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heli coil question

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RespectTheContour

Hard-core CEG'er
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Oct 8, 2005
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anyone have this done to their car? im curious to see what the cost was...aircougar was going to help me out but i just cant seem to get any free time during the weekends so im having a local shop do it cause i need the car back asap and they told me $400-$500, i talked them down to $300 but i want to make sure that im not getting screwed :)
 
Um, what exactly would you be helicoiling? An exhaust stud hole? A bellhousing bolt hole? A head bolt hole? a spark plug hole? a seat mounting hole? A door handle pull hole? a hole in your head?
 
For $300, if they are taking responsibility for any screwups, I'd say its not a bad deal.

It's not a terribly difficult job to do, but the margin for error is extremely small when drilling out and retapping the hole for the heli coil insert. Many ford dealers have a lot of experience with it because of the whole 5.4L 2V spark plug debacle . . .
 
I was just reading this thread and am curious: would you need to remove the head to do this? $300 seems really cheap to pull the head, drill, tap, and helicoil a spark plug hole, but I'm wondering how you would do it without getting metal shavings and the helicoil "tail" piece inside the cylinder if you didn't remove the head...
 
It can be done without head removal, but like I said the margin for error is small. Also, the don't need to take off the intake to do it, but it does make things a bit easier to access with the tap and everything. Ford actually makes a Rotunda tool kit for doing this exact job on an F-150 (5.4L 2V)
 
Just trying to get a little better understanding for this is exaxtly, from what I googled, I'm guessing this is basically a retapping procedure? An I'm assuming that someone stripped out his sparkplug threads? would I be correct or way off??
 
CSVT_2004 said:
Just trying to get a little better understanding for this is exaxtly, from what I googled, I'm guessing this is basically a retapping procedure? An I'm assuming that someone stripped out his sparkplug threads? would I be correct or way off??
Click to expand...


correct. from what i understand it is fairly easy to strip the plug holes on a aluminum head when it is warm. hence why you always let the engine cool before you change the plugs
 
CSVT_2004 said:
Just trying to get a little better understanding for this is exaxtly, from what I googled, I'm guessing this is basically a retapping procedure? An I'm assuming that someone stripped out his sparkplug threads? would I be correct or way off??
Click to expand...
The retapping is part of the procedure. You need to retap the hole that was stripped originally, which makes a larger hole, and then you return it to the original size/pitch by threading in a helicoil, which is just what it sounds like, a coil of very strong wire (spring steel I believe?). There's a little piece on the end of the coil that breaks off and the shock from the fracture permanently locks the helicoil in place in the hole and you're good to go.
 
well i got the car back today and the final total was $83.40 :D haha, im psyched to have this thing back up and running...i was racking waaaaaaaay too many miles up on the GLI
 
rollinstylee said:
The retapping is part of the procedure. You need to retap the hole that was stripped originally, which makes a larger hole, and then you return it to the original size/pitch by threading in a helicoil, which is just what it sounds like, a coil of very strong wire (spring steel I believe?). There's a little piece on the end of the coil that breaks off and the shock from the fracture permanently locks the helicoil in place in the hole and you're good to go.
Click to expand...

No like locktight or anything like that required? just semi boind with the material and locks in, that's pretty sweet..
 
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