Stripped nut/stud: I need opinions
 

Upon removal of my UIM I discovered that the intake pipe that attaches to the throttle body was stuck on there. One of the studs that originates in the thorttle body and goes through the pipe is apparently stripped. The nut just spins on the stud, and wont come off. The stud itself stays stationary.

I called up Ray at Malloy and apparently the studs in the throttlebody are not a replaceable item. At least he doesn't sell them.

What should I do?

Should I get out the cutting wheel cut the stripped stud off...drill out the stud...and weld in a new miscellaneous stud sourced from lowes?

Or should I buy a used throttle body off the forums for $50

Or do any of you guys have any ideas?

The car will be pushing 15 psi from a GT35R so this needs to be secure (as it does in any boosted car...but I am just saying..)

Thanks in advance....

Brian

Cut the nut off so you can get the elbow off, then remove the stripped stud from the throttle body by unscrewing it. Ray's right; I don't see a part number for it so Mazda doesn't sell them. They're nothing special though. Absolute worst case if you can't find the proper length stud you could use a plain bolt.

I wouldn't bother getting another throttle body over it.

I agree with DamonB use a splitter or Dremel to cut the nut off and inspect the damage.

Don't know about removing the stud out of the throttle body it could be bonded in.

If the thread has gone completely you could use a Die set and make a slightly smaller thread size on the stud and just use a smaller sized nut to hold the elbow on.

It could be tricky to drill out the stud because it's a steel stud in an aluminium housing.

Good luck mate!

I had two of mine snap on me when I was bolting my bonnet on during my motor re-install. Just go to home depot or your local hardware store and get the longest equivalent size bolt they have there, then just cut it a bit shorter to the length that goes into the throttle body. They just screw in and out.... shouldn't be a big deal to fix at all.

Good luck

Thanks guys...

I guess I will just cut it off and go from there. It is on the bottom of the throttle body so if I used a bolt it wouldn't be seen, however it would be difficult to get to if I had to use two wrenches to tighten/remove.

Remove the throttle body and the intake elbow together so you can work on it easier.

Just grab it with a pair of vice grips and unscrew the dang thing. It's not a big deal.

The UIM and throttle body are off of the car. The UIM is getting powder coated. The throttle body and pipe are still connected.

I was refering to, if I was to put a bolt through the throttle body in place of the stud...you would have to grip the nut and the head of the bolt to tighten/loosen it. Unless I welded the bolt head to the throttle body itself....thats an idea.

I wanted to use the vice grips to take it out...but the nut just spins on the stud and it is right at the end of the stud so I have nothing to grip with the vice grips.

No, you'd just screw the bolt into the throttle body and not use a nut.

If you plan on removing any of your emissions stuff and using block-off plates, you can use one of the studs from that stuff to replace the stripped one.