2000 5.0 AWD T-stat housing bolt broken

[SparkyJeff]

Well, It's pretty straightforward, I was on the highway cruisin' along when I noticed smoke or steam in the rearview.
Looked at the temp gage, getting hot, Check gages light comes on, I pull off the deathroad and open the hood to see steam coming from around the Thermostat housing.
Looks like a bolt is loose so I try to give it a twist with my finger and the head of the bolt comes out of the housing.
Filled up the radiator with the coolant I carry. limp to a gas station, fill again with water from the bathroom tap. (was going to buy a gallon of water from the sodapop cooler just to have an extra gallon in reserve $2.49? nope)
My parents live nearby, so I went to wish mom a happy Mothers day, and use their garage.


Take off the T-stat housing and find this.

can't get any kind of wrench I had with me on that thing. ETA: wish I had some PB Blaster with me to spray that little guy down.
don't have many tools at the folks house,
So I just used some ultra blue rtv and glued that housing back onto the manifold,
Put a new bolt on the good side.
Drove 8 miles home.
left the radiator cap loose to try not to build up too much pressure.
got home, radiator is still full, crisis averted.

Now the questions start.

Do I waste time trying to use a drill and easy-out?
Do I need to take the manifold off the engine to gain access with a drill and easy-out?
If I take the manifold off the engine, why don't I just replace the manifold?

BTW, I'd rather not take the manifold off, I've had this truck for 6 months. but this might be a good time to replace that PCV valve.

Whata ya think?

 

[firepop5]

I would try to get the broken piece out. Soak it with PB Blaster for 24 hours. Is there enough bolt exposed to grab it with a small vice-grip?
Some heat from a torch might help, but keep a garden hose nearby!

If you cant drill straight in, a 90 degree drill attachment might work to start a hole for the easy-out. Keep us posted with your progress.

You don't have to take off the manifold to change the PCV valve!

 

[jlsparky7]

Itll prolly hold with just ultra black RTV. If you wanna fix it the right way id drill it out and buy a self tapping screw.

 

[SparkyJeff]

I would try to get the broken piece out. Soak it with PB Blaster for 24 hours. Is there enough bolt exposed to grab it with a small vice-grip?
You don't have to take off the manifold to change the PCV valve!

there are only a couple threads exposed on the broken bolt, so vice grips might not work. I was thinking of trying to grind a slot for a flat screwdriver with a dremel and a cut-off disk.

PCV valve- I've seen a few threads about the difficulty of changing that thing, but that may have been on a different engine.

Itll prolly hold with just ultra black RTV. If you wanna fix it the right way id drill it out and buy a self tapping screw.

I used ultra blue to paste the thing together, It held together for the trip home. 8 miles. Do you really think that will hold for the long term? I plan to drive the truck for a few years. would you trust it for that amount of time? Is ultra black stronger than ultra blue?

Thanks for the replies. My pick and pull price list asks $14 for a lower intake. of course then I would need gaskets, and time to do the swap.

 

[fixt]

You might have enough bolt exposed to use a short hacksaw to cut a screwdriver slot and use a short screwdriver to back it out. I've also used a small cold chisel or center punch to turn broken bolts out by tapping against the edge of the bolt; that method is hard to explain.
It's a judgement call for you to make but it must come out.

I'd go for a real fix instead of gluing the thing back together. It WILL blow out at the worst time, and it is a pressurized system.

Ask yourself: What's the worst that could happen?
The answer becomes apparent.

 

[Snowboi]

Clean up the surface area first, take a Dremal (cut-off disc), make a screwdriver slot (or make a bolt head, for use of a socket) (not to the block, but big enough that the driver wont slip off with pressure), then spray the small area every hour for 2-4 hours (after each time you spray it, tap it a few times with a metal hammer), then get a good flathead screwdriver (or socket) that fits the slot the best, add some pressure so it wont slip off.

Also, dont forget to cover the thermostat hole, you dont want parts of the gasket, metal shavings, or even the rest of the bolt to fly in there.

Hope this helped!

 

[SparkyJeff]

Clean up the surface area first, take a Dremal (cut-off disc), make a screwdriver slot (or make a bolt head, for use of a socket) (not to the block, but big enough that the driver wont slip off with pressure), then spray the small area every hour for 2-4 hours (after each time you spray it, tap it a few times with a metal hammer), then get a good flathead screwdriver (or socket) that fits the slot the best, add some pressure so it wont slip off.

Hope this helped!

This is the plan that I have in my head. I have sprayed it with PB Blaster three times today, A bendy soda straw helps... no hammering though, but that's a good idea, maybe knock it loose a li'l bit.
I'll pull it apart for the permanent fix tomorrow. I plan to have a propane torch, and a butane microtorch handy to give the manifold a little heat. might be a good idea to have a small impact screwdriver too.

 

[Snowboi]

Carefull though, because if that screw dirver slot breaks, you will have to get it drilled out. I never felt like doing the socket idea (it would take to long to get it all perfect, would have to shave the sides to fit the socket perfectly), but it seems like great way to remove a bolt that the head stripped off. I've used the "slot" method on one of my valve cover bolts on my other car, and it worked out great.

 

[SparkyJeff]

Carefull though, because if that screw dirver slot breaks, you will have to get it drilled out. I never felt like doing the socket idea (it would take to long to get it all perfect, would have to shave the sides to fit the socket perfectly), but it seems like great way to remove a bolt that the head stripped off. I've used the "slot" method on one of my valve cover bolts on my other car, and it worked out great.

If the macgyver screwdriver trick doesn't work, I'll use the dremel to grind it flat, use the T-stat housing as a guide, drill through the center of a dowel and use that as a bushing between the aluminum housing and the drill bit, try to put a little hole in the center of that broken bolt, switch to larger bits, use easy-out or just retap the aluminum.
The very worst thing that can happen is I'll have to go to the junkyard and pull a $14 lower intake.

thanks for the input everybody!!

 

[jlsparky7]

Welcome.

 

[2000black&gold]

Anybody know the size of the lower bolt? I am changing out the thermostat and dropped the lower bolt and can't find it anywhere. It's been very frustrating. And since the upper bolt and lower bolt are different lengths, I can't compare the two of them.

So if someone could tell me the length of the lower bolt I'd greatly appreciate it!

 

[SparkyJeff]

All better

the PB Blaster, and the dremel tool save the day.

Here's a shot of the broken bolt nub hanging out of the hole, after a little bit of cuttin'.

And that little bugger just backed right out of its hole with a 90° ratcheting screwdriver.

I put it together with new bolts and washers, filled it up with water and I'll drive it around for a few days to be sure I don't have any leaks.
Next weeks project fill be flushing the cooling system.

I broke the serpentine belt tensioner while reinstalling the belt, So I did have to make a second trip to the parts store.

It amazes me that the tensioner pulley is bolted directly to an aluminum arm, and you have to tighten that bolt to relieve the tension. mine just kept turnin'.

 

[Snowboi]

Thats a good thing you got it out. I think I would go the extra route and get ARP bolts, just to rest assure it wont happen again.

 

[deadernie]

If it were me I'd liberally coat the threads of the new bolt with high temp never-sieze. That way if you ever have to do this job again you likely won't have problems.

 

[RomeovilleIL]

It amazes me that the tensioner pulley is bolted directly to an aluminum arm, and you have to tighten that bolt to relieve the tension. mine just kept turnin'.

FYI: The tensioner should have a square hole in the body of the arm where you insert a 3/8" socket or breaker bar to relieve tension. By tightening the pulley bolt instead you likely stripped the aluminum threads right out.

 

[budwich]

Looks like another repair effort soon... X2 on the socket receiver in the arm.

 

[SparkyJeff]

FYI: The tensioner should have a square hole in the body of the arm where you insert a 3/8" socket or breaker bar to relieve tension. By tightening the pulley bolt instead you likely stripped the aluminum threads right out.

Nope. There is no 3/8 square hole anywhere on the tensioner arm.
Mine is a 5.0 V8.

Looks like another repair effort soon... X2 on the socket receiver in the arm.

Already swapped out.

I'll put up a pic of the tensioner from RockAuto.

 

[SparkyJeff]

If it were me I'd liberally coat the threads of the new bolt with high temp never-sieze. That way if you ever have to do this job again you likely won't have problems.

+1 I use anti-seize or loc-tite just about everywhere.