Sheared Engine Mount Bolts

[Mattman]

Hi Folks

My Nova 1.5td front driver side engine mount snapped and when my mate was fitting the new one he noticed the bolts to the engine have sheared and theres nothing left sticking out to get a hold of to get them out. I am told I may have to get the engine out and get them professionally drilled out (which I fear may cost me a fair bit)

Can anyone help with a good workshop to take it to in the North Glasgow area or help with any advice on how to tackle this problem?

Thanks in advance

Mattman

[Paul]

You centre punch the middle of the bolt, drill a hole and try easy-outs. Basically the have a reverse thread, so as you wind them in, the grip on the bolt tightens and hopeully it gets stuck, as it gets stuck when you keep winding it should draw the bolt out.

http://www.dansmc.com/easyout.jpg

Chances of it working are 50-50.

If that doesnt work then try drilling the bolt out and leaving just the coils in the block, easier said that done! If all else fails drill it re-tap it.

[bmw156]

begin to cry?

lol

[stevenf]

as paul says thats probs your cheapest option as easy outs dont cost that much and its worth a try :thumb:

[mowgli]

with the grille & rad out there should be some room to work

[Mattman]

thanks for the help - will give the easy outs a try.

[Mattman]

begin to cry?

lol

Begin??? keep on crying you mean lol

[meritlover]

my feeling of easy-outs are, that if it was tight enough to shear a bolt, then using a tapered high tensile tool of a smaller diameter is not going to work either. they tend to splay the bolt out making it tighter in the hole, and if it shears...good luck taking any further steps!
you would be better giving up on the mount as the aluminium will have corroded to the steel bolt making it solid. perhaps if you hit it with a pin punch or drift you will be able to pop it out after freeing off the corrosion, failing that, you will maybe get a hacksaw blade between the mount and the chassis leg and slowly cut through the bolt until it drops down.

i hope i a have imagined the mount that you are talking about. if it is the same then what i have suggested may work. if we are thinking of a different mount then i have failed and perhaps my ideas will be no use to you.

[mowgli]

/\ but to shear the bolt, someone has overtightened it & when it snaps, the pressure on the existing threads is released, & as the bolt is into a threaded iron block, there is a veery good chance it will remove with minimun effort

[meritlover]

/\ but to shear the bolt, someone has overtightened it & when it snaps, the pressure on the existing threads is released, & as the bolt is into a threaded iron block, there is a veery good chance it will remove with minimun effort
in most cases this is perhaps the case.
but in the case of nova engine mounts, the dis-simelar metals causes a reaction between the aluminium and the steel bolt which makes them swell and seize in very tight. it has sheared because the bolt is solid, not because it was over tightened.

[Mattman]

Its the two bolts that fix to the engine that have sheared not the ones to the chassis leg :(

My local garage (who haven't seen the car) said if the bolts are near the water jacket (WTF is that?) he wouldn't touch it and suggested an engineering workshop close by that may drill them out. (I can see labour costs being rather large)

I have no mechanical knowledge and generally rely on a mate that does any work in his spare time but he doesnt feel he can tackle this without the car going into a garage as the engine will probably have to come out.

[Sloth]

make enough space round it, and drill them with a very sharp drill going very slowly. then retap the threads or helicoil them and threadlock them or chem metal the bolts in.

[mint nova]

Wen i have snapped bolts flush in the past where ever the easy out option has failed try welding a nut to the bolt in the hole this will also get a bit of heat into the bolt which will help it release. Then try working it back and fourth. Good luck mate

[garyc]

............and buy a tourque wrench then keep your mate away from it!

[General Baxter]

you all fail,

its on a TD, the mounts on the side,

to drill and tap its an engine out jobbie

[meritlover]

you all fail,


no :(

[Hibberddean]

Can u let me know what happened with this pal as my mounting bolt has snapped and i really aint got the money to get it done at a garage

[sunnyjim]

if easyouts dont work, try drilling and tapping the hole to suit a larger thread than the original. Or drill in stages until you can get whats left of the bolt out after drilling most of it out

[AlexW]

Sunnyjim stop bumping old threads!!!!!

[jord4n]

my best stud extractor is my mig welder, it dosnt sound like there is much room but u only need the smallest tack on the endof the snaped bolt to a bit of bar or old spanner.

i did get got some 2mm steel sheet and cut a strip off say 200mmm long and 15-20mm wide, drill a hole and puddle weld it to the snaped bolt head.

with the above the heat should free it up and it will just come out, thats if theres room and enough material to weld to

theres no better feeling then beating a bolt.

jord