This weekend I was trying to adjust the cam plate on my H16, which has way too much play in the rudders, and I have all kinds of problems with the cams getting stuck in the locked position. I could not budge either of the bolts, and had to resort to vise-grips to get them out. Once removed, there is still some kind of impediment, as I can't reinsert the bolt into the plate without considerable force.
I'm assuming the bolts are stainless? The plate is aluminum, but it appears to have a helical insert, presumably for strength. I can replace the bolts easily enough, but what should I get. Stainless? This is what the assembly instructions seem to call for. Hopefully I can clean out the cam plates with a tap, as I'd like to not replace them at $25 each!
Is this a dissimilar metals problem? If the stainless is causing the aluminum to corrode, then that would produce incredibly hard aluminum oxide, which would explain the difficulty in removal and reassembly. I'm wondering if I can just use some anti-seize compound? Has anyone else encountered this, and found a workable solution?
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