The lovely sound of a bolt snapping

[Hartman]

Just a warning to all you 5.0 drivers that need to change your water pump...just be prepared to deal with at least one bolt snapping. In my case, I was lucky enough to snap 2 of them. I knew the first couple were coming out way too easy for my luck...

Now I have to tear apart the whole front end to even attempt to extract them...an exercise that will probably end up being futile anyway.

 

[ragajungle]

uhg thats the worst :thumbdwn: Did you use and PB Blaster to penetrate beforehand?

 

[Hartman]

uhg thats the worst :thumbdwn: Did you use and PB Blaster to penetrate beforehand?

Yes but a few of the bolts are 3"+ long studs, and the threaded part is at the very end of the stud that goes into the block, so you can't get any penetrate on the threads. Two of those snapped, and rather easily too.

The rest of the bolts backed out so easy...I thought I was going to get lucky.

 

[ragajungle]

well one good thing is that since all the rest are out you should be able to pull the pump off and it should yield a couple inches for you to work with.

 

[Hartman]

well one good thing is that since all the rest are out you should be able to pull the pump off and it should yield a couple inches for you to work with.

That's the thing....I should have been able to pull the pump off, but I couldn't get it to budge. The two broken studs are at opposite ends of the pump and I couldn't get it to shimmy off. I could only get it to wiggle the tiniest amount.

 

[Blee1099]

Try snapping a carrier bolt on a axle like SVO did.. lol Best thing to do is actually in those situations use heat.. Hopefully you used impact tools.. A bolt/screw extractor is your friend.

 

[EMG7895]

Those studs are hard to get out. Luckily mine didn't break although one did start to round off on me.

 

[Hartman]

Try snapping a carrier bolt on a axle like SVO did.. lol Best thing to do is actually in those situations use heat.. Hopefully you used impact tools.. A bolt/screw extractor is your friend.

I didn't have the clearance for an impact, and if I did, it just would have accelerated the snapping process. Both studs sheared off flush with the water pump. I was reluctant to use heat in the area because a wiring harness runs right by both bolts...and I had sprayed PB blaster everywhere. Considering how easy the other bolts came out, I figured these would be the same.

 

[OneLever]

Sorry to hear that man. Don't skimp on the extractor set. Quality ones work magic but I've heard horror stories of the cheapos.

 

[Paraphoe]

Sorry to hear that man. Don't skimp on the extractor set. Quality ones work magic but I've heard horror stories of the cheapos.

I'm not even sold on the quality ones. I bought a brand name (I forget which and I'm too lazy to go check) and I snapped the extractor bit right off in the partially drilled out screw. I was so friggin livid I almost threw my drill.

 

[OneLever]

Haha oh man I can imagine the explicative stream that followed. If you can't find good consensus on a set, go buy the taps you need individually from a specialty store like Fastenal. Get made in the USA HSS only high quality stuff (Greenfield, OSG, Dormer, etc.). All the coated high carbon steel foreign made stuff appears to be almost useless.

I just bought a craftsman tap and die set for $100 from sears and couldn't believe how poorly made some of its components were. It had "made in china" stamped all over it. After browsing some machinists forums I found out this is a common issue. So I promptly returned it and bought the pieces I needed individually.

 

[crunchie_frog]

Okay, this happened to me on a 91 5.0 Bronco on two bolts. I as able to back the pump off so just the studs were showing and was able to get one of them out. The other I ended up in having to drill out and put in a helicoil or whatever their called. As you know, the next step is taking off the timing chain cover, that is where the bolts go into and replacing the cover. I did not go this far, and have not had any problems with the helicoil.

 

[Hartman]

Okay, this happened to me on a 91 5.0 Bronco on two bolts. I as able to back the pump off so just the studs were showing and was able to get one of them out. The other I ended up in having to drill out and put in a helicoil or whatever their called. As you know, the next step is taking off the timing chain cover, that is where the bolts go into and replacing the cover. I did not go this far, and have not had any problems with the helicoil.

How did you get the pump off? I couldn't get it to budge...with two broken studs on opposite sides of the pump, I figured I wouldn't be able to remove it.

 

[windsors03cobra]

I've always felt this water pump and front cover design has left quite a bit to be desired but it is what it is. (I like Chev's low profile timing cover and water pump to block mounting set up best)

The main problem with the Windsor water pump and front cover is the long bolts are too small of a diameter to ever be strong and the steel bolts in aluminum with little clearance are guaranteed to seize together.
The last one I did last month was a 89 351 truck and I had 2 snap opposite each other. I zip wheeled through the right side mounting ear and got the pump pulled free on that side and started working it off the broken bolt on the other side. Once I had the pump off the broken bolts I was able to get them about with a vise grips. The bolts were very very stuck to the pump, I also had to drill out the top 2 that go into the front cover.

My 99 Exploder with 203k has the original pump and the timing cover is leaking so I'm getting ready to do that one, and of course looking forward to it.

 

[Texan01]

Try snapping a carrier bolt on a axle like SVO did.. lol Best thing to do is actually in those situations use heat.. Hopefully you used impact tools.. A bolt/screw extractor is your friend.

I broke mine the other day when I rebuilt the rear end. I recommend a bolt-screw extractor if you've got the room.

 

[Hartman]

I highly doubt I'll be able to get them out with an extractor. I think my best course of action will be to try to get the pump off, expose the studs, and go from there. I'll have to heat the bolts carefully since there is a wiring harness literally a half inch away from both bolts.

 

[OneLever]

Mind snapping off a picture of the problem? There's several sets of eyes here already interested. That's always good.

 

[Hartman]

Unfortunately I do not have any pictures...the truck is back together and it drives fine with no leaks, sans 2 bolts

 

[beach]

Same exact thing happened when changing my t-stat. bolt sheared off, had to to take it to a friends shop. Said he constantly has Ford's coming in with broken bolts, especially the V8 explorers. Took him 4 hours with heat to extract without damaging the the threads in head, the bolt looked like it was cut with a cleaver, just sheared straight down. Anything where I know the chances of a bolt are snapping, I'll take to the shop (water pump etc), it's not worth the hassle and I'll gladly pay the cost lol.

 

[Hartman]

Anyone know a good source for new studs? I ordered some aftermarket studs from Rockauto but I don't think they are correct...too big.