broken thermostat bolt, Please Help! (1 Viewer)

[clyde60]

Hi guys
after much lurking in the forums and gaining of invaluable knowledge I finally worked up the courage to replace the dodgy water pump on my trusty 60. Having an absolute ball pulling everything possible out (hoses, radiator, belts etc.) and screwing about replacing it all.
Got a bit carried away though and what was a really fun time has turned bad when I tried to get the thermostat cover off and managed to shear off the first bolt I tried to undo.
You may have got the idea that I'm a bit of a novice at all this and you'd be right, so please any advice about how the hell to get the broken bolt out would be much appreciated.
Oh by the way I'm in Melbourne Australia.
Cheers

1985 HJ60 Sahara (clyde)
Pedders suspension 31" BFG All Terrains
Dual batteries
Custom Roller Drawers and rear bed

 

[gulp3000]

http://www.sears.com/sr/javasr/search.do?BV_UseBVCookie=Yes&verticalFullName=&keyword=easy+out&displayTarget=searchresultsThis might help.

 

[Sotagoon]

Help Me Too

If it makes you feel any better, I did the same last week.

I have been driving around with 3 tight bolts and one broken.

Luckily...when I get the right info on getting it out...the bolt is about 3/4's long still, so I'll have something to get a hold on.

Please advise on the best way to extract.

Thanks

 

[brett76]

mine was broken when i got to it. i jsut sadi fxxx it and tightened down the other three again when i was done. no problems yet

 

[jwest]

Depneding on how stuck it is...

You might be better off just getting yourself a used/new housing. I bet you can find one in Melbourne, as many diesel cruisers as I'm guessing you have there.

If you have part of the bolt sticking out of the housing, you could try vice grips.

If not, you're looking at drilling a hole down the middle (preferabley reverse bits), hitting it with penetrating oil, heating/cooling, and using ez outs. Any or all of the above might extract it... or it might not.

In the end, you'd spend more in time, energy and money that you would've on a replacement housing.

.

 

[jwest]

Ah, you could also weld a bolt to it.

 

[ben1be]

Its not problem. I snapped two, but when you remove the thermostat cover enough of the broken bolt stuck out to get a small pipe wrench on it. After spraying it with Kreen, it came right out. If there was`nt enough showing, I was going to use one of those broken bolt extractors they sell at Sears.

Mike

 

[Tinker]

Couldn't tell from the Sears pix if they're the old tapered reverse "thread" extractors or not. If so, forget it & get ones from Snap-On that consist of a splined shaft & a collar. You drill a hole in the bolt (using a reverse drill if you have it just in case the bolt wants to come out that way), pound the shaft in, slide the collar on, & screw the bolt stub off. They come in 1/8, 3/16, & 1/4" drill sizes. Only way to go IHMO.

However, they didn't work on a broken/stuck mounting bolt in my '85 pickup trans a couple weeks ago. Must have been epoxied in or something.

 

[Slow N Steady]

I recently rebuilt the motor - most of the screws and bolts were hosed! So much so that the bolt heads crumbled when I put a wrench on them. Panick set in and I went to the local Sears tool board to see whet could help me. I bought these -
http://www.sears.com/sr/javasr/product.do?BV_UseBVCookie=Yes&vertical=TOOL&pid=00952162000

The absolute best investment I ever made. Saved my knuckles, prevented the neighborhood kids from learning new words, the best! They have two versions out now, one with a ratchet fitting on the end and one without. Get the one with it. Good luck!

 

[Skniper]

I broke one of mine off as well awhile back....turns an easy job into complete s*** for sure.
I sequentially drilled the broken piece out and fianlly got enough out to start running a tap in. Problem is the aluminum housing is not strong enough to hold the tap so a lot of it got stripped out...go slooooooooooooowww!!!
I put it all back together with three tight and one loosish bolt...didn't leak a bit throughout a Texas summer.
Just replaced the whole top & bottom housing two days ago with one I sourced used...tight as a cat's ass now!

Btw, make anti-sieze compound your new best friend...I put it on every friggin' bolt and screw I touch now, it works!...and it tastes better than vegimite!!!

 

[JBBenson]

I broke the last bolt in the housing. After alot of effort with different methods, I ended up buying a new lower housing as well, with all new bolts for everything.

A lot of effort and $ for no-brainer thermo replacement. Ha.

Don't forget the upper gasket.

 

[clyde60]

Thanks Guys

Thanks for all the replies guys, I managed to get the other bolts out no problems, (went really slooooowly!) Theres still about a centimeter sticking out on the broken one so I've been soaking it in WD40 overnight, I'm going to give it a try with the vice grips later today.
If that fails I think I might just buy a replacement housing. Too much farting about involved, I'd rather be enjoying the process than stressing about it. Plus the better half is making really worried noises at me!!!

 

[lovetoski]

I've been soaking it in WD40 overnight, I'm going to give it a try with the vice grips later today.

WD40 was designed as a water-displacement spay, and while it can work to loosen stuck bolts/etc it's not ideal. If you can, try to find a penetrating oil that's specifically designed for rusted/corroded nuts/bolts. Any auto parts store will be able to recommend a good prodcut I'm sure.

Since you have one cm protuding, the odds are good that this will turn out OK. Props for diving in and doing the work. I started out a novice like you, and now am a novice with a little bit of experience. I'm still not sure if that's an improvement or not...

 

[clyde60]

Thanks Lovetoski
just tried the bolt with the vice grips and no luck, just grinding away more bolt!
So its a trip off to the auto store to try and get some penetrating oil. You live and learn. I really need one truck to pull apart and make all the mistakes on and one to actually do properly!

 

[clyde60]

Seems like its my lucky day!

just a quick follow up to earlier discussion, I couldn't get the bolt out of the thermostat housing (much to my disgust) so thought bugger it I'll just get a new thermostat housing, very gently undid the bolts holding it to the engine and worked it loose.

Much to my astonishment I found what you can see in the attached pic!
The housing is rotten through! All I can say is thankyou cruiser gods for snapping the bolt otherwise I would never have removed the housing and discovered this until I was 500 Kms from nowhere and all my coolant fell out!

All you other guys in a similar situation, I'd highly reccomend taking off the housing and having a good check. The hole in the picture was made by very gently pushing with a screwdriver.

I can't believe I'm giving advice on checking thermostat housings!! a couple of days ago I didn't even know what one was!

 

[lovetoski]

All I can say is thankyou cruiser gods

Cool! See, you are a newb, but we all learned something!

 

[jwest]

Don't forget the gasket for the lower housing.

Here's another tip. When you're ready, start filling the engine block with coolant right there at the lower thermostat housing. Fill it to the neck. If you have the truck on an incline, nose up, even better. Install the tstat, gaskets, and upper housing, cinch it all up, ...and then fill the rad. Saves time and helps with bleeding.

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