[Peter_Griffin_Gaming]

So, I was researching a crank seal cover, as I need to get in there and replace the serp. belt soon. Decided to go with the malo industries crank guard, and purchased their aluminum bolts to go with it for piece of mind against corrosion.

I was wondering if anyone on here had done this install before with their ALU bolts, and if so, what a good tourqe value is (and if I should use locktite). The only thread I can find on here indicates that people have had trouble finding a correct tourqe spec for these bolts, so I was wondering if anyone else had input on this.

[Leucosticte]

I just did this, the torque spec is 15 ft lbs written on the instructions that they send. The issue is that these aluminum bolts strip out at around 6 ft lbs, at least that's what my digital torque wrench said.

[Brian86]

Are they the same size/pitch as the oil pan screws?

If they are I think that would be a good place to start. The crank guard doesn't have a gasket under it, but the through-hole depth is similar so the joints are relatively similar.

[Peter_Griffin_Gaming]

Originally Posted by Leucosticte

I just did this, the torque spec is 15 ft lbs written on the instructions that they send. The issue is that these aluminum bolts strip out at around 6 ft lbs, at least that's what my digital torque wrench said.

As in these specific bolts? Because alu bolts are used all over the N52, with higher tourqe specs than 6 ft-lbs...

[Peter_Griffin_Gaming]

Originally Posted by Brian86

Are they the same size/pitch as the oil pan screws?

If they are I think that would be a good place to start. The crank guard doesn't have a gasket under it, but the through-hole depth is similar so the joints are relatively similar.

I think the pitch may be the same, at the very least. Thanks for that suggestion.

[Leucosticte]

Originally Posted by Peter_Griffin_Gaming

As in these specific bolts? Because alu bolts are used all over the N52, with higher tourqe specs than 6 ft-lbs...

I'm not talking about the threads, I'm talking about the head of the bolt where the socket goes. There's a really small area of contact there for your socket and it seems that it just strips out as you apply torque since it is soft aluminum. I made sure that the socket was set properly in the hole and the last torque reading I got from my digital torque wrench was 6 ft lbs. In all honestly this will probably be fine, but I'm going to hammer a bigger socket onto it and hopefully get it out. Things like this are why Allen bolts are my least favorite type of bolt to deal with on any car.

The aluminum bolts used on the N52 are all e-torx if I remember correctly which makes the soft aluminum mostly irrelevant compared to an Allan bolt, since there are multiple solid points of contact you can actually apply torque to them without them just stripping out.