Re: Advice re broken head bolt


[Follow Ups] [Post Followup] [Dodge Power Wagon Forum]


Posted by Gordon Maney on Sunday, February 12, 2006 at 9:47AM :

In Reply to: Advice re broken head bolt posted by rwr on Saturday, February 11, 2006 at 11:48PM :

Modern technology gives you an additional method, though not convenient or cheap. However, on very valuable castings, it is the most conservative choice, and sure to be the most successful.

EDM (electrical discharge machining) can be used to, in a very precision, surgical manner, remove the broken bolt. The cylinder block has to be removed from the truck and taken to the shop doing the work. They may even require that the block be bare and clean, depending on their policies.

There is a machine shop near here that does that. In contrast to a ruined casting that cannot be used again, they are cheap.

Drilling out broken bolts works well and I have done it many times. It is not without its possible hazards. If you go in off center or at an angle, you will ruin your original, tapped hole. Yes, those can be repaired, but the quality of a repaired thread depends a lot on the accuracy, angle, placement, of the pilot hole. It also depends on the specific kind of thread replacement component you use. Some designs are better than others.

If this is your first such experience, it would do you a lot of good to practice on some scrap casting from the junk yard so you can know what you are up against.

Good luck with whatever path you choose.....



Follow Ups:



Post a Followup

Name:
E-Mail:
Subject:
Message:
Optional Link
URL:
Title:
Optional Image Link
URL:


This board is powered by the Mr. Fong Device from Cyberarmy.com