you can drill the broken bolt out.

 

it's also just a plastic cover..
rip that sucker off. lol

 

^^^Typical Justin lol.

 

I had the same problem, the two bolts were rusted and the head snapped off clean. Only way is to drill it out.
You might be able to hold it with zip ties.

If it makes you feel any better, I kept mine off the car and it's been over 3 years now and my car sees a lot of salt. No problems for me.

 

That cover got tossed as soon as I got it off..

 

MAYBE the cover helps with aerodynamics. Maybe.
however; with the amount and frequency that I fuck with my car, it wasnt worth drilling out the bolt to replace the stupid plastic cover.

 

Now I feel like an idiot because I've messed with securing/removing that same cover about 4 different times doing trans fluid drain and refills....I figured it had to be important lol. Looks like i'm tearing that thing off for good next time.

 

I think it design to catch any small leak instead.

 

there are people in this world that are just super anal retentive and WOULD LOVE TO PUT THE Plastic cover back on, each time.

I am not one of those people. again, It may help air pass over without any turbulance... but that benefit maybe SUPER small.

 

Does the plastic cover help to protect the transmission from dirt or road debris only? I am going to do the metal tie wrap with a metal coat hanger or plastic tie wrap.

 

it's a plastic cover.
any kind of substantial road debris will punch right through it.
dirt and mud can go through the cracks as it's an open design.

if you want to keep it, use the hanger idea.

 

Y'all cover haters are out of your minds.

I'd strongly recommend keeping the cover, OP.

Drill the bolt out or whatever you wanna do. But keep the cover.

They're not useless. They do protect from debris. Not having one makes a HUGE difference if you drive in salt and would like to keep corrosion minimized.

And they keep things from the road like animal guts, human feces, rotted food, blood, urine, raccoon butthole sweat, and mud from getting on your belt and slinging all over the engine which you will at some point, will touch with your hands and/or genitals.

OEM's spend HUGE money on designing the cover. Figures that would make you clutch your chest. Its there for many good reasons.

Keep the cover.

 

 

Plastic tie wrap should hold better (and not rust). Use a few of them if there's a question of strength. Just make sure you tie them to something solid.

Is it just one bolt that broke? So the cover is drooping a bit or something?

 

Also, did the bolt break whilst tightening or loosening?

If you broke it when tightening...it should come back out pretty easy. Can you reach the other side of the weld nut? If the bolt stud is sticking through, you can probably just turn it out by hand. A screw extractor bit is another way to quickly remove it. Or...if you use a drill on the broken stud, it will likely jusy spin itself out in 0 seconds.

If it broke on the way out...can you grab the stud with vise grips? Turn it using vise grips.

Or...can you just break the weld nut off and use a regular nut?

All things that seem like a huge task in 10F weather, I know.

It should be a M6x1.0 bolt/screw. Its a JIS style C10.9 flange screw, if were being fancy. McMaster car should carry them for cheap.

Torque is maybe 7LB-FT. So very very light. I anti-sieze all of mine.

 

Just the front bolt got snapped while removing it. I did the plastic tie wrap and metal wire coat hanger tie down and feel pretty strong and solid. Thanks

 

You had me at racoon butthole sweat glad mine is still on

 

Now you know why they're always rubbing their hands together like they're plotting something.

They're just roaming the Earth, looking for cars without splash shields.

 

​​​​it’s too cold (10 F and windy in Boston) and street parking, it VERY HARD to use drill or vise to remove the snapped bolt underneath the car under this weather conditions. I was able to manage to secure it with a tire wrap and metal coat hanger under 20 minuets. I don’t want it to get caught in the snow plow and bend and dangling and making noises with the ground.

 

Right on, man. Its been in the negatives and singles here. I feel you.