O2 Housing Bolt Size & Dirty Question...lol

[tighty]

Hey everyone,

I was removing my O2 housing so that I could port it and one of the bolts (the lower one towards the inside thats a bi***! to get out) got kinda F'd up during the process. I was thinking of buying some stainless steel ones to put in there to help with rust and such. Does anyone know what the size of the bolts are that I need and where I can get them? I did run over to Home Depot but couldn't find what I needed.

On to the dirty question, when I was taking it off I noticed that there is a lot of crud on both sides (left and right of the exhaust manifold) of the water pipe (see pics). It looks like carbon buildup. My valve cover gasket has been leaking for a while and that could be the problem but I just wanted to make sure its not something leaking from my exhaust manifold. Please let me know what you think.

 

[SpooledGSX98]

I dont think that is carbon build-up...just looks like nasty regular ol gritty oil. You said your valve cover gasket is leaking, so oil is spraying/getting on your water lines, etc. then dust and dirt is sticking to it like glue. When the engine is cool, spray some brake cleaner or degreaser on the area and take the hose to it (use a nozzle, make sure not to hit the alt, etc.) should clean it up... As to your bolt size question, sorry man. Im still on a T25, i wouldnt know anything about those bolts, yet. But im probably gonna slap my ported Evo3 O² housing on tonight, maybe Mario knows, i'll ask... hope that helps.

 

[oldman]

1. the o2 housing bolts are just like the turbo bolts design to expand under high temperature, I would stick with OEM. This is where I got mine.
http://www.diamondstarmotorsport.com/miscparts.shtml

2. The dirt is just the valve cover oil leak buildup, soak it with engine degreaser for 15 min and rinse off with water.

 

[tighty]

Thanks for the replies. I'm glad its just oil cause I don't want to replace the manifold gasket heh. I'm still on a T25 too, its just right now I have access to a 2nd car for about 2 weeks and can let it sit in the garage (house sitting kicks ass) and not have to worry about having it back together anytime soon. I was putting my downpipe back on and just decided to port match the o2 housing while I was at it just for fun, I don't expect a huge increase in power, but it was good experience for porting.

Damn! $6 for a bolt?! , I wish I didn't mess it up now =(. While we're at it, should I get a new turbo to o2 housing gasket while its off? It didn't look bad but I don't really want it to leak after I put it back together.

Thanks again for the info.

 

[oldman]

It's always a good idea to change the gasket.