Putting the timing cover back on after replacing timing chain and, of course, twisted off a bolt. Tried unsuccessfully to get the bolt out so had to drill and put in a helicoil (see circled hole in pic). Drill/tap went all the way through into what, I'm assuming, is a water jacket passageway. Am I correct or is it an oil passage? Am I ok? Any advice/opinions are greatly appreciated!
Broke a timing cover bolt
- Thread starter sargentrs
- Start date
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moe7404
moe7404
when i was putting a 360 to gather. i was making dowel pins for the timing cover. and one went into water jacket. so i made up a batch of JB-weld and let it get a little stiff. and put it on the and of the dowel. and stuck that into the hole. seamed to work. be sure all is clean. i use starting fluid for that. if you can get a small amount of grease on the threads only that will keep any JB-weld from sticking to the threads.
GEO
Sarcasm Inc.
I'd just put some Teflon sealer on the bolt
nm9stheham
Well-Known Member
The oil gallery is a bit below and to the left of the cam in your pix, and the only upwards oil passage is back at cam bearing #4. So it should not be in an oil passage. The water jacket should be an inch or so off to the right.
You would be well advised to: Pull the valve cover and I think you will see this hole going into the front-most pushrod gallery, which would explain the oil nature of the space behind the bolt hole. Then clean out any drilled metal as best you can so it does not go on down into the pan and work its way back up into the pump and the rest of the engine...ow! There should be only the relatively low crankcase vapor pressure behind the bolt so seal with some blue locktite or teflon tape, IMO.
You would be well advised to: Pull the valve cover and I think you will see this hole going into the front-most pushrod gallery, which would explain the oil nature of the space behind the bolt hole. Then clean out any drilled metal as best you can so it does not go on down into the pan and work its way back up into the pump and the rest of the engine...ow! There should be only the relatively low crankcase vapor pressure behind the bolt so seal with some blue locktite or teflon tape, IMO.
Pretty sure you will find that area open to the crankcase. In that case, the bolt needs no sealer of any kind. Pretty easy to determine. Apply air to the bolt hole and see if it escapes through the crankcase or the water jacket area.
I used heavy grease on the tap to catch as much shavings as possible, cleaned it out the best I could and, since the oil pan was off, I sprayed WD40 in and around through there and blew it out with an air wand blower. The helicoil held and the bolt torqued so now I feel much better. Put some RTV at the top threads and under the bolt head for good measure. Thanks for all the great help and advice!
nm9stheham
Well-Known Member
All very good steps, buuut..... The area where any metal could have gone in would not get well washed out unless you washed it with a coupla quarts of WD40. The bottom of that lifter gallery is a sold flat cast web with 2 lifter bores bored in it, and just a 3/8" or 5/16" hole for oil draining; it is not wide open to the oil pan. So there is plenty of chance for metal shavings to fall in and stay for a while 'til gradually moved toward that 1 drain hole by the slow engine oil flow in that area.
Just advising you to take precautions and check in there with the valve cover off, to limit the chances for any metal bits get into the oil pump and damage that. Any metal migth stay in that area forever, buuut....
Glad you are making progress!
Just advising you to take precautions and check in there with the valve cover off, to limit the chances for any metal bits get into the oil pump and damage that. Any metal migth stay in that area forever, buuut....
Glad you are making progress!
If he filled the tap flutes with grease like he said, my money says there's not one chip in the engine. I have tapped countless spark plug holes with grease packed in the tap flutes and it's like magic. It makes the chips defy gravity and stick in the grease and stay on the tap. Every time, without fail. It works good. It's alien technology I say.
nm9stheham
Well-Known Member
^^ Cool beans, never tried that so I'll take your word for it. That really does sound odd to work so well. Sounds like I have an upcoming experiment in the gauge with a thick steel plate!
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