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View Full Version : CRAP- snapped FAN Bolt



93previa
11-12-2014, 12:33 PM
Was so happy- cleaned fan- putting back on- slowly turning bolts,alternating, did not think I overtightened and SNAP!!!
OK so how do I get the threaded piece out? I am solo right now. Hubby not here.
CRAP! (not much room to work- I can't see the thread stick in there very well)

http://i61.tinypic.com/dfxd7d.jpg

pdgizwiz
11-13-2014, 08:29 AM
Crap is right! This kind of thing can ruin your day.
Are there four bolts holding the fan on? You can probably get by with three.
If the bolt broke because it was tightened too much - and not because the threads were crossed, dirty or otherwise buggered - the broken bit is probably loose in the threaded hole and can be teased out. That's if you have good access, of course. It looks like the end of the bolt in your picture has a point on it; that suggests the other bit has a corresponding depression. If you can get a pointy thing into that depression and push it around in a circle to tease it out, well, that's a good feeling. You just get a new bolt and your back to the races. If for whatever reason the broken bit is lodged in there, the solution is much messier.

A 3/8" drive torque wrench is a handy thing to have. Unless one has a well-trained "feel" for what torque is appropriate for small fasteners, it's pretty easy to bust them.

One of my vans had the typical leaky valve cover. Upon dissassembly I found that two of the bolts were missing. Well, that's what it looked like at first. Then I saw the busted threaded bits still in the head. Visions of drilling bolts and fingers-crossed easy-out operations flashed through my head. But I was able to tease them out as I described above, and that was cause for celebration. I expect that the PO of that van (or a dim mechanic they hired) imagined that they could fix the leak by tightening the bolts a bit more. Wrong! The valve cover bolts are "shoulder" bolts. The shoulder bottoms out on the head, and this establishes a fixed amount of compression on the gasket. Further tightening only over-stresses the threaded part of the bolt, and as it's only a 6mm bolt, it doesn't take a lot of ummph to bust it.

93previa
11-13-2014, 08:54 AM
Thanks for the tip! 3 bolts seem like it's on there pretty snug.Gonna leave it as is.
Hopefully the bolt piece won't rattle out and damage a belt or something else :)
It was frustrating because I had worked so hard to clean up fan,:doh:

TheMAN
11-14-2014, 08:27 AM
you can probably take the broken part off easily once you remove the fan