Last night I removed the oil metering pump and when I went to put the block off plate on one of the bolts snapped off. I put a decent amount of make a gasket stuff on there and the top bolt tightened up nicely, but the bottum bolt snapped off. Must of gotten weak when I removed it.

What does anyone think? Will it be ok with one good tight bolt? I guess I probably won't know until I start the engine and check for leaks, eh?

Any suggestions? Thanks.

 

I would try and get it out and put a new one in. It may not be leaking now but it will because of oil pressure against it.

 

yes it will leak as there is pressurized oil behind it. get that puppy out or get another front cover.

 

No one told you to use shorter bolts. I'm telling you now. Use shorter bolts! This goes for everyone.

Use a very lthick large washer in an attempt to spread some of the pressure from just the one bolt over a larger area. This will also take up some of the bolt's extra length even though it's not really needed at this point. It may eventually leak but could hold for a while.

 

Hey Thanks! I like the idea of using a washer to help spread out the pressure over a larger area of the cover. I might even use 2 if I can't find a big one with a small enough hole.

I don't think the broken one is coming out and I'd rather not replace the front half of the engine at this point!

 

Drill and Helicoil?

 

Easier said than done.

 

Why? Is that bolt hard to access?

 

Cause you are trying to drill out a steel bolt that is stuck in aluminum. The drill bit is going to have a tendency to walk off center and drill into the softer aluminum that is around the broken bolt.

If i were you I'd pull the front cover off the engine and take it to a machine shop. They will definitely be able to get it out, and would helicoil it for you too. Or else see if you can find someone that will just TIG weld a blockoff plate over the OMP opening. That way you don't need the bolt holes at all. You wouldn't ever be able to put the OMP back on, who would want to do that anyway?

Good luck!
Jamie

 

Yes, the drill bit will try to walk off center, but you can start with a good center punch and then a couple pilot drill holes. I've not done that particular broken bolt but I've done others, and as long as I had decent working access I've had good luck. Putting a helicoil in, that is. I don't believe I've ever successfully extracted a bolt with an ez-out.

But you're almost always better off walking the part into a machine shop because they have the right tools and very valuable experience. How long does it take to remove the front cover? Any special tricks?

 

Removing the front cover means pulling all your belt-driven stuff, removing the eccentric pulley, cracking your pan and front-cover seal, and disturbing your front stack.

Which in turn means having to be real careful on reassembling, to make sure you don't drop and pinch the thrust bearings.

Definition of "easy" is known to be highly relative. (grin)

 

#30 drill bit + #2 EZ out = success

 

No kidding. Have you done this a couple times? I'm gloomy about EZ outs.

 

I've had fairly consistent success with them... except for that time the easyout broke off in the bolt.

You can't drill them worth a damn.

 

I have broken off an EZout inside the bolt, but usually it just doesn't get enough purchase on the pilot hole. I've tried tap handles, vice grips, power drills, even impact drivers. I even tried one of those old-fashioned 'impact drivers' that you bang on the end and it twists the hardened bit.

 

How timely is the ad at the bottom. At leaset it was there when I read this thread.

http://www.timesert.com/

 

It knows what we're saying...!

 

a few. im an aircraft machinist and pulling stuck screws is a major part of my job. you just have to know when to back off.

drill the hole, tap (not pound) the EZ out into the hole, and tap it gently as you turn it with an adjustible wrench. if you feel like you are going to snap the ez-out, stop, drill the hole to a #21, and use a #3 ez out. DO NOT BREAK IT OFF IN THE HOLE!!! they are made of HSS (same metal as most drill bits) and are a pain to remove if they have a good bite (ie. rotary ball file and a whole lot of time). a little bit of heat or a shot with an impact hammer might help to break it free before you start too.