Can this be fixed without power

[mriley]

Not boating weather today - got bored and went down to boat to do a spot of maintenance. Bad move - I sheared a bolt on the engine. Its the one securing the tensioner for the belt driven water pump to the engine block. Belt is now slack, can't be tightened, and I'm not going anywhere. Trouble is I'm at a berth with no electricity. Can this be fixed without mains power (are there battery or hand tools that could be used?) - any suggestions gratefully received (apart from the obvious that I should have stayed at home).

 

[sandeel]

is any of the bolt sticking out or did it sheer off flush with engine?

 

[mriley]

sheared off flush with engine.

 

[smiala]

Been there done that, though on a engine head in a warm workshop. Not upside down on a rocking boat, so take care.


If the bolt can be got at with grips try that first?, sometimes tighen it first abit bit before undoing.

Else its drill the centre ( use a sharp punch to the centre to help position the drill bits first. )

Then use tapered bolt removers, can u get these from halfords, etc, they do a pack in a selection box for differing sizes. The taper screws in c clockwise with a spanner and should come out, put plenty of easyfree on the afending bolt.

Battery drill should manage it, with time and sharp bits.

WARNING, if you are not happy drilling straight, you might be in for more trouble, eg you could muck up the bolt hole thread then needing to helicoil and re bolt.

Dont drill to far either !

best of luck.

 

[Micky]

Yes, you should be OK using a good battery drill. Start off with a small drill bit, then work up to a larger one to take an "easy out" bolt removing tool.

Make sure you drill the first hole dead center of the bolt. Be careful, NOT to break the Easy-out tool, or you will be in real trouble.

 

[sandeel]

I would be really careful about using an easy out, as they are prone to break, as they are hardened and then it is nearly impossible to drill out,I know it happened to me!!
drill out bolt using progressively larger drills with a variable battery drill until you can break out the remaining threads with a punch but take it easy as has been mentioned, over drilling and you will have to retap the hole
good luck

 

[2Tizwoz]

If the bolt was corroded into place or otherwise locked it may be that weakening and warming it by the act of drilling together with some release oil will be sufficient to enable the use of easy-outs as described in earier posts.

Easy-outs have a coarse, tapered left hand thread and when they are screwed into the drilled stud they lock and then hopefully unscrew it. They are made from a hardened material and may break off in place. If the stud was originally seized sufficiently to cause the bolt head to shear the likelihood of that happening is greater. You will then be faced with a more difficult problem of a stuck easy-out which will not be easy to drill.

You may prefer to purchase a tap of the correct sice and the correct size of tapping drill, drill the broken stud and retap the hole.

 

[claudio]

If you can you cut a slot in the bolt with a dremel cutting disk, you might be able to use a large screwdriver to free the bolt.

 

[Avocet]

Just try tapping it round anti-clockwise with a hammer and centre-punch before you do anything more dramatic. Obviously, this won't work if the stud is corroded in but sometimes, when they snap, they loose all the tension that was giving the big frictional force anyway and they come out remarkably easily. OK, this is a boat so I wouldn't hold my breath but worht a quick try. IF you can get a bit of it exposd, you can then try the screwdriver trick.

 

[Garryt]

Make sure you also give it a good soaking in a releasing agent of some sort before you try to undo it.WD40 will suffice if you can't get anything else!

Then use "easy outs" or any other similar method.

 

[KenMcCulloch]

Possibly not very helpful but I once had to deal with a broken exhaust manifold stud, sheared off about 3mm below the surface of the block. This was in Stromness (Hamnavoe). A local engineer very impressively precisely spot-welded a small allen key to the end of the stud and neatly unscrewed it. He looked like a man who had done that kind of thing before. He also had portable electric welding gear.

 

[richardabeattie]

Use the biggest size easy out that you can get into it and then there's much less chance of it breaking

 

[fishermantwo]

My advice would be to keep clear of "Easy outs". Or practice at home first with one and when it breaks you will see for yourself what crap pieces of stuff they are. best bet is to drill out the hole as mentioned previously, then instead of an easy out use an Allen Key.Drill out as large as you can with increasing sized bits then select an Allen key just a fraction larger than the hole. Tap it in with a hammer and rotate the bolt out. Then toss the remaining easy outs in the bin with the broken bolt.

 

[Avocet]

I've always wondered about that. Too big and it seems to "swell" the stud as it bites - making it even harder to get out of the hole. Too small, and the EZout snaps! On the whole, I have to say they're the work of the devil - never managed to get one to work in circumstances where a centre punch wouldn't have!

 

[Appleyard]

I would agree that they are "the work of the Devil" I remember one which had broken off in the end of a crankshaft. The engine had to be stripped down and the thing removed by spark erosion.Slow and very expensive.
Anyway,here is my tuppenceworth,
You have no mains power,but can you get hold of a Battery drill? Buy a new,good quality1 mm drill bit,and carefully drill a line of holes across the diameter of the broken part of the stud.Make the holes as close together as you can. Then change to a 2 mm drill and enlarge the holes ,if you are careful you should end up with a "slot" into whch you can put a screwdriver,Then,using some "plus Gas" or similar,work away at it and you should eventually get it out.