[Mrama004]

Well. Damn it. One of my thermostat housing bolts sheared off when trying to remove it. Advice appreciated on how to move forward.

 

[Mrama004]

Ah nevermind found this thread from a year ago…

thermostat bolt in block

sucks when a simple job takes a turn for the worse.. removed thermostat housing, one of the bolts broke in the block. simple solution was (i thought) drill hole in bolt and use EZ-out. well the EZ out broke inside the bolt as well. got a carbide drill bit and have started drilling the bolt out...

www.viperalley.com

Shit! 🤮

 

[Mrama004]

Thats the plan, 2-3 days PB with a little torch heat at gametime for added persuasion. There is about a 1/4 in of the bolt exposed where I can comfortably get a visegrip on there without contacting the mating surface on the block. Fingers crossed this works and I dont have to drill.

 

[Mrama004]

This bastard bolt…

tried heating with a propane torch and turning with a vise grip. Eventually got to the point where I couldn’t get a good bite with the vise grip.

today a welder came out and got a nut on there. Ended up snapping off with more of the bolt with it. He was able to get a second nut on and am now giving it time to soak in more penetrating oil. i’m not optimistic.

 

[Mrama004]

Torched the housing and the bolt. Added PB when cooling down. Tapped it with a wrench, with a hammer. Rocked it side to side when hot. Slowly rotated the vise grip right and left. Did this about 5 times (~2 minutes heating each time).

The nut got red hot when it was welded on, it was kind of beautiful. With that I didnt slowly twist right and left, I just went for it, which didnt help.

With this last nut, twisted gently and added some aircraft version of penetrating oil the welder had.

I’m trying to make peace with drilling and tapping a new hole. Its not something I trust myself to get right when its the viper in the crosshairs; will be looking for a legit mechanic or someone more confident than I if this nut fails.

 

[Mrama004]

I think we need to recommend to all Gen 2 owners that T-stat gaskets get replaced every 10 year no matter what. The gaskets start to break down and coolant seeps out into the housing bolt threads. If your car has never had the intake off, you should look closely for signs of leakage and prepare for the worst.

This is the unfortunate truth. Mine was on for 21 years and I saw the coolant leak from the tstat this year. Who knows how long it was leaking just enough to not notice but still corrode the bolts. New gasket and bolts every few years seems like appropriate preventative maintenance now.

 

[Mrama004]

I am happy to report that that last welded nut held and I was able to back this devil bolt out. What a freaking ordeal! Thank you all for the guidance along the way.

 

[Mrama004]

Also, the welder had a bottle of kano aero kroil penetrating oil. Might have helped a bit more than PB blaster, sharing that bit intel for the alley.

 

[Mrama004]

Looking ahead to the year 2038 when I finally get this old gasket scraped off the thermostat housing, do I need to apply gasket sealant when putting the new gasket on? Service manual is silent on sealant.

 

[Mrama004]

Awesome, thanks dudes