My dad and I were doing the timing belt and water pump change on my 97 ex, we got everything off, and began to put the water pump on. I put the 4 bolts that hold the wp in and began to ratchet them in, and then idk what happened, but one of the bolts broke. we drilled into it, then tried getting the easy out in there, and that broke off in it, so now we are stuck as what to do next. we've been using a dremmel tool to drill it out, but with that easy out piece in there now, its made it pretty tough. any suggestions? Thanks for any advice.

 

if you've tried everything and it absolutely can't come out then the getto way would be to just use 3 bolts and a load of high temp silicone and make sure it doesn't leak. but try using a drill instead of a dremell, drill the entire thing out and just re-tap it.

 

thanks for the advice man. yeah, we found a machinist who is going to make a special bit that will hopefully clear all that crap out. then we are gonna try to re-thread the hole and go from there. if that doesnt work, im lighting the motor on fire, lol. this has definately been an experience tho.

 

Special bit??
F that.

Drop the engine out so you have a clear shot at the side....then just drill the thing out with a carbide bit and use a proper size helicoil - it will hold fine for this job.
You could step up the bolt size, but you'll have to bore the pump too.