Rep Power: 0

I tried changing my timing belt today and got to the point where I was putting everything back together when tragedy struck. I was installing the new water pump and tightening the bolts down to 8.7 ft/lbs when one of the bolts snapped off. I have a feeling the pos Harbor Freight torque wrench I bought didn't click when it was supposed to, because the bolt felt pretty tight, but as I didn't hear any click (and the wrench didn't snap over like it's supposed to) I just kept going, and off snapped the bolt:



I'm really upset with myself for letting this happen. I guess I should have stopped tightening the bolt when it felt pretty tight, but I trusted the damn wrench.

What would you suggest I do? Are three bolts holding the water pump in enough? Or, should I try to get the lower part of the bolt out somehow?

Appreciate your advice

 
Rep Power: 285

Is there any portion of the bolt currently left sticking out of the block?

 
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Unfortunately not. The bolt was all the way in when I was tightening it and it snapped. It is the lower left bolt if you are looking at the pump.

 
Rep Power: 314

Your kinda screwed, take it to a shop and get the piece taken out. Sometimes when the torque specs are very low like 8.7 ft/lbs your better off to go by feel than using a torque wrench. It's not a click type is it?

 
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Yes, it is a click type torque wrench. Do you think there's any possibility of drilling it out or something?

 
Rep Power: 285

For sure, it's possible to pull it out with an extractor bit or drill out the bolt and install a helicoil, but those are things you might be better off having the shop handle.

For anything low torque I go by feel and use a bit of lock tight.

 
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Thanks for your advice. It's dark outside now, but tomorrow I'll take a look at it and see if I can get a drill up where the bolt is. It doubt there's enough room, though. I would like to try it myself as I'm very short on money at the moment and may not be able to pay a shop to do this depending on how much they would charge.

Regardless of whether I try to do this or take it to a shop, if a drill can't fit up in there, would the engine have to be removed?

 
Rep Power: 285

It'll be tight, but a right angle drill should do the trick.

 
Rep Power: 314

For future reference. (Ive had about 15 shots so dont mind me ). Click type torque wrenches are NOT good for anything under about 40 ft/lbs. They are not accurate at all. You want to use what's called a "Beam" type torque wrench for anything that low because they keep their accuracy. However, just og by feel at that point... 10ft/lbs is not a lot of torque, your basically snugging up the bolt + a tad more.

 
Rep Power: 0

Good news -- I got it out! I went to Lowes this morning and bought the stuff I needed to try to extract the bolt , but when I got home and took the water pump off I saw that there was about 1/32" of the bolt sticking out of the engine block; not very much, but I was able to grab it - just barely - with needle nose pliers and twist it out! When the bolt broke off last night I assumed it broke off in the engine, because that's what it looked like with the pump still on. I wish I had taken the pump off last night -- I would have slept a lot better! ;-)

 
Rep Power: 285

Great news, man!

 
Rep Power: 314

Great

 
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I had the exact same thing happen to me, except there was nothing sticking out to grab hold off. A 90 degree drill didn't have enough room to fit. So I undid the rear and front engine mount and jacked the water pump corner of the motor way up to make room for the 90 degree drill. I got it out using an extractor bit.

Watch out for those valve cover bolts as well. I've stripped the threads in 2 of the bolt holes and had to use a heli-coil.

 
Rep Power: 285

Good problem solving there, amazing how much easier these obstacles become to solve with a bit of experience.

 
Rep Power: 353

double post FTL

 
Rep Power: 353

just in case anyone else was wondering how you take out a broken bolt

[autostream]http://autostream.com/ibcivicforums/?page_type=firebirdplayerthumbnail&framepage=1229& transactionid=1334641678-7213460246&posted_by=sl33pyriceboi_www.civicforums .com&youtube_video_id=4wNhVivHloE[/autostream]

 
Rep Power: 254

For future reference. Use the right size torque wrench next time. Its best to used a torque wrench in the range you need.

Meaning is you need to tighten a bolt to 40 ft pounds. Buying a torque wrench that goes to 100 foot pounds is better over a torque wrench that goes to 200 foot pounds. Try to stay in the middle of the range of the wrench. (I have made this mistake..dont use a half inch torque wrench on small oil pan bolts..)

 
Rep Power: 512

When I was in the Navy, I was taught "choose a torque wrench so that your desired torque value lies between 20-90% of the range of the torque wrench"

One of the few useful things I've taken from the military

 
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sounds pretty familar, i did the same thing when i was installing a trans kit,found out the hard way after i stripped the bolt, 10 in/lbs... NOT 10 ft/lbs