Coolant Drain Pitcock Brokern Off

G

G917t

Junior Member
Hello,

One of the coolant pitcocks broke off underneath my 38' V8. The brass NPT treads are stuck in the hole and due to the position (over the front axel), its almost impossible to get in there with an easy out or other tool.

Anyone have any experience or recommendations for the situation? I am 100% ok plugging the hole with JB weld if that is an option.

Thank you,

Tom
 
I just looked at my 38. Looks like a straight shot to me. An easyout on a socket extension should be fine for a brass fitting. Unless you're referring to the block drain behind the pump? Jack E/NJ
 
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Even sealing it you would have to get to it to clean it out and ready to except the sealant. Any way to loosen the motor mounts and gain some clearance?
 
>>>Any way to loosen the motor mounts and gain some clearance?>>>


Yes without the bottom hoses at least. Can easily get a few more inches if the bolts are dropped. I never use petcocks on block drains anymore in tight places mainly because opening them isn't any easier or convenient than simply removing a nice square or hex brass pipe plug that won't break off. Jack E/NJ
 
I've never used an ez out, have only heard of people having problems when they break. I have had some success using a torx bit hammered into the piece to be removed. In my case it was a flywheel bolt.

Mart.
 
do not use an ez out when you turn it it expands the broke piece. take a bolt that is the same dia as the broken piece now grind a taper do four sides so the end of the bolt looks square. hammer it in the hole turn counter clock wise if you grind the bolt right the piece. will come out.
 
Richard has the right idea. If you have access to them a cutting tool for a lathe is better because they are harder. Taper it on all four sides and it works great. As he explained, the spiral type easy out will sometimes expand the broken part, making it harder to remove.
 
Hammering a tapered anything into that broken brass piece might also tend to expand it. Maybe even more so. I'm not sure if there's enough room for hammering anyway in that location. Jack E/NJ
 
Thank you everyone for the input. I am not sure how much is left of the original threads because I cannot even see much into the hole. If the square bolt method doesn't work, I am going to try and plug it.
 
Use an EZ Out and hammer gently to start it. You don't want to hit it hard on a radiator. If necessary, pull the radiator for access.
 
My choice would be to pull the radiator...then you can see how to proceed without doing damage to the rad.
 
IDEA! Would it be possible to use the appropriate pipe tap and simply cut new threads into the broken off part remaining in the outlet?
 
The petcock is in the block, not the radiator. (Aint it?). The OP states "one of the petcocks".
 
Might be easier to just drill the fitting out to the tap size hole for the pipe thread in the outlet. This will only leave the spring like thread remains of the brass fitting which are fairly easy to pull out. You can even drill it slightly oversize to help. I have used this method many times with success. If you can get a straight shot at it an extended length drill bit would work.
 
If you loosen or remove the front motor mount bolts to lift the front of the engine for more room to work on this, make sure you also loosen the the rear transmission bolts several turns, or you could break those feet on the rear trans bearing retainer/transmount.

I'm not a fan of using easyouts either. They can sometimes cause more problems than they can fix :)
 
I would use the Easy Out. They work like a champ. Never saw a petcock in a block. Putting more threads in the petcock isn't going to help because you need to turn it counterclockwise to remove it. Easy Outs are designed to be turned counter-clockwise. It should be easy to take it out this way provided you use the right size Easy Out and drill. I have removed hundreds of broken bolts with Easy Outs and some petcocks too. You must have direct access though.
 
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JM35>>If you loosen or remove the front motor mount bolts to lift the front of the engine for more room to work on this, make sure you also loosen the the rear transmission bolts several turns, or you could break those feet on the rear trans bearing retainer/transmount.>>>


Good advice. You can get at least a few more inches of clearance this way. I also agree with phillipswanson. The EZ out should be fine in the hole of what's left of the 1/4" brass pipe fitting.



Jack E/NJ
 
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