Broken Bolt

J

jaguar6165

Senior Member
I was reinstalling my oil pan and torquing the bolts to 20 pounds. On one of them the torque wrench didnt click and i snapped the head off the bolt. It is the one in the rear of the pan on the drivers side next to the starter. How big of a problem is this? all of the other bolts are torqued down, can i run the car for a little before i get it out some how? Will i have any problems with leaking if i do run the car?
 
20 pounds seems pretty tight for oil pan bolts. I'd be worried about the gasket squeezing out. You can try it without the one that's broke since the pan is on, but I think I'd want to pull it again, get the broken bolt out and reseal it using Snyders gasket system.
 
Actually, it would not hurt anything to run it a little. Worst case, there may be a small leak. However, that said, I would try to first get the piece out and replace the bolt. If you have any sealer on the gasket, it may not like oil before it is set up.

Usually, you can take a small center or pin punch and try to carefully back out the broken piece. Most of the time, they are not tight at all and will unscrew very easily.

Remember, this is not the end of the world, the original pan bolts are soft and will easily break off.

Just my opinion,

Chris
 
Take a dremel cut off wheel and cut a screwdriver slot in it and then just use a screwdriver on it I DID RAY
 
Do you have a bolt on each side or is it the last bolt? If you have one on each side you can quickly use a piece of angle iron and maybe use it as a bar across the broken bolt. Put a bolt into the ******** each side and re tighten.

That may be enough to hold the drips back.

Just a thought.

Dennis L Oberer
Green Bay WI
 
the only thing i use a torque wrench on is the head nuts. the rest i go by feel, or a click in the wrist or 2 burbs of the gun. the above ideas should help ya if its broken off flush try left handed drill bits or regular bits being carefull to start small and not to break the bit off in it. go as large as you can to use the biggest easy out. maybe you can do it with the pan still on..
 
Just had this happen to me last night on a flathead 8ba. Snapped even with the block.

I took a punch and in the center of the broken bolt made my divet to start my bit out with. Started with a small bit and worked my way up.

Then I ran a tap down the drilled hole in the bolt. Put some high-strength loctite on a bolt and screwed it into the new tapped hole.

After some coffee and running some chores I went out to the garage and just unscrewed it.

If this bolt was really stuck I don't know if the loctite would hold but JD Weld might.

Just thought I would share this as it worked well and didn't leave me with a broken ez-out to cuss at.
 

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There are to torque specs on the pan. A few years ago we were reviewing a problem with the gaskets being squeezed out for the Model A Times. We located an original "T" handle wrench that was designated for the pan bolts. It has a very short handle about 3" on each side and when using one hand you could only get about 5 pounds of torque on the bolts which is adequate.
 
Tinker thanks for the pic. I have just been lazy and havent fixed it yet but i dont have any oil leaks so im in no hurry because it would be easiest with the pan droppped and ive done enough work to the car lately i dont feel like doing more. But when i get the pan dropped i will try your method. Thanks
 
Hope it works for you. I have to say having the flathead on an engine stand made it a lot easier :]

An easy-out might have been just fine, but I've had a few break (maybe I'm buying the cheap ones or something) and then your really SOL.
 
Craftsman and Snap-on have Left Hand drill bits available in small sets, for just this kind of problem. Work great with care and patience on bolts that are not bottomed out and broke off in a hole and locked tight. Broken bolt must be center punched to start. Worth a try before more drastic measures. A drill extension can be used on the drill bit.
 
Those bolts are usually pretty loose.Try holding a magnet up against it and spinning it.If it is oily and free it will back out a little,enough to grab it.Lose the torque wrench and do it by looks and feel.If you are using those rubberized cork gaskets,just turn the socket by hand.You will see the gasket squeeze out the sides.If you use any kind of sealer on the gasket(except for the ends)it will act as a lube and you can split the gasket by just turning the socket with your hand.The old paper/thin cardboard type hold up much better in that respect.I use a little old star shaped palm ratchet on the 4 bolts on either side of the crank and I can easily overdo it with that.On the side rail bolts I usually just get a good hold on the extension and twist it.With those rubberized cork gaskets it seems like the lock washer won't even flatten out before the gaskets starts squeezing out.You have to be careful.
 
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