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Blast You Rusty Bolt!

O

OBIO

Retired SOH Admin
Okay...some of you may have read my thread from a few days ago....the Upcoming Tattoo thread...in which I stated that I would be returning to the workforce after more than 3 years out of it taking care of my wife. Well, I put in a lot of online applications, since my mini-van had a leaky water pump. Today, I got a call from one of the online applications asking me to come in this week for a more formal application process. Yippppeeeee! I asked when she would want me in for the formal application and she said I could either do it at 8:30 tomorrow morning (Tuesday), 8:30 Wednesday morning or anytime between 8:30 and 10:30 on Thursday. I told her that I could not make the Tuesday slot as I had to replace a leaking water pump on my van, and just in case this "easy" job became a real humdinger I'd better shoot for Thursday. She laughed really hard and said that her husband was also a do it yourself kind of guy and she was all too familiar with his "easy" fixes becoming real humdingers.

Great....getting back to work suddenly seems so much closer.

Went into town and picked up the new water pump, water pump seal and a tube a RTV gasket sealer for water pumps and thermostat housings. Came home and got to work. Off came the serpentine belt...after much cussing and fussing. Then under the van I go, remove a slash shield, remove the water pump pully, and begin taking out the 5 bolts that hold the water pump into the housing. First 4 came out no problem. The 5th one....came out about a quarter way then the head snapped off the bolt :isadizzy:. I called a few auto parts stores to see if any of them rented Easy Outs...none did.

So tomorrow I will have to borrow my mother-in-law's little silver VW Beetle (the new one, not the classic one)...complete with it's black vinyl eyebrows, multicolor Hippi-like flowers and the little scroll work Tramp Stamp on the back...and drive down to one of the local mechanic shops and see if they will rent me an Easy Out so I can get that bolt the rest of the way out. I hope they will...as the alternative is to hire a tow truck, have the van towed to the garage and pay out the nose for a mechanic to remove the bolt, then pay to have the van towed back home and finish the job.....which would cost me more money than the van is actually worth.

Just when I thought I had caught a break and would get some smooth sailing for a change....the fickle finger of fate pops up and give me a good punch in the nose.

OBIO
 
Wonder if you need that last bolt, maybe just call it an index pin now. I don't know that pump cause some have to fit tight to the block and others have hoses to connect in which case you just have to get it firm enough to spin from a belt to get it home. I've gotten some of those bolt stumps with needle-nosed vice grips and penetrating oil just by back and forth working it until it finally unscrews. Others I got by hack sawing a slot for a screwdriver then doing the same back and forth. Here're some handy expletives :isadizzy::ichile::a1451::angryfir:
 
The absolute best rust breaker is a home brew of 50% acetone and 50% auto tranny fluid, (any kind.) Soak the bolt with that for an hour, and the vice grips should be able to get it out.

You said it came out a 1/4 of the way. That mean a couple turns, or just a 1/4 turn?? If it came a couple turns, turn it in, if posible, about a turn to clear threads, first. If it only turned a 1/4 turn, the bolt never moved, but was twisting off immedietely.

Trouble with easy outs is you gotta drill perfectly. I don't like them in most cases.

Good luck, been there, done that. Always a PIA.
 
If you look at my mini-van, it looks really good for being 18 years old and having 208 thousand miles on it. But crawl underneath the thing...and the old gal really shows her age. Rust, corrosion, pitting, decay and grime are every where. I need her to hold together long enough to get the money to buy her replacement....and then she can go to the scrap yard and a well deserved rest. The engine purrs like silk, but her tranny slips from time to time and there's something "off" in the drive train somewhere....she shakes like crazy from 40 mph up to 50 mph...then she smooths back out again and drives as sweet as you please. All four tires are good and balanced....so not really sure where the shake comes from....axle shaft maybe.

First thing tomorrow morning, I will crawl under the van and apply one of my Dad's old tricks....tapping on the bolt with a hammer to break the rust and corrosion free. Dad was a mechanic and body man....he had an encyclopedia worth of tricks for stuff like this. If the hammer taps don't work...I will see about renting a tool for grabbing the bolt shaft and backing it out...not an Easy Out....the tool I am thinking off looks like a normal socket but has carbide teeth inside that bite into the threads of the bolt..the harder you turn, the more securely it grips. Of course, I need to be careful not to twist the bolt off flush with the block....if I do that, then I am up Poo Poo River without a canoe. No room under there for drilling out the bolt and rethreading....and I won't be pulling the engine just to fix this problem.

Not sure if the water pump would work properly without this 5th bolt. I doubt that the seal would be totally leak proof.

OBIO
 
As a truck mechanic, I have had many bolts broken off. If it is sticking out of the hole and you can grab it, maybe. I do not use vise grips much anymore, I have something a lot better. Knipex pliers, these things will grab anything. Also, welding a nut to the broke off bolt and heating the area with a acetylene torch usually works.
If the bolt is broke off in the hole, then it is time to drill. Best drill bits I have found are Snap on's left hand set. Not cheap, 5 bits for 50 bucks, but they will drill anything. Or a good cobalt drill bit will work. I usually have no luck with easy outs. Maybe 1 in 10 times I can get the bolt out, but usually I just drill out the bolt and retap.
I rarely use silicone or rtv. Best stuff i have found is permatex anaerobic gasket maker.
But of course you do not have all these tools. Do what you can. Best of luck to you.
 
My best shade tree mechanicing is thinking PB Blaster to free up the rust and a pair of vise grips if there's enough sticking out to grab a hold of. Tapping it with a hammer like you said to free it up will also help the PB Blaster get on down in there too.

I'd be leery of applying heat to it. Most water pumps bolt to the timing cover and those are pretty much all aluminum.
 
Willy said:
My best shade tree mechanicing is thinking PB Blaster to free up the rust .
Click to expand...


Best stuff since sliced bread!

Had to remove a bolt from an outboard engine mount that had been in salt water it's whole life

Soaked it with PB,waited an hour or so ,smacked it with a hammer several times during that hour and Bingo-came loose ,no problem


OBIO- Go find some of that wonder juice-PB Blaster-I think your local auto store will have it

Rick
 
PB is good, but there's a product called 'KROIL' that's been around for years that's better. Available in spray cans or, as I buy it, by the can. Unfortunately, it's mail-order only. That stuff saved me lots of grief when I completely tore apart and rebuilt the front suspension of my 1969 Cutlass with 250,000 miles on it. KROIL is made by a company in Tennessee called Kano Laboratories.

Good luck with the car and the interview! -Mike Z.
 
....she shakes like crazy from 40 mph up to 50 mph...
Click to expand...

Sounds like worn suspension bushings to me. Two of my cars do that as well; one in the 65-70 MPH range, the other begins at 60 but I don't push it hard enough to find out where it stops.

-James
 
jhefner said:
Sounds like worn suspension bushings to me. Two of my cars do that as well; one in the 65-70 MPH range, the other begins at 60 but I don't push it hard enough to find out where it stops.

-James
Click to expand...

That's true about the bushings- I've also experienced a car with a bad tie-rod end that showed the same behavior... fun fun fun!

-Mike Z.
 
Success! The new water pump is on, no leaks, no drips. I had to borrow my mother-in-law's little silver VW and make a trip out to Harbor Freight and pick up a $6 stud/bolt remover tool. Got that broken bolt out in a jiffy! Cleaned up the threads in all the bolt holes, used new hardened bolts and washers, got the new pump installed, serpentine belt back on, filled the cooling system with new 50/50 mix and took the van for a test drive.

Yea! Now I am all set for my Thursday and Monday job interviews.

OBIO
 
Many years ago, on a Father's Day no less, I had the misfortune of having to change out a water pump. It was on my 1977 Lincoln Continental Town Car. Had a 460 engine. Massive. To make matters worse, it was hot as h...l outside, and I had two screaming kids and a bi...ing wife. Had to borrow tools to do the job, and it was horrible......

As far as penetrating oil goes, the best stuff I ever encountered was what the Ordies used....I think they called it "evergreen"?

NC
 
mikezola said:
PB is good, but there's a product called 'KROIL' that's been around for years that's better. Available in spray cans or, as I buy it, by the can. Unfortunately, it's mail-order only. That stuff saved me lots of grief when I completely tore apart and rebuilt the front suspension of my 1969 Cutlass with 250,000 miles on it. KROIL is made by a company in Tennessee called Kano Laboratories.

Good luck with the car and the interview! -Mike Z.
Click to expand...

I second that^^^! Bought a can to get out exhaust manifold nuts when I had to change out a bad catalytic converter last summer. I was able to get the nut off without heat or a breaker bar. I was also able to save the clamp on the downstream side of the converter also. The stuff is amazing. I ordered from Amazon.com.
 
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