my car gave birth, mystery bolt
 

So..

I find a bolt today underneath the engine/tranny compartment.

It’s a Subaru bolt, 14mm socket and 20mm long (so relatively short) with an "8" stamped on the head.

The bolt is pristine, no grime, oil or even water stains on it and the thread is fresh, so it wasn't bolted into anything.

So the first two questions that run through my head

1. did someone drop a spare bolt in the engine compartment after they put all lower panels on and just said fuck it

2. did someone drop a bolt that they were installing and then said fuck it after they dropped it


Now, I'm at 3000km and had some bumpy rides, along with 2 autocrosses and a track day so I'm curious why it wouldn't have freed itself earlier.. but weirder things have happened

My main concern now is how to cross refrence all the bolts that are 14mm socket and 20mm in length with an "8" stamped on them with all such bolts that are used in the engine/tranny area of the car.

Fucked up, ehh?

14mm is pretty big. That would worry me.

Grade 8 is an SAE standard not a metric one. For a metric bolt I would expect to see 8.8 or something similar. I don't mean to be condescending but I've gotta ask, are you sure it's not 9/16 x 3/4 inches?

What did you name it? Just kidding. 8 is an SAE grade. You should take it to the auto parts store and use the thread display to check.

Mine gave birth to some of the larger plastic clips. Never used clips, like no scoring or anything. I checked the liner and the tray under the car and nothing looks to be missing or feels loose

the problem Ive found is that when you are working top side on this car and you drop something, itll get trapped between the headers and the heatshield/undertray and I cant be arsed to remove the undertray to untrap objects that fall down there.
Im sure thats what has happened in this case.

Grade 8 bolts have 6 triangle marks on them, not the number 8.

Is it 8.8 on it?

i guess you'll find out if it's important or not in the next 500 miles lol.

Sounds exactly like a bolt that would hold the caliper bracket to the hub assembly.

I'm not saying it is, but I'd check those. Any chance you did a brake pad/rotor swap at any point?

lol, no, the calipers are in place solid and i haven't touched the car at all

there is an 8 stamped on the head.. for any reference you guys can pop your hood an look at all the bolts holding various thing sin place and you'll see a few of them have 6 and some have 8 stamped on them.

I found a small yellow plastic clip with lots of grease on it ..
Been meaning to find out where the heck it came from :/

Might still check the bolts - they fit your description pretty well. It could also be something that holds an accessory bracket onto the engine block (AC, alternator, etc), or a motor/transmission mount.

Did you have your oil changed recently? It sounds about the same size as the oil pan plug.