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 :)

Thanks
 

Thanks for all the input fellas. It sounds like a real pain in the a**. I'll get to work on it this weekend and see how it goes. There is still a very tiny bit of the broken bolt sticking out. I tried to hacksaw a line across to see if I could get it out with a flat head screwdriver. Didn't work. I may now try to cut a line the other way and use a phillips head. I bought one of those ratcheting screw drivers with a small handle, so maybe I can get more bite. Wish me luck!

Scruffboy

Ok I have 1 more last ditch effort thing you can try. This only applies if you didnt take the housing off yet. Take the thermo housing off completely (I hope you dont break the other one) now you will have about 3/8"+ to grab on to with a pair of decent visegrips or locking plyers. The shaft of the thermo bolts are only 6mm in diameter, not much torque applied to them maybe 8ft lbs at the most. Lock on to the broken bolt as hard as you possibly can the FIRST time. Get someone very big and strong if needed. It should come right out. Ive done this on 4 broken exhaust manifold bolts on an 84 VW rabbit and those things were bigger, and exposed to 500 degree temperatures its whole life.

But if all else fails you can order a new water outlet housing (the aluminum thing with all those sensors that the bolt broke off into) from a dealer (if you cant find a single supra at the junkyard like me) but from a dealer it wont be cheap but hey, when shit like this happens I pay whatever they want for a part that will let me drive my car again.

As far as that screwdriver forget it, you need as much leverage/torque you can get. If you are going to try that route first (the ghetto flathead/phillps rig) Get a removable flathead or phillps head bit. Now get a 1/4" size, quarter inch drive socket and rachet and try that instead. (I hope you can understand that)


Hope it works out for ya.

Gotch ya
 

I know what you are trying to say, but there is not that much sticking out even after I take off thermo housing. Not enough to get vice grips on. I've done that before and it worked, but not on this one. I think I really screwed up on this baby. I like your idea on the ratcheting screw driver. I'll have to give it a try.

Scruff

Well I guess all I have left is encouragement-

Remember the key to any automotive struggle is to try something else, gain an edge with what you are using whether it be better quality tools or anything you can think of, I did knock your idea about the flathead but thats exactly what I mean, whatever works and just think it through and for the love of your supra dont rush. It will get you nowhere fast.

I did the same thing. But you know what? I cant help. It's still in there. I tried the flat head screw driver thing and it didnt work. It's upsetting. Lol. It's still in there. It's been like that for 4 months already. I'll work on taking it out when I get a new motor.

Same boat pal
 

I'm leaving mine in as is. I feel I'll probably do more damage trying to get it out. I put a bead of silicone around the housing and tightened the remaining bolt and I don't have a leak. I'm trying to get this engine in decent shape, replacing what I can, like water pump, alternator, thermostat, O2 sensor, new belts and hoses and what happens? The friggin bolts start to break on me. Oh well, such is life with a Supra.

Scruff

"The friggin bolts start to break on me. Oh well, such is life with a Supra"

Nope, Such is life with ______" Fill in the blank with any 15+ year old car. Every year, you can add more cars to the blank.

I did the same thing to lower thermostat bolt
 

I just did the same thing while my car was stranded on a city road for 2 days. I did the water pump, a few belts and the T Stat and snapped the lower bolt off into the water outlet housing that holds the T Stat. Damn weak ass-ed 20 y.o. Japanese steel. (wtf). I also snapped the bolt lock in the tension adjustment the alt belt with very little force on it on the same repair. Damn weak ass-ed 20 y.o. Japanese steel.
I am planning to remove the whole water outlet housing and then get it on a workbench and drill it out.
I will, just in case, remove the T Stat once again, to see if there is any amount of bolt over the surface I can latch onto with vise grips.
I also remember doing something like this on another car or moto, snapping an older cheap ass steel bolt (no I am not He-man).
I took a thin drill bit with a good drill and drilled in a hole, then a larger hole, then a larger one... and on the third bit the bolt more or less started falling apart and just spun out backwards fine. I used a replacement identical bolt and all was well. Hoping for same results.
I also have this stupid coolant mystery leak to deal with so getting off that housing will give me more clearance to try to find where my car is dumping 1 gallon of coolant in 15 minutes after it revs over 2000 rpm on the highway in top gear or goes up a super steep hill... It ain't the water pump, it ain't the T Stat, not the radiator or upper or lower pipe... Hoping and hoping it's the 90 angle short hose under the water outlet... got that Gates part and two screw clamps for $6.39 today.