Good morning everyone,
I needed to remove one of the cam covers I had already worked one. When reinstalling the bolts the one in the rear, next to the fire wall, on the bottom would not tight up. Ran a tap down thru the treads with no luck. I've never used a heli coil before, There is no room on the under side to put a nut on the bolt. any suggestion ?

 

Helicoil is my way.

Tap it out to the next size is a distant choice.

I helicoiled all mine on both sides, but I had the engine out for oil leaks, so access was simple.

 

I just went and has a look at my spare engine. I take it the problem is on the outboard side of the covers? There is plenty of "land" round the hole in the casting for tapping a size up or a helicoil, as if Grant says these are the best solutions you can be sure they are. It might just be worth trying a longer bolt first, in case there are enough untouched threads to hold it, but it would not be ideal even if it did.

When drilling the hole for the bigger thread or the helicoil, remember the cover itself is quite brittle, if that needs a bigger hole too.

Greg

 

Things just went from bad to worst, thought I remove the left side water rail to replace top hats, gaskets and to gain better access to the stripped cam cover bolt. Well one of the bolts on the thermostat end of the water rail housing snapped off. I don't have any experience in install helicoids and trying to drill out rusted bolts. At this point I'm ready to call the scrapper to come get it.

 

do not touch the phone ,talk a breath walk away and come back to it later .
It is while no means easy it is more than possible to fix ,go by some easyout bits if you don't know what they are go to your local and ask the resident expert what they are buy him a pint and before you know it bolt out

 

100% correct! here is a couple of demos of an extractor in use:


Greg

 

Agreed, removal is tricky, time consuming, but sooooo satisfying. I usually stand the JD bottle some metres away, in plain sight, with the cap off, and that is usually enough motivation to actually GET ON WITH IT.

Be carefull with those "easi-outs" or "extractors". You dont want to break one off in there, coz standard drill bits will not drill them, as they are hardened.

You will walk away many times, especially when its your first broken stud removal, but confidence grows quickly.

Those water rail bolts are a mongrel, and they were all helicoiled on mine, and stainless steel bolts replaced the standard bolts, with lots of anti-seize applied.

 

see even Grant breaks stuff
all of us had to do something the first time ,that is was makes it fun .
Give it a go if it does not work out chalk it up to experience ,currently my score board has **** happens winning but I am catching up after all I have an XJS






mlp

 

sorry for the typo Greg

 

HA, I could write a book on the stuff I have broken, buggered up, fixed for other "experts", over the last 45+ years.

Currently a S2 XJ6 that thinks its an AUDI, runs on 5 cylinders HAHA.

Owner changed the plugs, whoops, broke #1. So now I am digging out the bits, coz he does not want to take the head off to do it properly. Got some real sticky wheel bearing grease on the drill bit, and slowy does it. It will happpen, and it will be finished when its finished.

 

I did a search this morning for removing broken bolts I found one where you thread a nut on to the end of the bolt then mig weld the two together wait for it to cool then, twist it back and forth to loosen it up my friend will come over tomorrow and well it for me. those two bolts are pretty rusty for some reason.

 

just a update on the broken bolt on water rail, the easy out broke off inside the hole I drilled in the bolt. Craftsman sells a bolt out kit,which I purchased but the smallest extractor is to big for the broken bolt.