Head bolt busted?

[Burley]

I have been working on a '87 Ford Ranger 2.0 4 cylinder for a friend. It had a bad head gasket leak and was spitting rad fluid all over. I found a broken head bolt where the gasket had been leaking. For some reason it just sheard in half above the thread area. What is the normal fix for this? Do I drill it out and re-tap the hole to a different size?

Also, this is the first time I have ever taken a head off. How in the world do I seperate the head from the block? The manual says not to pry between them, but that sucker is on there good!

I wish it was a Jeep...

Thanks guys!

Burley

 

[old_man]

If, when you pull the head, the stub still sticks up, a pair of vicegrips should back the bolt out. They normally turn freely when not under tension. Otherwise, a left hand spiral drill bit will normally back out a head bolt without bottoming it in the hole. As for seperating the heads, many times there is a place where you can insert a chisel or large screwdriver to pry the heads apart. I like to place tension on the head, then take a two pound dead blow hammer and smack the head laterally. That normally pops the seal.