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Broken bolts on thermostat housing and water pump


miwise
06-08-2006, 08:19 PM
Hello again!
Got such good help last time I was hoping someone could help me with a bad problem. This van is about to make me pull my hair out!

The van was overheating, so I looked underneath it and saw a lot of water pouring onto the ground. It was coming from b/w the water pump and the motor. I took out the radiator and accessories driven by the belt to free up some room then proceeded to remove the water pump and thermostat housing. All the bolts but three came out easily. I twisted three of the heads off when trying to get them out. One on the water pump and both on the thermostat housing. I have tried to heat them up with a cheap propane heater ( I don't have any torches and can't find any where I can get some without buying them) but the thing would not budge. tried a kit I bought at advance auto parts to no avail either. I'm at my wits end and have found no one who could help me around where I live. What should I do? Will this mean I have to replace the engine? Can I replace the water pump with the one broken bolt? What should I do about the thermostat housing? I am at a loss. Thanks for ANY help!
Regards,
Micah

carlos80
06-09-2006, 12:09 PM
use a punch and hit the bolt hard a couple times to try and break it loose then drill a small hole(preferably with left hand drill bits) and try to get it out using an easy out. don't forget to use plenty of wd40.
be careful you don't want to break the easy out in the hole, because if you can't get it out you're going to have to drill the entire bolt out

miwise
06-09-2006, 08:19 PM
Thanks for info, Wound up drilling the bolts out b/c they wouldn't come out using eazy outs. I was using the wrong type of drill bits, they weren't hard enough. I borrowed my dads drill bits (the name starts with a c) and they worked much better. drilled with no prob then tapped new threads. Thanks for the help!!

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