Broke bolt on coolant passages on top of engine... help

[dieselfuelonly]

So apparently just because it was a grade 8 bolt, it did NOT mean we were clear for takeoff with the breaker bar.

Any ideas on how I should get it out? I was going to try wiggling the passage assembly up and then get at the rest of the broken bolt with some vice grips, but it doesn't want to budge much. The same bolt on the other set of passageways was harder to get out than the others on the side that I did manage to remove... not sure why its just that bolt. I'm afraid I would break off a stud remover because it required a fair amount of force to get the others out.

On the side that I did get off, all but 1 of the gaskets broke... can I get replacement gaskets from anywhere? I was going to try to make some with some gasket material but that didn't go to well.

Could I just use some RTV?

Thanks for any ideas that will help me make a little more progress... my day off is not going to well so far.

 

[ctmustang]

drill and helicoil. Try George at White Owl Truck Parts on the gaskets. No you can't just use rtv there.

 

[clinto]

Were that me, I'd get the manifold off and weld a nut to the remainder of your bolt and turn it out with that.

 

[Kohburn]

before drilling it out I would try welding a nut onto whaterver is left sticking out. often the heat of welding will losen the frozen threading and it will come out easily, otherwise take a torche to it for a while to get it hot. Only once have I failed to get a broken bolt or stud out by using the old blue wrench.

 

[Westech]

well there is alot of bolt left.. you dont have to drill that out..... Soak it with PB blaster over night and use a stud remover. it will pop right out. IF not.. get a reverce drill bit that will drill it out and spin the bolt out.

 

[WillWagner]

Once you get the manifold off it will probably come out easily. The reaction of aluminum and the bolt might be what did it in. Soak it good with a good rust penetrant and work the manifold off...don't pry on the gasket surface, you'll have a leak when you go together. As stated above, the gaskets can be had at all the big parts places...White Owl, Memphis, etc. The bolt is 2 1/4 long, kinda an oddball, I replaced all of mine when I did the head gaskets 'cause the same thing happened! Use anti seize on re assembly!

 

[WillWagner]

Forgot to say, when you get the manifold off, give the stuck bolt a rap or two with a hammer, it helps loosen the stuck part.

 

[dieselfuelonly]

Yeah I wish I could get the manifold off it would make my life a lot easier... but I just don't have enough wiggle room with it to get it to move up... I can only turn it on the axis of the stuck bolt a fraction of an inch. Though maybe I could drill down the bolt part way and it would collapse it enough to make it easier to remove the manifold.

 

[WillWagner]

Got a propane torch? Heat the manifold slightly.

 

[cranetruck]

If/when drilling, use left handed bits. It was suggested by Will when I had a similar problem a couple of years ago and it worked like a charm. He even sent me a set of bits, which I'm thankful for (they still come in handy from time to time).

 

[dieselfuelonly]

Still no luck... unfortunately I don't have a set of left handed drill bits so I used what I had. I was hoping that if I drilled closer to one edge that this would allow me enough wiggle room and take enough pressure off the manifold and bolt to get the manifold off.

I don't want to drill down any further, I'm near the bottom of the manifold now and want to leave enough of the broken bolt hanging out so I can get at it with some vice grips once I do get it off.

I pried the hard-as-a-rock old piece of hose off, thinking maybe that was keeping me from moving the manifold up, but no luck there either.

I was hoping to figure out a way to give the manifold a few good whacks from the underside of the truck to see if I might be able to pop it loose from whats left of the bolt but I don't think there is enough clearance there either.

The torch is a good idea but unfortunately I don't have one any more.

Any more ideas? Man I was hoping to be done with changing those hoses and have my oil changed today... look how well that's going

Thanks so much for all the help everyone, this is a great forum.

 

[OldDominionIron]

well there is alot of bolt left.. you dont have to drill that out..... Soak it with PB blaster over night and use a stud remover. it will pop right out. IF not.. get a reverce drill bit that will drill it out and spin the bolt out.

my choice exactly. Try Grainger's or McMaster-Carr for left handed drill bits. Greenlee makes a square bolt/stud extractor that is much better than the round, spiral-cut ones.

 

[badgmc56]

Try a two jaw puller under the manifold at the broken bolt with the threaded part of the puller directly over the bolt. Use a short bolt the same diameter to go against the broken bolt and work the puller SLOWLY till the manifold pulls up and off. Then you can remove the broken bolt as others have said.

 

[dieselfuelonly]

Well, I think I've found part of the problem - I don't think the bolt is stuck in the block - I think its stuck in the part of the manifold that it runs through. I was looking closer at it and noticed that the head of the bolt didn't break off flush with the top of the manifold. However, on the part of the bolt that is stuck in the manifold is just about level with the top of the manifold.

That's all to say I think the bolt started coming out and then froze up inside the manifold. When I move the manifold around a little bit, I can move it side to side and even up and down just a little, yet what remains of the bolt doesn't move at all inside the hole drilled through the manifold.

Unfortunately in my attempts to drill out a little more I drilled into the hole in the manifold a bit when the bit skipped over... didn't go all the way through but it definitely did take out more than I would have wanted to. I'm starting to wonder if I could temporarily attach some kind of a "guide" washer to the top of the manifold and then use a larger bit and drill out the bolt completely as well as "round off" the hole in the manifold where I messed up and drilled into it a bit.

Then I could find some kind of a sleeve to put back into the larger hole bored in the manifold and go from there.

If I could still find some way to get the manifold loose from the bolt that would be ideal, because I didn't drill all the way through when the bit skipped and a bolt with a washer would still hold it against the block just fine.

Anyway, I soaked it in PB blaster and am going to leave it over night and will hopefully be able to work on it some more on Thursday.

 

[WillWagner]

Go to your local hardware store and buy a little propane torch. Heat does wonders on issues between different metals. In the meantime soak it with rust getter. Been there, done that. I do this kinda stuff for a living...truuuusst me Take a breather and leave the project sit for a bit. You will end up breaking things if you get in a hurry.

 

[bassetdeuce]

Go to your local hardware store and buy a little propane torch. Heat does wonders on issues between different metals. In the meantime soak it with rust getter. Been there, done that. I do this kinda stuff for a living...truuuusst me Take a breather and leave the project sit for a bit. You will end up breaking things if you get in a hurry.

This is correct. Add in some taps on the top of the bolt with a hammer too. Walk away. Come back later with more penetrator oil. Tap, tap, tap.. Heat, see if it will budge. Rinse and repeat. This strategy worked for me for broken waterpump bolts on other vehicles.

 

[Blood_of_Tyrants]

The bolt has rusted to the inside of the hole. Get a propane torch and some MAPP gas (both available at any hardware store) and heat it until it glows then give it a whack with a hammer.

 

[dieselfuelonly]

Go to your local hardware store and buy a little propane torch. Heat does wonders on issues between different metals. In the meantime soak it with rust getter. Been there, done that. I do this kinda stuff for a living...truuuusst me Take a breather and leave the project sit for a bit. You will end up breaking things if you get in a hurry.

Ok, I will get a little torch tomorrow or Thursday and give it a shot.

Do you think I have damaged the manifold to the point where I need to find a replacement from a salvage yard? Here's a couple pictures of the destruction I have caused

 

[WillWagner]

Kinda tough to tell. Those aren't too thick. Clean it off, take a scribe and poke around a bit toward the outside of the casting. If the pointy thing doesn't go through, i'd say run it.

 

[dieselfuelonly]

I will double check when I get the manifold off, but I don't think I got close enough to any edges to worry about a making a pinhole in a wall or anything... I hope.

Once I do get the manifold off, maybe I could fill up the part where the bit skipped over and bored out some of the manifold with some JB weld and then bore it out again... then I wouldn't have to worry about the bolt getting loose and letting coolant leak out.