Timing cover plate bolts

[AZDatsun]

The bottom of the three bolts snapped off flush with my head as I was verifying torque. Is there much oil pressure in this area? I have a feeling there shouldn’t be too much oil flow there. My question is could I get away with a new gasket and maybe rtv ultra black and using the other two bolts until I want to drill it out.

The bottom bolt in this pic



 
 
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[heyitsrama]

I would def go with some RTV there. I don’t imagine much oil getting stuck there, certainly some gets stuck there as it drops back into the sump.

[zKars]

This has been an area of annoying persistent leakage for me in the past. Now I always use a sealant on both sides of the gasket. The ones I get in most gaskets sets are thick and hard as a rock, no way they are going to seal without some help and perfect surface prep.

I hate drilling and extracting bolts like that, but there may be enough meat there to go up to M8 if things go sideways.

[Zed Head]

That area is easy access.  Try the sealant, if it leaks, go for the removal.  It sees the same pressure and vacuum as the valve cover gasket.

If it snapped while installing though, it should be very easy to back out.  Unless you used thread-locker.  Shouldn't even need to drill it.

Why would would you even torque those little screws?  Maybe you confused inch-pounds with foot-pounds?  Those are tighten to feel screws.  But I see the Allen head.  You can apply a lot of force through an Allen head.