Time for a beer!

What I thought would be a straightforward 30 minute job has become a bit more complicated. One of the bolts snapped clean off at the base of the water rail when I was trying to replace the AAV. It's too far down in the engine compartment to get at it with a drill or tap.

It looks like the end of the water rail comes off with just 4 bolts. It would be much easier to remove the end of the rail to get better access to it out of the car. Are there any lurking risks or complications from removing the end of the rail?

Maybe there's a simpler solution that I'm missing? One can dream

 

Bless; it's a Jag, there are no simple solutions.
Good start though; time for a beer.
A bit confused as to why you were snapping bolts off the water rail when the AAV is part of the air system?
Have you considered a right angled drill head?
It's not for your bolt, it's to stick in your ear.
Sorry, it unexpectedly popped in to my head and I had a fit of the giggles and felt the need to share.

 

Beer is BEST at this stage.

Those socket cap screws do snap, no idea why, but hey are immersed in coolant, and lack of coolant concentrate probably "grows" them to the alloy head.

The SAME goes for the end housing of each water rail, and I have snapped a few of them over the years.

You will need:
2 rail gaskets
1 tube seal, better make it 2 and do both ends whilst you can.
AAV gasket of course.

I have a 90deg drill attachment, and it does help greatly. Still a baaaastard job though.

Alternative:

Take the engine out. Now its SIMPLE.

 

When I changed my AAV, auxiliary Air valve, I came across no fluids whatsoever.
Still confused.

 

Pulled the water rail off, drilled the bolt out, and then the extractor snapped off inside the hole . Today was certainly one for the books. Been trying to post pictures for everyone's amusement but it's not working.

Gaskets and seals ordered; and I have a line on a secondhand water rail.

Quick question: Should sealant like RTV be used on any of these gaskets or on the seals for the water pipe when it all gets put back together?

To be continued...


Steve- The bottom of the auxiliary air valve is submerged in coolant on the B bank water rail. The valve is thermally controlled. This is the case for the V12 at least. Cheers

 

Ah, ok, got it now.
Definitely had no fluid involvement when I did mine; the coolant system was the only fluid based operation that didn't leave puddles of embarrassment everywhere.

 

Bloody hell, that car is 100% female, it is craving attention.

Easyouts are BANNED in my tool collection. I drill those studs until there is the finest remnants of old remaining and the "pick" the rest out with a pointed tool. I realise that info is too late now.

I use a smear of RTV, basically as a dressing, on all gaskets and those pipe seals.

Anti-seize on all replacement bolts is a must.

 

Sounds like a PO has put the bolts in with loctite. Heat is the only thing that breaks the bond, heat it to about 250F and the loctite will break down.

If the gaskets are the black ones with a steel core put them on bare.

 

Just a word of caution; the water rail manifold castings are attached to the heads with the same type of bolt, and they are just as likely to snap as the AAV bolt was. So go at them very gently, and as someone said, a blast of heat on them before trying might help to break the corrosion seal. I think those particular bolts are not made of the finest material, either.
I had a water rail manifold one snap on a friend's car I was helping him with. In the end we drilled it out, not a brilliant job either; but we were then able to tap the head and make a stainless stud of a slightly larger diameter than the bolt and Loctite it into the less than perfectly round tapped hole. Then a nyloc on the stud once the manifold had been placed over the stud. The drawback of this fix in the water manifold's case is that replacing the manifold - which requires the pipe between the two to be installed first, is rather tricky. Anyway, this stud fix would work as a solution for the AAV fixings, once you get the easiout out - if you ever do as Steve might add! Good luck.
Greg

 

If you have machine shop near by they will be able to mill the extractor and re-tap the hole. Good luck

 

While I have EZ-Outs (an oxymoron), I also have and usually have good results using a left hand drill. The heat and vibrations often cause the broken bolt or stud to come out.

 

Parts finally showed up yesterday. Very methodically cleaned all gasket surfaces, deleted fuel vapor system as recommended, and reinstalled the water rail, allowing me to install the new AAV finally. The new water pipe (which I replaced as a "while you're in there" item because it was quite rusty) and new hardware were all plated gold in color and looked like jewelry. Does anyone know what all the engine hardware was originally plated in? Someday when I pull the engine I I think I'll have it all sent off to the electroplater.

Anyway, This concludes the saga of the broken AAV bolt in the water rail. Thanks to all for your help.

 

Cadmium I believe.