The bolt snapped while putting my thermostat in. A stud puller for 10mm actually wore down the end of the stud, so it's not responding to the stud puller anymore. Anyone got any ideas? It's soaking in WD-40 right now.

 

BTW: this is *really* important. There are only two bolts holding the thermostat chamber closed, and one of them's broken. Coolant can't stay in if this thing isn't sealed

 

Drill directly down the center of the bolt and use a bolt extrator, AKA an EZ-out.

 

Got any brands I could search for?

 

I would assume most hardware stores would carry them, possibly car parts stores also. Just be careful to start and drill down the center of the bolt as stated above. There shouldn't be much resistance removing the bolt, unless it's crossthreaded. If you do "nick" the threads up you can always use a tap.

 

EZ-OUT is a brand.
Sears would have screw extractors, I'm sure.

 

What's a tap?

 

I snagged some EZ-OUT extractors on eBay--don't know if they're big enough, but I think 3/4 is bigger than 10mm. They're already on the way to my house.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eB...tem=1870112262

 

I tap is a bolt with sections missing on the sides. it is used for sutting new threads in holes.

It's counterpart is a die, which is used for cutting new threads onto cylindrical objects.

They typical go together in a tap and die set.

 

10mm is less than 1/2", you CAN get ez-outs at sears (I have a set) and sometimes you can get a broken bolt out with just a pair of needle nose pliers. If you drill it out, go shallow and straight, so you don't punch through the block or side of the bolt. A tap is a metal rod with metal cutting teeth designed to make threads, it will also clean up buggered threads. If none of this works, try drilling it out one sive larger and installing a heli-coil, which is made pretty much just for this situation.

edit: just looked at your ebay purchase, looks like those should do the trick. Good luck!

 

Hm, but I want to get these other things... the tap and die set... and a heli-coil? What's a heli-coil?

 

http://www.emhart.com/products/helicoil.html

 

Wow! That's genius! I like it a lot!

 

now why does that sound familiar?????

Because it just happened to me....if your bolt is rusted tight like mine, boy, you will have a rough time...I broke a B&D left hand drill and the Sears bolt remover is junk...

so...see my next post for the solution...

 

mazdaformance.com....it's only $155 with everything you see here (waterpump too!) Might as well do it right..

And that's this weekend project...

 

He broke his by over-tightening it. Yours broke due to corrosion.

You should have heated the surrounding aluminum with a torch, then popped a set of vice-grips on it.

 

Holy crap, what a waste of $155! A propane torch and vicegrips would have run you $20, and even if that was impossible, you could have bought a drill bit and a tap for $5!

Cripes! When you break a bolt for your intake manifold, are you going to buy a new engine?

 

nah...what you don't realize is that

1) i need a new waterpump
2) new thermostat
3) the old filler neck cracked, so need a new one
4) and the entire hsg is generally corroded pretty badly...

so....

150 let me do everything right in one shot...

to each his own...

 

Wow. You even got the same exact bolt broken as me. Doesn't that wiring harness on the left hand side, that's supposed to wrap around that bolt, relaly **** you off when you're trying to work a ratchet?

Oh, and mine broke because of rust, too. It was rusted through.

 

Tomorrow, cuz the set won't arrive for a few days, I'm going to attempt using a hand drill without a bit to snag the sucker where the bit would go in the drill, and reverse it. That worked on a Datsun last year, we'll see how well the WD-40's soaked in tonight.

 

did you try a stud remover it is a circle with a hole and the middle spins or is it that the thing you used but you called it a stud puller

 

Yeah, I do have a stud remover set. It was the first thing I tried. Thing is that the stud puller wore down the head of the stud so that it couldn't grip it anymore

 

Find a machine shop store and ask for a left-hand/reverse bit in the approximate size.


-Ted

 

get something better then wd 40

 

Wow my bro had the same problem. (Corroded bolt and bad thermostat) He went to change the thermo and snap. He couldnt get the threaded portion out so off to the yard to get a replacement water pump housing. One Sat later all is good. Its good practice