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One of those days where I wished I stayed in bed. OMG.
Working on the XKR this morning and afternoon, thinking I'm cool, a piece of cake, I'm getting good at this!!! Nice cool sunny morning.
Dropped oil pan to replace gasket. Unbolted cross (X) member, undid the pan bolts, dropped the pan and took a look up the SNOUT,,, the pick up. 75+++ % clogged, or worse. Made me glad to be in there! Grabbed the 8mm six sided, a decent extension, to undo it and clean her out GOOD! Hit the lower bolt, loosened right up, hit the second one deep up on the under side of the engine underz,,, SNAP!!! Bolt sheared of CLEAN at the level of the under side of the engine... Wanted to puke, lol
You don't want to know what I did, after I did the dancing, cursing and speaking to my God... Maaaaan,,,, I should have stayed in bed this morning 😳
Post cleaning... I really recommend cleaning the pick up out!!!
Anyone who has ever worked on ANY, DIY project has had an "AwSh**" moment. If not, you aren't doing it right. The important thing as in any life experience is not what you did so much as how you recover from it, and 'What did you learn from it?"
O.K., enough philosophizing for this week, back to my coffee and Jack(later for the Jack).
Hey Y'all... Hahaha,,, ain't it something though!?
It's the angle and location... I've been talking with my lady about it - former Michigan Machinist, jewelry maker, metal working extraordinar she is - and considering what I'm looking at,,,,
Leave it, button it up and keep it moving....? There are clear witness marks on the inside surface of the pan where the bottom tangs of the plastic pick up tube had been wiggling for nearly 20yrs. Between it's inability to move down freely and the 2nd lower capture bolt, and the 1/2 press in and Oring on the top side...what could go wrong, right...?
or,,,
Get a tiny burr ball with the longest shaft I can find,,, take about 2-3,,, 3-4 mm of material from around the OUTSIDE of the bolt shaft and hope to get a small pair of vise/mole grips on the exposed end of the bolt and turn it out...
I don't see drilling a hole and using an extractor (hate them things and have had some bad experiences)...it's just tooooo small a bolt.
A lot of walking in circles head and butt scratching going on, kicking rocks and stuff. What a thing!
It sounds like your wife has some real experience with this sort of thing, it's great to have that experience base to call upon.
And, given the spectrum of vehicles in your stable, it looks like you know your way around a tool box, so the opinions below are given in a helpful spirit.
Myself, though I'd dread the extraction job, I wouldn't be comfortable leaving it as is.
I've never had much success using vice grips on stuck bolts.
There are reverse drill bits that you can use. I've occasionally gotten lucky and had the broken part walk out using those.
I've also had good luck with extractors, though it's never easy working upwards like you will have to here.
The key is to work slowly, keep the drilling and any forces you apply as centered as possible on the hole.
When possible, I use a flat head punch & hammer to give the broken part a couple good solid whacks to loosen any corrosion binding and apply penetrating oil for a few days.
I then use a pointed punch to create a centered divot as a start point to slowly drill a small pilot hole into the broken part.
After I've expanded the pilot hole with a larger drill bit or two, I gently wiggle the drill around to make the hole slightly cone shaped, being very careful not to use too much force that would break the drill bit off in the hole.
Then I tap the extractor in with a small machinists hammer to bed it solidly into the hole I've drilled, which gives the extractor fins some bite into the surrounding metal.
I like to use a tap handle on the extractor bit to keep the forces as balanced side-to-side as possible
In the worst case, you drill the broken part completely out and retap the hole
It sounds like your wife has some real experience with this sort of thing, it's great to have that experience base to call upon.
And, given the spectrum of vehicles in your stable, it looks like you know your way around a tool box, so the opinions below are given in a helpful spirit.
Myself, though I'd dread the extraction job, I wouldn't be comfortable leaving it as is.
I've never had much success using vice grips on stuck bolts.
There are reverse drill bits that you can use. I've occasionally gotten lucky and had the broken part walk out using those.
I've also had good luck with extractors, though it's never easy working upwards like you will have to here.
The key is to work slowly, keep the drilling and any forces you apply as centered as possible on the hole.
When possible, I use a flat head punch & hammer to give the broken part a couple good solid whacks to loosen any corrosion binding and apply penetrating oil for a few days.
I then use a pointed punch to create a centered divot as a start point to slowly drill a small pilot hole into the broken part.
After I've expanded the pilot hole with a larger drill bit or two, I gently wiggle the drill around to make the hole slightly cone shaped, being very careful not to use too much force that would break the drill bit off in the hole.
Then I tap the extractor in with a small machinists hammer to bed it solidly into the hole I've drilled, which gives the extractor fins some bite into the surrounding metal.
I like to use a tap handle on the extractor bit to keep the forces as balanced side-to-side as possible
In the worst case, you drill the broken part completely out and retap the hole
Beautiful, Sanchius... I know I know... Lol...
Thank you,,, ya trouble make-ah! 😂
Is that the oil diverter valve for the oil cooler? To be sure you could snap those bolts off and have a look.
Hahaha - be par for the course! I ain't gunna open it,,, will probably go on a diagram dive... My Porsche has an oil thermostat... Cool little thing...
Actually,,, looking more closely, it must be an important bit. I wonder if it works like a thermostat? And if so, if it fails does it fail open or closed? Could it be that many of us are driving around and the oil cooling system hasn't been operational for years with no oil going to the cooler OR,,, is it that the valve is stuck in a way that is only bypassing to the cooler...?
These things happen.
At least I know they happen to inquisitive people. I know I’d be be richer and have fewer gray hairs if I’d “left well enough alone….” Z
They so do,,, and often.
Been wrestling with the shaft pin for the rear wishbone on an XJS for the last two days. Was hoping it wouldn't be,,, but rear axle out, lol... And I do this for,,,, fun?
50 OMGs and 100 what now's lol
