Broken Thermo Bolt
 

Scruff

fan shroud ain't too bad
just undo the a/c fan off it, two bolts top, one bolt bottom
then undo bolts holding on fan shroud (only at top from memory) the lift it out
altho it may be difficult with clutch fan still there
may need to undo the fan as well
been a while since i had a fan shroud lol

My top thermo housing bolt hole threads were stripped out. I had to use an M6 helicoil and used the stock bolt. Took me 45 minutes. Its harder to drill a new hole and helicoil it than it is to helicoil an exsisting hole. You have to get the entire drill dead center and flush with the thing you are working on because if you are off just a hair, the helicoil will go in crooked and the part will not go on properly.

I hope it works out for you, and good luck.

Edit: The fan/clutch assembly has to come out with the fan shroud, theres no way around it.

Matco, Snapon, Mac all sell a 'left-hand' drill set that comes with ez outs. Perhaps a good auto parts store does too. Drilling with a left hand bit can sometimes pull the broken bolt right out.

Its a must for anyone thats gonna do their own repairs.

I took it out without taking off the fan/clutch assembly. But I took it out with the radiator. Lol. See?
http://memimage.cardomain.net/member...62_56_full.jpg

Re: Broken Bolt
 

I bought a small Dremel rechargable hand gaget that should allow me to start a hole with a drill bit. I bought a set of extractors that should let me get it into the hole and then work on backing it out. I've never done this before, and I would hate to screw this up. The one bolt is holding nicely and there are no leaks, but I hate the though of just one bolt holding it in place. Should I go ahead and attempt to back out the broken bolt, or am I just going to make more of a mess then it already is?

Thanks,

Scruffboy

i vote

do it .

Ive had some experience trying to get blots out and very little success. first of all the broken part of the bolt is going to be very hard. Harder than the surrounding material. If you slip off and get into the surrounding material your going to make it nearly impossible to get the broken part out.


my best advice is take your time, be very careful about the angle at which you drill. I also recommend you use a very small bit and make a pilot hole first, then work up to larger bits until you have a hole big enough to fit the largest easy out that will still fit into the broken bolt. Go solw and dont put alot of pressure on the drill bit, let it work. Also if yu have some light oil, like 3in1 that gan help remove heat and lubricate the bit so you dont dull it as fast. I also agree on the left hand bits. I got a set of them from Autozone that have worked for me in the past.

DO NOT drill too fast ! You will burn/dull the bit real quick. I always try to use a center punch to 'dimple' the center of the bolt where I'm goona drill.

"Matco, Snapon, Mac all sell a 'left-hand' drill set that comes with ez outs"

Yea and I bet he has a couple hundred bucks just laying around that he can waste on a snapon drill set. Dem tools aint cheap.

Ive personally never had ANY luck with bolt extracter kits, the kind you drill a pilot hole and then start turning the extracter counterclockwise into the pilot hole. A $60 bolt extractor kit from napa did not help me. The only thing that did work for me for broken bolts was drilling the whole bolt out and tapping a larger hole for a larger bolt.

Using a center punch is a must when drilling. If you dont you are a hack.

Just trying to help with experience Ive had.

Edit: Hmmmm lets see whats harder/more money/time consuming to do, take off 4 nuts, fan and shroud? Or Radiator, upper and lower hoses, (if automatic) tranny lines, 10 qts of coolant, then bleeding the coolant system.... Yea ill take the fan off anyday. LOL :)