zsnarl

Hiya folks,

I'm in the middle of doing the timingbelt/water pump replacement, and manage to break off the top water pump bolt.

From what I understand, I probably want to lower the front subframe to drop the engine, but my question is would it be possible to lower the engine enough to get to the water pump bolts? I'm guessing I need to lower the engine about 6-7" to get clearance from the wheel well to use a bolt extractor.



To lower the front subframe, do i just remove the 4 subframe bolts and lower with a floor jack? Do i need to keep the oil pan supported? and would I need to remove the center beam/transmission mounts?

Anyone have any other ideas on how I could remove the broken bolt?

Thanks

Baller Bolts

A bolt extractor looks to be your only answer, that thing is broke off flush...Take your time with it, it is going to be a real bitch.

slomofo

iTrader: (1)

Remove your rear motor mount L-Bracket, then loosen the subframe bolts about an inch or two and see if you can get the engine low enough to use a 90 degree drill in there. If not, then lower it some more and drill straight into it. From the looks of it, I'm sure you could spin it out with a small punch or chisel if you could get it low enough to fit a chisel and hammer in there.

cctgene

Just out of curiosity how did you break the bolt- removing or installing?

Happen to me once, installing a water pump on a Ford truck was reading the wrong specification and over torque it until it snapped! Much like the Honda it was buried and impossible to get at so I just left the pump on with one less bolt and surprising it never leaked. I don’t know if that would work in your case but if all else fails you might give it a shot. I recently replaced the water pump on my son’s 91 Accord, and if I remember correctly, the torque specifications were not much more than finger tight, something like 108 in-lbs or 9 ft-Ibs, so maybe just some RTV gasket material around the outside of the pump might work. Your best bet of course is to remove and replace the broken bolt!

Just a thought

zsnarl

I got a little lucky with this one. Here's what I did.

Saturated the broken bolt with PB Blaster( rinsed off some of the near by parts with water incase the PB blaster stuff messed up the gaskets) Let it sit for a couple of days while i got a hold of a cherry picker.

Attached the cherry picker to the loop closer to the cam pulley, pulled upt the engine slightly, and then removed the the 3 center engine mounting bolts.

Raised the engine on the driver side to gain more clearance. (At this point I was thinking I needed to get a 90degree drill - or pull out the engine entirely, because with a 90degree drill, i ran a higher risk of not drilling it dead center and risk breaking the left handed bit/extractor kit)

Then I took out the cam pulley, and the plastic cover and tried to unscrew the bolt. Here's where i got lucky - the came write off.


- the broken bit was in much deeper - almost flush, but I put it back on for the pix.

With the engine tilted and the driver side engine mount detached, I'll have an easier time putting the parts (esp lower timing cover) back on too.

dleccord

so did you use a vise grip?

zsnarl

As far as how it happened, it snapped when i was installing the water pump with a torque wrench. I had to use a deep well 10mm to ge to a few of the bolts, and my deep well was a 3/8 fitting. What I should have done is used a smaller torque wrench with an 1/4 to 3/8 adapter of some sorts - or just finger tighten it.

The other 4 bolts didn't snap when with the torque wrench, but I went out and bought new bolts anyway- incase I weaken the bolts.

My other option would have been to install it with the 4 bolts, and some extra hondabond on the broken bolt edge, but I just had a feeling that it would leak a week later plus I'm thinking of selling the car, and would hate it if I bought a car and inherited this kind of a problem (karma's a bitch )

zsnarl

Small pliers and twisting with fingers. -- Removing the plastic cover behind the cam pulley gave me some extra leverage. and I might not have needed to raise the engine, but I do have more space to work with now and it will be easier to put on the lower timing cover now...

dleccord

hmm wonder if it was a grade 8 bolt..

maknes

07/26/2015 - I'm in the same boat. Shame on Honda for not using decent bolts (stainless) in an area saturated with caustic fluids.
The broken bolt on my civic is the lower forward bolt just below the circulation port for the engine. I didn't break it - it corroded apart, which is what caused the leak to begin with. So the bolt is obviously corroded-welded in place. I have the pump off, and have used PB Blaster on it for over 24 hours.
It hasn't budged yet (either direction) when I clamp a small vise grip on the exposed part (about 1/4 inch). I have tried tapping on it while turning - that hasn't worked either.

I really don't want to have to lift that engine up by breaking the rest off.

Any suggestions?

Would using a torch to heat the area around the bolt possibly open enough space to let the penetrating oil in?

PS: I have always thought that the first requirement of an engineer is to have to work on whatever they design before it goes into production. But then - we wouldn't need this forum, would we!

PPS: I decided that taking a torch into an engine compartment - where almost every fluid and fume is flammable - was not a good idea.