CRAP. broke a blower manifold bolt off in the head...HELP

[DaveHutch]

Normally I would just pull the blower back out, and get the bolt out. However i JUST finished installing my fuel rails, all lines and because of the fabrication on the rails i had to do, its a PITA to take it all back out. i had TONS of leaks with my Return system, and i just got them all tightened up. Upon bolting the 10 bolts for the lower manifold to the heads i snapped the very last bolt off. I know what you are thinking, you over tightened. but i didnt.....It was only half way down and it just......snapped. I was pissed.

with that being said.....do you guys think it will be okay with 9/10 bolts snug, but one broke? or will i run into problems with leaks or sealing?

i simply have been putting long hours into this car trying to get it done, and dont want to take steps backwards if its not needed.

thanks.....

:beer:

 

[oldmodman]

Can you reach the remaining bolt with one of those reverse cutting drill bits?

It will bite into the bolt and back it out if you are lucky.

As to running with one bolt missing. Give it a try and see if you hear a vacuum leak.

 

[DaveHutch]

well the thing is, i am not lucky at all. HAHA.


i thought about that, i just dont want to grind up the bolt or press it more firmly down into the hole. i just dont want to screw up the threading in the head. i will just go it as is for now, and like you said see if theres any leaks.....heres to hoping!

 

[E.Marquez]

Left hand drill bit and motor, with a screw extractor. Or one of the combo drill/ extractors.

BUT two things come to mind… and you don't want to hear it.. but both dictate you really need to pull the SC.

You said the broken bolt was only ½ way down? So it sheared as you were installing it? (1/ 2 way down?) or it was fully seated, and broke ½ way to the spec TQ value?
Either way.. I would be replacing all of the fasteners, and chasing the thread holes in the head. (use a thread chase NOT A TAP).
There may be debris in the hole, or damaged threads that caused the fastener to fail, or the fastener itself was damaged… But if one hole or one fastener was bad,, what about the rest?

Your call.. but I could not just remove that one broken one without knowing I addressed the reason it failed.

 

[SnakeBit]

At work, we break a lot of taps. I take the broken taps, chuck them in a cordless drill, then spin it up next to a grinding heel to sharpen it to a point. Being hardened, it will bite into a broken off bolt. Using a small hammer with the sharpened tap (and sometimes a pencil torch), many times I can walk a broken bolt out by tapping it around. They are also good for scribing a line in metal.

I have also had good sucess with >> THIS <<, especially when trying to remove a stripped out flathead screw or allenhead bolt.

A pecil torch sometimes helps with a bolt which has benn in place for a long time. Heat the bolt, it will expand in the hole and break the bonds. As it cools, it's easy to walk out of the hole.

 

[hotcobra03]

my buddy snapped 1 of mine...we pulled everything back off....get this bolt still came out by hand..it wasnt bottomed out/stripped
. it just snapped

 

[DaveHutch]

Left hand drill bit and motor, with a screw extractor. Or one of the combo drill/ extractors.

BUT two things come to mind… and you don't want to hear it.. but both dictate you really need to pull the SC.

You said the broken bolt was only ½ way down? So it sheared as you were installing it? (1/ 2 way down?) or it was fully seated, and broke ½ way to the spec TQ value?
Either way.. I would be replacing all of the fasteners, and chasing the thread holes in the head. (use a thread chase NOT A TAP).
There may be debris in the hole, or damaged threads that caused the fastener to fail, or the fastener itself was damaged… But if one hole or one fastener was bad,, what about the rest?

Your call.. but I could not just remove that one broken one without knowing I addressed the reason it failed.

it was only about half way screwed in, it was not bottomed. from looking in the hole, im pretty sure if i pull the blower off, the bolt will be sitting there half way out and i can take it out by hand. however taking all the bolts out and removing the fuel lines, blower etc just seems like a ton of work.

all the other bolts went in fine.....i just feel like the threads in the back where the bolt broke may have been stripped. i can chase them with the blower on im pretty sure.

 

[Blueline]

Well if its not tight in there you can try this. It may or may not work, but if it does it may save you taking everything back apart. Take a thinner bolt that will fit in the hole and land on top of the snapped one. Take a little bit of JB weld or and epoxy and try to epoxy the other bolt to the top of the snapped one. Worth a shot and wont cost you anything.

 

[earico]

Same thing happened to a friend of mine's Terminator. He snapped the rear passenger side bolt. Snapped off below the surface of the hole. I just drilled the bolt and removed it with an easyout. He was very happy we didn't have to remove everything.

 

[Co-brat]

Well if its not tight in there you can try this. It may or may not work, but if it does it may save you taking everything back apart. Take a thinner bolt that will fit in the hole and land on top of the snapped one. Take a little bit of JB weld or and epoxy and try to epoxy the other bolt to the top of the snapped one. Worth a shot and wont cost you anything.

Thats actually a pretty good idea so long as you dont accidently epoxy the bolts into blower plate/ manifold. Then that would really suck.

 

[DaveHutch]

^ Yah thats what i was thinking

 

[cobra21987]

I just did this on my kb 2.6 install man dont feel bad took everything off and tried using a ez out and broke the bit off not im trying jb weld with a small socket to trying to back it out

 

[TRBO VNM]

Get the bolt out however you have to do it. Do not go driving thinking 9 bolts are ok. Would you drive around with your oil filter not fully secure? Would you drive around and beat on the car with loose spark plugs?

You are building pressure in there with boost. It wants to push the blower assembly off.

Do it right or don't do it at all. Don't take short cuts.

If you have a standard 2.3 whipple, get someone to help and you may not need to remove the fuel lines and rails. you may be able to lift it up from one side and while you hold it, someone easy unscrews the broken bolt. Just make sure it doesn't drop into the head.

 

[cobra21987]

i got the blower off and everything theres even about 1 inch sticking out of mine but i still cant get it out cause i snapped a drill bit in it already

 

[Co-brat]

Did you ever get it out?

 

[cobra21987]

no i didnt im gonna end up just drilling it out and retap the threads i think i dont know what else to do

 

[earico]

no i didnt im gonna end up just drilling it out and retap the threads i think i dont know what else to do

Take a close up pic of how it is now so we can make suggestions before you go that route.

 

[svtnotch]

most likely you can turn it out by hand if you take it apart... i would not try to drill or easy out it... try sticking thin magnet in there and turn it out.... i would honestly just pull it back apart

 

[DaveHutch]

I am tackling this after i figure out why my electrical system wont start my car. haha. 3 problems left before this thing can even start. then i still need to break in the clutch and get it tuned. oh the headaches. thanks for the advice guys. im going to do it right.