Fixing a sheared thread in toilet

[SvenglishTommy]

My toilet leaks and I've found that this is due one of the threads that holds the pump onto the toilet plastic base has been sheared (most likely when previous owner fitted an electric pump).

I was thinking the best way to fix this would be to fill the hole with epoxy or some such and then re-drill for the self tapping screw. Any better ideas or advice on what to use for the filling.

Cheers,

Tom

 

[KellysEye]

That sounds good, definitley epoxy filler.

 

[Blueboatman]

Jabsco?
Rotating the screw backwards half a turn gently you may find if you are lucky that it engages with the threads in a better way, as recommended in previous threads ( threads, eh!) on this particular weakness on the forum search engine.
Not sure whether epoxy and nylon will bond, there 'may' be enough meat there in the base assembly to engage a slightly larger diameter screw- or it 'may' make things worse by causing a split. Anyone tried this?

 

[nedmin]

Assuming its a Jabsco.Drill the thread out,use a drill the same size as the the hole in the top bit.Get a nut and set screw(bolt) that the screw will just clear the hole in the top part.Get the nut and file off some of the corners so that it will fit under the bottom piece and allow the setscrew to enter the nut.If you are careful you can file the nut so that it wont turn. Because I had lots of 2BA screws and nuts I had to use a slightly bigger drill to make the clearance for the setscrew to go thro.but you should be able to find a metric that will do.ITS Important that before you tighten the original self tappers that you turn anticlockwise until you feel a "click",this enables the screw to drop in the original thread.Otherwise you start a different thread and this causes it to strip.Why the hell Jabsco dont fit a nut and bolt I dont know.

 

[nedmin]

P.S. to previous post,Its best if you drill the threads out one at a time using the top as a template to drill thro. the bottom bit.ie fasten the top with the other 5 screws.

 

[SvenglishTommy]

Thanks guys, the thread is definitely dead, so I'll try the nut and bolt method before going down the epoxy route.

 

[nedmin]

forget the epoxy route it wont stick to the plastic.Try and get brass nut and bolts if you can.(Stainless can be a bit hard to file)You probably wont have to change them all as some of the self tappers will be OK.One of my toilets has got 2 bolts and rest self tappers.

 

[philip_stevens]

Thanks guys, the thread is definitely dead, so I'll try the nut and bolt method before going down the epoxy route.

Tommy,
I had this same problem on the toilet base on our boat, but managed to fix it with Thistlebond epoxy, into a drilled out oversized hole, and then tapped out to the thread size. it has worked up to now.

An alternative, is to re-tap it to an oversize thread, and then fit a thread insert/Helicoil to the correct size bolt.