Hi Forum members. I was cleaning my engine bay today, and when I started on the shroud at the base of the windshield I noticed something loose in the hole for the driver's side winshield wiper and discovered THIS:


Any ideas where this is supposed to go? I wonder if the previous owners mechanic was a bit lazy and left it there by mistake, or maybe it's the single most important piece that's supposed to keep the engine bolted in...thoughts?

 

It appears to be an inlet manifold bolt, which is an M8 x 65mm.

 

From the corrosion I'd guess exhaust manifold, but how it got up there I can't imagine. Maybe it's an exhaust bolt from someone else's car.

 

Thanks, gents! I'll put it up on the lift and see if there's a bolt missing down there. Thanks for the clues - I'm sure it will help!

 

According to the EPC the exhaust manifold bolts are all the same - M8 by 57.5 - and there are four different sizes/lengths of inlet manifold bolt (all M8) - 30, 50, 65 and 150.
I'm with Steve I reckon it is an exhaust manifold bolt but off some other car.

 

Jaguar hides giant loose bolts in F Types all over the world. Too bad you didn't find the golden one, you'd have won a tour of the chocolate factory!

 

Definitely an exhaust manifold bolt. I saw way too many of those when I was testing the VAP exhaust header.

 

I found a brand new M10 x 160 bolt poking out of the lower front grille on my XJR after washing it a few years back. It was poking out with the bolt head on the inside, and the head was too large to have gone through from the front. I had to remove the bumper cover to get it out. Sadly not golden, although fortunately it didn't appear to have come from my car...