Curse of the Plenum Spacer

M

MASSIVE

Member
My boy ,Deecarp, and me tried to drop a spacer in my 03 FX35 today. Everything was looking good until we heard a POP :eek:. We were following the insructions to make sure we didn't miss anything and it said to use a torque wrench. Well we did and the nightmare began. Luckly the bolt didn't break off inside and came right out. Spent about the rest of the daylight hours trying to find a replacement bolt. No luck with that at all, a few close calls but nothin. The plus side is that at least we won't be making that mistake again. Word of advise, if you don't already know this, don't use a torque wrench on a bolt that has already been torqued. I don't know much about car's but I'm learnin. I'll post pics of the bolt and some of the work later.
 
The sad thing was the TQ wrench was set to less than 40" pounds required standard and we or I still popped a bolt. So NAPA here I come, I gotta get MAS up to speed. I'm tired of leaving him behind lol...
 
Why... of ALL bolts on the VQ, are the plenum bolts so easy to break? How is the torque spec enough to where this is an almost COMMON problem???

I installed the plenum spacer myself, took it off, tried something else out, didn't work, re-installed it, and only used a torque wrench the first time I put it on.

Never had a problem with ANYTHING related to the spacer and plenum, including snapped bolts. The plenum/spacer was taken off and replaced another 2 times after that by someone else, and again, no snapped bolts.

Seriously, why is it such a common occurrence to snap these bolts, even when using a torque wrench to the rated torque?:mad:
 
the only way to avoid the problem is for the supplier to supply bolt for the inside of the spacer. Of course, that means more work for the people and less for the installer. This is an easy and quick installation, why should it be so hard? Deecarp, I understand the work but give it time my brother, you know I'm hard of hearing. I only hear what I want to hear, but isn't that what's life all about?...LOL
 
I don't have it in front of me, but if I recall, the torque specifications on those bolts are INCH-pounds, not FOOT-pounds. If you are using a torque wrench measured foot-pounds and you apply 40 foot-pounds of force to it, you are actually applying 480 inch-pounds torque.
 
ShadyJC said:
I don't have it in front of me, but if I recall, the torque specifications on those bolts are INCH-pounds, not FOOT-pounds. If you are using a torque wrench measured foot-pounds and you apply 40 foot-pounds of force to it, you are actually applying 480 inch-pounds torque.
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+1
I agree with Shady on this.
 
I installed my MD spacer last monday .
I did not use a TQ wrench because i was afraid to snap a bolt , i used the 10mm socket on a nut driver and tightend it by hand .
And everything is running fine :wink: .
 
Welcome to the scene man!!!

pm picture of your wheels please?

TQ wrenches can be tricky, I'm always afraid to snapped bolts too. Bad habit but I usually just see how tight it was before I take it off and go by feel when tightening stuff up.
 
Yes a TQ wrenches can be tricky if you have never used one. In this case I have used one before in fact I had even set the wrench to 38 inch pounds, not foot lbs. So why is this a common problem?I suspect its common because of tinsle strength. Tq a bolt to the proper specs apply heat to it over time, break the tension when you take it apart. Bolts have been stretched from the heat, and the contract from the cool down period. Now re-troque the bolt, or bolts it's possible that that even applying proper tension could still snap a bolt. As I found out yesterday. Out of all the bolts tighten to the same spec. To have one or two bolts go pop tells me that all bolts aren't equal when it comes to tinsle strength. especially when everything is done the same way. This was the second install I've done, and the first install I didn't have any problems. My suggestion would be to replace all old bolts with new ones, just like we replace old gaskets when you install the spacer. It may lesson the chance of mishaps. Aftermarket bolts, in most cases will have or can be bought w/higher tinsle strength.
 
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We Finsihed the install earlier today and no problem. with the exception of trying to find a bolt replacement. any way I find a replacement bolt and we tighten everything up nicely. Mark took some picture and has the broke bolt, stock, and replacement and he'll psot picture of them all. looking at the replacement bolt you well see it is a little hefter than stock. it tighten up good, So now Mark can say his install is custom because the replacement bolt is red. I took out another stock bolt and paired up the middle bolts to make it look balance with some color. missed shot of that to late now and I don't think we'll be taking the mod off anytime soon. Mark will update w/pic later.
 
Not sure you want to change to a different type of bolt. While it may be stronger, it could cause problems due to a mismatched expansion coefficient.
 
Cube said:
:err: (he means they expand at different rates)
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Gotcha, I understood that would be the case even with the same bolts from factory b/c they would have not been put under the same condition as the old bolts. But, I did ask the sales rep that question ("how would these bolts effect install with heat expansion and tinsle strength?")b4 getting them from Napa. it always a possibility to be mis-led. But it was not like there would be much to gain/profit from them to sell me a bolt thats under a buc. So we hope...
 
Finally Got Some Pics

Well I know I had finished two days ago but I finally got the time to put up the pics. Today got out of work alitte early and I took it out to see if I can notice any really change. It was good to see that this investment paid off. I was really surprised at how smooth the engine flows now that it able to breath alot more air into all 6 cylinders. Good looking out with the help DC, I know it was a pain to look for that bolt but you got it done and we finished.

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Deecarps FX along side my FX. This pic was taken before I took the rails off.

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This was a mock fit to make sure we got everything in the right place and making sure that all the bolts fit in the right place.

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The finished product. One more look over before we connected the battery to fire her up.

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Pic showing the bolt that we used replaced along with with the stock bolt that broke and the other bolt that we took out to replace with the red one.

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A more closer look.

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Not a very good pic but was taken to show how the length of the bolts.
 

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its the MREV2 manifold TM, comparable with the FX engine? and if i dont have a REV up engine will still work?
 
Rubare said:
its the MREV2 manifold TM, comparable with the FX engine? and if i dont have a REV up engine will still work?
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The engine is the same as far as specs. I don't know anyone that has this mod, but i don't see why it's not possible. I would give motordyne a call to be sure. I think the only thing you might have to look at it swamping the lower plenum and maintaining the upper on. There is a possibility that it might not fit, but then they would have a raised upper plenum as part of the kit.
 
i was going by the comment on their website saying " the engine in the 350Z and G35 its the same as the engine in the FX35.. i will look more into it.. i think it would be a great mood for the fx along with the 1/2" copper iso thermal plenum spacer.. I'll see what i found out about this.. thank you much for the info!
 
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