CivicN3wb

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

MindBomber

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

CivicN3wb

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.

BlueEM2

iTrader: (1)

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?

CivicN3wb

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

MindBomber

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.

CivicN3wb

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?

MindBomber

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

BlueEM2

iTrader: (1)

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.

CivicN3wb

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! ;-)

MindBomber

Great news, man!

BlueEM2

iTrader: (1)

Great

scooty

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.

MindBomber

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

sl33pyriceboi

iTrader: (3)

double post FTL

sl33pyriceboi

iTrader: (3)

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]

04 Honda Civic

iTrader: (2)

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..)

xRiCeBoYx

iTrader: (22)

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

atbjr

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