Help w/bolt missing from engine (pics)
 

Hey, I was changing my oil last night, and I was giving the engine a cursory look over, and I noticed this bolt missing:

http://members.bellatlantic.net/~vze...enginebolt.jpg

I'm not sure how critical this is, but I've just noticed it, and it's been at least a couple of weeks since I had the hood open... Also, I can't gaurantee that it wasn't missing before that.

I guess what I'm asking is: Am I flirting with death here, or is my car going to be OK until I can get it to the dealer?

Second question: Are there part numbers for bolts? And if so, does anyone know what this one is?

Thanks in advance guys...

It's a bolt for the heat guard on your manifold. It's not a big problem.

You do need to get it replaced because otherwise it will allow your heatsheild to vibrate and work out all the other sheild bolts and then you will get this loud metal rattle when you rev the engine because the heat sheild wont be held down.

ive experienced something similar with the catalyser heat shield under the car,i used to rev the engine and I would hear that beautiful sound coming from nowhere..i found out what it was and simply attached the shields with a bracket,wich loosened again later.
I tore off the damn shield.

As long as it's off, take off the other 3 and take that thing off and polish it!

how old is your car? mine was about 3-4 weeks old, and i had that same bolt loosen up on me. i was admiring my engine bay, and notice that bolt was about 1/4" out and spinning freely. i tightened it up, but then i went to my dealer and had them check ALL the bolts in the engine bay to make sure no other ones were loose. i didn't want any important bolts to be flying off while running down the freeway.

Great... that's probably been missing for a very long time then. I've had my car almost 4 months, but a couple of months ago, I noticed that the engine had a little rattle to it that I didn't notice before... It wasn't consistant with the 2700 RPM thing eveyone else was getting. I finally decided that my engine was going to sound like that know that it's broken in. I was really bummed at first, but soon forgot about it. Now I'm hoping this fixes it.

ohhh great mine is missing too.

hello mr dealer why the F%#K is a bolt missing on my engine??

You better cheack ALL the nuts and bolts on the vital parts.:mad: :mad:

quote when i told my dealer: "oh yeah, when i was filling my washer fluid, i noticed the heat shield bolts were loose. you want to check ALL the bolt in the engine bay and under side to make sure they are nice and snug? thanks."

i actually broke one of mine off, ill show you on sat!!!:doh:

Impressive photo work there Burb, Ace Hardware should fix you up for about 55 cents. And Traveler's right polished galvanized is so trick.

In reality we're just talking extra weight here. I think its an omin. Your car is just tring to shake off some lbs. Help it out and remove the other rest of the fasteners. Its just there to hold the heat in the converter, and cover that ugly ass manifold. Its not shielding you or the radiator from anything. That sucker gets as hot as a firecracker.

Zeus...

I think what you really mean is "You're going to have to remove the heat shield when you put your turbo on anyway, so why bother"

Dam I just posted the same shit on the other thread, I lost a heat shield bolt too :mad: This shit is crazy! $2.00 for a replacement from Mazda

be careful putting them in i snapped one.PING!

Get this... they don't have one in stock, so I have to order it. It's going to be $5.00. I say, oh hell, if it's going to be that much for a 10 cent bolt, you're going to have to put it on my warranty. The lady says: "in order to put it under warranty, you have to bring the car in, show us that the bolt is missing, then let us order it - how about bringing your car down next wednesday"

I say "How about I go down to True Value and do it myself in 10 minutes for 15 cents."

She says "I don't know, you might void your warranty if you do those kinds of repairs on your own"