Broken water pump bolt blues...

All,

Still trying to get this '95 Country (147k miles, previous history unknown) ready for winter so a cooling system refresh seemed like a good idea. That is, right up until one of the water pump mounting bolts broke. I've tried visegrips, the left-hand thread bolt removers, and drilled a hole for an extractor which didn't grip (I didn't quite get the hole centered, which may have caused it to fail). Before I cut this thing off flush with the block and try again with an extractor, is there anything else I should try?

would it be possible to weld a nut on the remaining bolt shank? the weld heat often breaks the corrosion that is causing it to be stuck.

So, the head of the bolt broke off and you have the bolt still sticking out? Start with some PB blaster. Then try some heat.

Get yourself a torch kit but use Mapp gas ( yellow cylinder ), turn that bolt red with the torch and.grip it with the visegrips, wear some heavy leather gloves and turn the bolt clockwise then counter clockwise. Any seized bolt usually needs a tighten then back off to break it loose. Mapp gas will break it loose. Propane is useless and.alot of wasted time by the time it works

Once you do get it out, do yourself a favor and go to home depot or lowes and get stainless steel bolts and stainless steel washers just incase.

I've always wiped a thin film of silicone gasket sealer in the bolt threads, never had one get stuck yet.

This just happened to me this weekend. I was lucky enough I had about 1/2 inch of the bolt sticking out. I soaked it with PB Blaster then put on a nut (5/16 - 18 thread) and hit the nut with the hammer to try and shock the corrosive bond. Then applied more PB Blaster. I repeated this about 6 times. I took off the nut then put on two Grade 8 nuts same thread and locked the one nut against the other. I then got a wrench on the nut nearest the engine and tried tightening it first and then loosening it. After about 10 minutes I was able to move the bolt about an 1/8 th of an inch I could just see the bolt moving. I kept repeating this process whilst spraying with PB Blaster and after about 40 minutes it came out. What a relief. I wouldn't use the extractors I don't think they work well and if they break in the bolt, the extractor metal is harder than the bolt so difficult to drill out.

The comment about heat is right on the money. If the hole is deep enough to use a screw extractor thats good.Heat it as hot as you can, the area around the broke off bolt is most important to get it to expand and break the rust bond.After it is as hot as you can get it, might take 5-10 minutes insert the extractor and try to remove it. If the extractor is not grabbing grind the tip off of it slowly keeping it cool because it is hardened and getting it to hot will ruin it. Making it shorter will allow it to grab. You may have to heat it a couple of times to break the rust bond.
DO NOT grind it off flat as this may mess up the gasket sealing surface.
Use a lot of care turnin the extractor as they are brittle and will snap with side motion.
Again LOTS of heat.
I have done this hundreds of times in easy and hard places. It will come out with patience and work. When reassembling it some anti sieze on it will make it possible to remove it in 100 years.
Ron

I mentioned stainless for the mere fact rust is unlikely and risk of breaking a stainless bolt is next to none. The thermostat housing is generally aluminum, it oxidizes bolts made of regular steel of any grade. Stainless tends not to be effected. I live on the east coast and have learned to replace any bolt this way if possible. Anti-seize the stainless bolt as well.

Always use grade 8 stainless steel bolts. Try to take the mapp gas and heat the bolt only first. Then let it cool off. Take the mapp gas and then heat the surrounding area up really hot. Then let it cool and grab it with a good set of vice grips. The contraction of the bolt shohld break it free. Also get a bottom tap and chase the threads while pb blasting the hole. Put a good antiseize on there mized with heavy grease and it will never freeze up again. Remember to torque about five lbs less with the wet bolt.

Good luck finding a "grade 8 stainless steel bolt" locally. The only company I know of that makes something called a grade 8 ss bolt is ARP, and there is no reason to use one of those on a T-stat housing.

You don't need grade 8 for the t-housing, just a stainless bolt is fine. You're not towing with your t-housing lol

Now you jinxed me...new tow point