that way. There's big loads and heat cycling on those fasteners.

You didn't say year. Regardless, your post reminded me of this:

For all the 03 guys out there if you're ever into the valve covers change out the oil log bolts (oil rail). You can fit slightly longer ones in it. Had a guy bring me a no start. Air test passed. Closed IPR and cranked over and it would make 450. Keep closed and it would drop to 150 then slowly subside. 4 of the bolts pulled the threads clean out. When I would crank it the rail would move! Crazy stuff.

It's just a testament to the high forces.

Maybe Sean (LoxDiesel) will stop by and offer his thoughts. He'll get a notification from my quote. His opinion matters.
 
#5 ·
Ya know... that's what I thought at first, too. You can read the whole exchange if you click the little triangle-dot thing above the comment.

My favorite part of it was the explanation that - to the owner of this truck - "everyday is race day..."

I'm not trying to be pessimistic. It may truly not matter. ...and I can understand the lack of enthusiasm at the prospect of going back in.

One of the gurus will chime in, I'm sure.
 
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#6 ·
As soon as I saw it sitting there...%&*!...and there is a major lack of enthusiasm to go back in. It’s a PITA to work around BPD’s oil hoses anyways. Not to mention, my rig sits on 37s with a 6” lift. There are benefits to working on a lifted truck, this is not one of them.
 
#7 ·
MY advice to you... Just go in and do it. Good news is that its probably a lesson you won't forget.

Its a what if that I personally wouldn't risk. Look at it this way, how much more pissed would you be if you went to crank it when leaving for work (or on your way home) and she didn't build oil pressure. Or worse, is it worth the chance that the truck may act up when you NEED to get somewhere.

Its also not worth the risk of a very slight vibration may cause other leaks down the road (Injector o-rings..........).
 
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#8 ·
Pretty much what I figured. But, I have a feeling that the shop that did my studs, and a bunch of other stuff, is going to have to go back in anyways. I didn’t have any long cranks issues that progressed to no hot start prior and I think they screwed up the new STC. This was updated with my BPD kit. I changed standpipes and dummy plugs in place of a 3.5hr drive each way, and who knows how long till it’s fixed, but standpipes and dummy plugs looked fine (previously updated). I just wanted to see if it fixed my no hot start issues and long crank. Such is life with the 6.0, I guess.
 
#9 ·
Did standpipes and dummy plugs yesterday, passenger side kicked my butt. At some point, I was about to pull the oil rail, but was able to get the standpipe out without pulling it. On reinstall of the oil drain rail bolts I dropped one inside the head and fished it out with a magnet. I then reinstalled all the bolts (so I thought) and moved on. Apparently, I set one bolt down on the truck when I dropped the other one (I had placed all the bolts on a shop towel as I pulled them). I didn’t realize I had missed the bolt till I was nearly done putting everything back together.



So how much trouble is this one bolt uninstalled going to be? I was just going to run it as is and reinstall next time, when/if I pull the valve covers.



Thoughts?



-Nick


You're good. i've seen people leave two of the "difficult" bolts out. The truck I showed was an 03. You're fine, enjoy your Memorial Day!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
#10 ·
Thank you, I checked everything with my hands, but it was getting dark. I had everything hooked up but the hot side pipe. Like I said, that thing felt rock solid with all the bolts out. With such little torque on those bolts, I wouldn’t think they’d be pervious to coming loose. At any rate, it’s in a bag on my bench as a solid reminder to install next time I’m in there.
 
#11 ·
Welp, she started on the 3rd round of cranking. Watched IPR hit 85% and ICP slowly rise over 500 and start. Let her idle for awhile and took her for a spin down the road. Got on it pretty good and POW...hot side popped off. No big deal, just a few miles down the road, turned around and limped her home. No damage, band clamp was hanging out in the engine bay..no big deal. So I decided to go ahead and try to restart. IPR 85% but ICP won’t rise over 300...same issue again. I’ve done some searching, some reading, and I am thinking STC (new) or ICP.

I’ll list mods on my truck before we go any further.
07 with 166,000
K&N intake (next thing to go, POS), EGR delete, P-max turbo, studded, heads machined, chromoly push rods, BPD full oil cooler kit, all new gaskets and seals from heads up. STC was updated for the BPD kit. The shop said my standpipes and dummy plugs were already updated and they just added new seals. I’ve had long crank issues since I got it back, but not when hot, been talking to BPD and the shop the entire time. Since I got a no hot start a few weeks ago, we thought dummy plugs and I decided to do this myself rather waste a 3.5 drive to TX and the difficulties of hauling two kids + wife to following me down and have to retrieve the truck at a later date. Anyways, FICM 48.5-49. Batts looked like they were starting to fail when I got the truck back so I went ahead and put brand new interstate batteries in.

I haven’t noticed and rough idles, no surging, or anything otherwise to make me think the truck was running bad. Everything appears to be fine once started. IF I disconnect the ICP and the truck starts fine, would that indicate ICP has gone bad? Or to symptoms otherwise dictate that nothing is wrong with ICP and I should be looking further back at STC. I’m hesitant at pointing fingers at the shop, because I honestly think they do good work. I’m not going to blast them either, everyone makes mistakes.

Also, BPD customer service is top notch. Andrew is a good dude, after eliminating the BPD kit, he still was ready and willing to continue troubleshooting with me.

Thanks for the help. I plan on putting that bolt in whenever I decide to go with bigger injectors or get bored and want to pull the valve cover.
 
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