How a $1.50 part can cost $2000

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Recovering GM owner
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Nov 21, 2006
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West of Austin Texas
This kinda summarizes my day...My Dart sat for about a year while other things took priority....So finally put the new ignition in stock 318 with new electronic ignition.....fired right up....but water was spraying everywhere......Since the gasket was leaking I figured I would go ahead and change the water pump out....Pretty much a basic r&r.....until the bolt snapped....tried to heat the part sticking out but the threads are too far away to feel the heat....Now I can just pull the balancer and the oil pan bolts and the timing cover...and maybe I can get it out or maybe not....But since the oil pan leaks and the drain plug is about stripped and the motor has 86k on it and its only a few more in the exhaust and then the trans needs to be gone through...etc...etc..... I might as well just go ahead and pull the motor out and get it over with....unless someone has a better idea...

dart pump.jpg
 
If you know how to weld... weld a nut on that thingy sticking out and turn it out with a wrench. Just something I would do. Worst case... cut the cover off.
 
lol excuse me for laughing but i know where your at i been there done that ya try to do a simple repair then bolts start snapping off same happened to my exhaust stud but it was a flush brake and same to 2 of my oil pan plug good luck
 
oh man,spray the broken bolt with pb blaster for a few days and then heat up the part sticking out and while its still hot douse it with p b again,after it is good and cooled offclamp a set of vice grips on it in the proper direction(yes there is a proper direction)or weld a nut to it,then aim some heat at the engine block boss where that broken bolt goes into it(pull the fuel pump off first and plug the line with a 3/8" bolt and a clamp on it) then put some heat to it,then turn the bolt out.86 k miles? put a new timing chain and gears in there,then fix the other lil' problems.that engine should go another 100,000 miles JMO
 
The bolt has siezed to the aluminum housing, try spraying good with Liquid Wrench and tap the bolt left and right, up and down to try and free it from the timing chain cover.
 
Ok I would just cut it off flush, center punch it and then drill it out wit a little smaller drill bit and then tap it out to standard size
 
I would put a pipe wrench on that broken bolt.

If you can't get it out you can take the oil pan off with the engine in the car if that helps.
 
Another member GTXexperience just went through the same thing!He soaked it numerous times with lubricant over days and got his out!Here,s some suggestions..
Hit hard with hammer after spraying down and use Vise-grips
Try welding another bolt to it(heat might penatrate it to crack loose,)
Pry caseing off with big screwdrivers
Soak it for days,spray down a few times a day with numerous lubricants!

Gotta try something!Hope you get it off!Don,t forget to put antisieze when replacing bolts.
 
dartcuda said:
Ok I would just cut it off flush, center punch it and then drill it out wit a little smaller drill bit and then tap it out to standard size
Click to expand...

He can't do that. The bolt goes all the way thru the timing cover in to the bock.
 
Put your vise grips on it and apply medium turning pressure. Tap the end of the bolt with a heavy hammer. Reverse turning pressure. Tap some more. Repeat back and forth. Don't hit too hard or try to turn with too much torque. I have spent some time ( 30min to an hour) with bolts like this and managed to free them. The key is always patience. Applying oil and pushing it back with your blowgun helps too.
 
Lonely duster is up on this!!!the heat will help break up the oxidation and so will tapping it with the bfh but patience and all of the above will conquer it!if that dont work......bigger hammer!!! :glasses2:
LonelyDuster said:
Put your vise grips on it and apply medium turning pressure. Tap the end of the bolt with a heavy hammer. Reverse turning pressure. Tap some more. Repeat back and forth. Don't hit too hard or try to turn with too much torque. I have spent some time ( 30min to an hour) with bolts like this and managed to free them. The key is always patience. Applying oil and pushing it back with your blowgun helps too.
Click to expand...
 
The tightness was transmitted from the bolts head to the threads in the block. The bolt head is gone now. Hit the bolt toward the block which reverses any stretch in the threads. You could even hit the bolt inward or down. Outward might crack the timing cover. I have used a air hammer.
Use a small pipe wrench to work the bolt both forward and back. Spray chemicals are helpful. Good luck
 
1. Clean off the broken bolt as well as possible. Grind a couple of flat spots on the bolt as close to 180º apart as possible. Clean again, soak with Kroil. Let sit for about 1 hr then use open end wrench using ground off spots for grip.

2. Drill into the bolt length-wise using progressively larger drill bits. Try to go in at least 3/4 inch. Take your time so that one does not get broken off in the bolt. Use an Ease-Out to remove bolt. I prefer using a LH drill bit. When the bit bottoms out in the hole, the remainder of the bolt crawls up the bit.

3. If you have access to a welder, weld a nut onto the end of the bolt. Remove bolt with socket wrench.

Hope one of these works for you.
 
Thanks to everyone who suggested a fix....I will give them all a try.....I had vice grips on it....felt it kinda twisting the bolt shaft inside the T/C cover...May try the heat and cool wd-40 stuff.....

I forgot to mention..... my ex-wife (While driving her escalade to the airport with her current husband (Lawyer) on the way to Europe) sent me an e-mail saying she will not help our son with his college tuition....She cannot afford it and I (single father) should have plenty of cash to send him.....

Thats how my day started...

:violent1:
 
Good advice above. You need to turn that bolt back in some, then out, then in, and work it back and forth, going out only when it wants to. After a while it will come out. If you just turn it out it will snap off at the block then you'll have a bigger problem.

If you remove the steering linkage and raise the engine some the oil pan will come right off with engine in the car. Not an easy job but doable.
 
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