mavricki18

Well 1st off kill me...
while changing the valve springs which i might add is a big pain in the @$$.
I was using the "crow bar" valve spring compressor and on cyl no.8 and... BOOM!
spring flys off keepers and retainer go all over and the waterpump bolt broke off in the head. now heres m7y question, i know it has to come out of there somehow, but the question is how. its under the cowl, and there is no way to get a punch on there, and drill, to use an EZ out, that is the only was i know how to get that out. does anyone else have any insight on this?

Timberwolf

waterpump bolt in the head back under the cowl? I must be misunderstanding something...

mavricki18

in the hole for the rocker arm, using a crowbar type valve spring compressor

Timberwolf

you mean the rocker arm stud? Well, there's on option but it's pretty risky. got a mig welder? take a small nut and place it right over the broken bolt. Tack the nut to the bolt. Use short burst and let it cool in between. The nut won't weld to the head since it's aluminum. But if you get it too hot it WILL split the aluminum. So take your time. Once the nut it tacked on well (slowly tack til the hole in the nut is filled) then you can unscrew it with a wrench or socket easily.

mavricki18

the big problem is that the bolt broke off inside and its not sticking out of the head. Looks like illhave to pull the head off.

AL SS590 M6

Even so the method that Mike laid out will work if done very carefully.
Another method is using a stick welder and starting the arc then jamming the rod into the puddle then un clamping the holder from the rod. Sometimes this will stick hard enough to unscrew the broken bolt.

Kevyn

Man... I need to get a welder.

Any chance in hell a right angle drill with a shortended bit would fit? I have seen some that are fairly compact.

I feel for you. I have 2 helicoil kits here from my heads/cam and clutch job.

If you get it out without pulling the head, you're welcome to use my Larry tool to put that spring on. I know 7 & 8 ain't any fun with a lever type compressor.

IrocSS85

yeah, I was goin to suggest a right angle drill too. if you get a left hand drilll bit, most times once it starts drilling into the bolt, it will walk it the rest of the way out. since the bolt broke off from stress and not rust, it will come out easlily once you get a bite on it.

either way, with the intake and front of the engine disassembled , the head will come off pretty easily. worst part is removeing the header.
good luck
chris

Murdock

And cleaning the block. '99s have the graphite gaskets, yuck! Left-hand drill bit is an excellent idea.

Good luck,

Dan

mavricki18

It looks like i may be able to fit a right angle drill in there but is there any way to insure that it will drill right down the center of the broken bolt??

Kevyn

Getting it started in the center will be the most important and hardest part.

If you're lucky you can use a punch to make a little dimple that would help get the bit started on center. If that's not really an option you could make a starter hole with a really small diameter bit. Just don't snap it off in there.

Get the area well lit and take your time. I think it will back out easy if you can get a left hand bit to bite.

QUASAR BLU

Ah what you are saying is you used a waterpump bolt to thread into the rocker arm hole to use the spring removal tool. That sucks man the Drill bit thing is a good idea though.

IrocSS85

well, a dimple witha center punch will be best, but that will be hard to do w/the cowl hangin over it. def. start with a small diam. bit. no need to drill all the way in with it though, maybe 14 in. just so the bigger bit will center in that hole, instead of chowing the threaded insert around the bolt or worse drilling into the alum. be very careful of that. after you get started stop and double check its near center. maybe start with a 1/8" drill bit. then step up to a 3/16" that is left handed. just make sure you stay near the center and all will be good. if it starts a tiny bit off center, its ok cause you can act. make it go back to whatever angle you want after it starts by angleing the drill for a sec. or two in the direction you need it to. also, I wold plug all the holes into the oil drain back so no metal chips go down there. best bet would be to clean the area really good with some brake parts cleaner, and act. use some masking tape or duct tape and newspaper or something to really isolate the metal chips. use a vac. cleaner to suck up the bits as you go. only apply gentle press. to the bit. and use slow speed. so make sure the drill is adj. or y ou can feather the speed. if you go fast, it will not bite and will just drill into the bolt, or worse just make the bit dull fast. you can rent an angle drill if you dont want to have one, but they do come in handy from time to time. good luck

mavricki18

yep thats what happend

Irocss85,
my dad has this atachment for his drimmle that fits just fine in there. He is gitting some sort of bushing made to fit in the hole so the bit can go in stright. But the rest of the plan sounds a lot like what were going to do. I hope it works because i dont realy want to pull thehead off. Thanks for all your help guys and ill let you know hoe it gose.
Thanks again, Dane

Murdock

Any news? ~300 thread views, it looks like a lot of people are waiting to see how it turned out. Let me know if you need an extra set of hands.