Need advice, how to remove broken water pump bolt thats rusted in

[VSPantha]

Hi Guys,
Went to see my sister today, her car has been losing coolant and I found the water pump to be shagged. Being the good brother that I am... I went and got her a new pump and some coolant and the pellets... got back out to her place (she lives 50ks out of 'town') and started to do what should have been an easy job.

The small bolt on the top right hand side of the water pump... well it's head sheared straight off... I hardly had any pressure on the tool, the rest came out, all of them quite corroded and shabby.

I still have about 8mm of thread on this one bolt, tried spraying it with WD40, tried vice grips, except they just keep spinning and don't actually grip which is a hassle. The bolt seems to be be rusted in there pretty badly.... needs to come out so i can get this new pump on.

Soooo... what's the next plan of attack? I thought about getting a dremel, or even a file and making some flat spots on the sides so the vice grips have something to bite onto... or maybe trying a easy out, but with these bolts being as small as they are I'm not too sure if that will weaken it too much and the bolt will just snap again? Should I just try to drill it out and then retap a new thread or put a helicoil in? Would heating up the broken bolt with a gas torch help to loosen it at all?

Does anyone know off the top of their head what thread the 3/8 bolts use (the smaller ones?). I might get a new set if I can find some in town.

Also... with gasket sealant... I was just going to use aviation seal a gasket (black tar like gooey stuff) that I used on my 5ltr... but reading a how to on here people are using blue rtv sealant? Which one should I be using?

[TheIceman]

i dont use any of that sealant, i have always used permatex during my career as motor mechanic and never had issues, better than this blue sealant in my opinion for water pumps. each sealant has its uses, i have a range of different stuff i use for different purposes.
rusted waterpump bolts means the previous person probably did a crap job or the pump is all rusted out.
when you say top right, is that the one that goes into the water jacket or just the block?
u might be able to soak it in WD40 or something and vice grip them out. use an oxy carefully on it or youll end up melting the aluminium or warping it.
you might have to drill out. if worse comes to the worst, youll have to take the timing cover off.
i like dipping each bolt in holden head stud sealer when replacing them, then they will never rust in there again.

[VSPantha]

Hi Iceman.

The bolt that is broken is highlighted in the attached picture... it's not one of the block bolts.
You don't happen to know off hand what thread those smaller bolts are do you?

[TheIceman]

not too bad to get out then, but not sure of bolt thread, cant remember off top of my head, them engine have a mixture of bloody metric and imperial all over them.
hammer and punch to loosen it then vice grips to undo, drill and tap if necessary. bit of heat should loosen it as well.

[seraphic06]

I did the same thing when removing the thermostat housing from my VS. After much rooting around I eventually had to drill it out and tap a new thread. However had I had bought a set of these it may have been a bit easier (which I have since purchased).

[TheIceman]

i used to use at work something along the lines of this, i cant remember their name
http://www.mcguckin.com/index.php?ma...6e1vap1sbdobs0
but we had a set of these with 3-4 rollers and it would grip the shaff like stillsons and majority of the time it would remove them.

[Warranty Void]

If you get the oxy torch set to a low heat and heat the bolt until it is a middle orange colour and give it a few whacks with a hammer as if you're trying to drive in a nail while it's still reddy-orange glowing then you should be just about able to remove it with your fingers after that. Seen it done on heaps of different models and makes, works every time. Best stuff to prevent that kind of drama is copper grease, get a little bit from your local engineering suppliers.

[VSPantha]

Thanks for your replies everyone... ended up drilling out the offending bolt and retapping it... bloody thing would not budge no matter what I tried! I didn't have a torch so couldn't use heat which is probably what would have worked!