Broken air relief bolt - Coolant System

[.Smitty.]

Hey everyone,

So I was flushing my radiator and with about 5 ft-lbs of torque on the bolt, the head snapped off. So I bought a bolt extractor tool and started drilling the pilot hole. As I started to drill, the drill bit caught the remaining section of the bolt and screwed it all the way through and out the other side.

How the hell am I going to get this out? I've stuck my finger in there hoping to feel it, but can't. I have one of those telescoping magnets, but it doesn't pick anything up when I get it inside of the coolant fixture thing. Short of just taking everything off, I don't know how else to get it out. I can't just leave the little bit of threaded section in there, can I?

Gah, what a hassle this has turned into!

Thanks for anyone's help!
Brett

[w0nderbr3ad]

Remove the upper coolant hose and get it out.

[slider2828]

Not sure what you are talking about? Pictures? maybe remove both upper and lower radiator hose and try with a garden hose to flush it out.

[.Smitty.]

Remove the upper coolant hose and get it out.

That's what I've already done. I already took off the upper hose and have been sticking my magnet/hand/fingers trying to find it.

Not sure what you are talking about? Pictures? maybe remove both upper and lower radiator hose and try with a garden hose to flush it out.

Pic:

http://i118.photobucket.com/albums/o87/lsvtecteg66/IMG_3020.jpg

Red - head of broken bolt
Blue - air relief valve where bolt screws into
Green - where upper hose connects and where I've been trying to reach into.

I was thinking about trying to flush it out with just water, but wasn't sure if it'd push it out or go against the flow and go deeper into the system.

Thanks for the replies though guys!

[slider2828]

O crap.... on the head side.... Yeah definiteyl you gotta clear it outt there.... If it is the upper radiator hose, isn't that where the water comes out of? If so you can try using a coolant bleeder kit from prestone and the water push it out of the neck.

[Ali 556]

+1 what they have said,

or reove the upper water neck and get it out....:lfault:

[.Smitty.]

O crap.... on the head side.... Yeah definiteyl you gotta clear it outt there.... If it is the upper radiator hose, isn't that where the water comes out of? If so you can try using a coolant bleeder kit from prestone and the water push it out of the neck.

Well from the FSM, heres the coolant flow:

http://i118.photobucket.com/albums/o87/lsvtecteg66/Picture2.png

So I guess flow goes from the manifold side of the hose out to the radiator. and down the radiator and to the water pump and through the engine then out the upper hose again. I guess I could just try flushing it out like you said.

[Bigsyke]

Dont worry about it, I did the EXACT same thing as you. There is enough depth in the threaded hole to not wory about it, unless you an feel 90% of the bolt sticking down in the upper rad neck on the head.

Go ahead and grid down the bleeder bolt area smooth, and JB weld it shut (outside), this should at least seal the hole on the top so coolant wont leak.

Go ahead and get a swirl tank and get 2 fittings, one for upper and one for the lower. Problem solved, thats what I did.

[.Smitty.]

Dont worry about it, I did the EXACT same thing as you. There is enough depth in the threaded hole to not wory about it, unless you an feel 90% of the bolt sticking down in the upper rad neck on the head.

Go ahead and grid down the bleeder bolt area smooth, and JB weld it shut (outside), this should at least seal the hole on the top so coolant wont leak.

Go ahead and get a swirl tank and get 2 fittings, one for upper and one for the lower. Problem solved, thats what I did.

Well the way you describe it, I think you left your bolt in the threads. I tried getting mine out and instead, it screwed all the way out of the threads, fell into the inlet, and now I can't find it at all. It's somewhere in the flow of the coolant - I don't think I should just leave it there.

[Bigsyke]

^^^I see, well yes you need to remove it, however more than likely the weight of the threads will place it at the bottom of the radiator.

[Matej]

Good luck. I know how you feel. I spent three hours fishing a broken drill bit out of my transmission last week.

[YucA]

remove the neck, but if the magnet didn't score anything, it might have flowed towards the radiator. I doubt it'll drop to the bottom of the radiator, the tubes are too thin. If you didnt destroy the thread extracting the screw, then just score a new one and replace. If not, i still recommend to re-tap. Dont JB weld it.

[Bigsyke]

Good luck. I know how you feel. I spent three hours fishing a broken drill bit out of my transmission last week.

I had to split the bellhousing to find the striking pin, which ended up next to the input bearing.

remove the neck, but if the magnet didn't score anything, it might have flowed towards the radiator. I doubt it'll drop to the bottom of the radiator, the tubes are too thin. If you didnt destroy the thread extracting the screw, then just score a new one and replace. If not, i still recommend to re-tap. Dont JB weld it.

I would say the radiator or flowed towards the heater hoses under the IM. Jbweld worked perfectly for me, its been 1 year and is holding up amazingly, no leaks or cracks, and if your unsure do a layer, let it cure for a week, sand flat and follow up with a few more layers. It will stick to the aluminum quite well if you use a 60 grit.

[.Smitty.]

Good luck. I know how you feel. I spent three hours fishing a broken drill bit out of my transmission last week.

Heh, yeah man, this really turned for the worse. Nothing ever goes smoothly lol.

remove the neck, but if the magnet didn't score anything, it might have flowed towards the radiator. I doubt it'll drop to the bottom of the radiator, the tubes are too thin. If you didnt destroy the thread extracting the screw, then just score a new one and replace. If not, i still recommend to re-tap. Dont JB weld it.

Well I drained everything out of the system, so there is nothing that could have really taken it anywhere besides gravity if it rolled. Sorry for the noob question, but what neck? If it went anywhere, it would have gone further into the cooling system towards the engine not the radiator. And yeah, I already have a replacement bolt for it.

I would say the radiator or flowed towards the heater hoses under the IM. Jbweld worked perfectly for me, its been 1 year and is holding up amazingly, no leaks or cracks, and if your unsure do a layer, let it cure for a week, sand flat and follow up with a few more layers. It will stick to the aluminum quite well if you use a 60 grit.

Do you think I could just hose water down that outlet and let it fall out one of the heater core hoses?

[los_inc]

get a new upper intake manifold. and while your at it remove all the emissions crap
swap it in your as good as new
-los

[Bigsyke]

Why not remove the thermostat and shoot a hose in there?

[cdlong]

get a new upper intake manifold. and while your at it remove all the emissions crap
swap it in you're as good as new
-los

what good will that do? the IM is fine and he'll still have a loose bolt inside the engine. read the thread man.

you could take the manifold off and fish around in there with a magnet on a string. make sure it's a strong string, you don't want it to stick to the inside of the block and break and have a bolt and a magnet inside your engine.

are you absolutely sure it didn't roll into the radiator hose or on the ground somewhere? i know it's dumb but how much would you be kicking yourself if you found it later in the upper hose.

[Bigsyke]

If you really want to find it, Fill up the whole cooling system with distilled water, dont turn on the engine however loosen all hoses and releive air.

Pump one of the radiator hoses hard enough to hear a jiggle (besides the OE jiggle valve). If its not in a hose it should make a marble sound. Good time to replace all hoses

[.Smitty.]

get a new upper intake manifold. and while your at it remove all the emissions crap
swap it in your as good as new
-los

Not too sure how this would really help in actually finding the bolt. I mean, yeah, removing the IM to go looking might help, but there's chance its no where even near that anymore. I really have no idea.

what good will that do? the IM is fine and he'll still have a loose bolt inside the engine. read the thread man.

you could take the manifold off and fish around in there with a magnet on a string. make sure it's a strong string, you don't want it to stick to the inside of the block and break and have a bolt and a magnet inside your engine.

are you absolutely sure it didn't roll into the radiator hose or on the ground somewhere? i know it's dumb but how much would you be kicking yourself if you found it later in the upper hose.

Is removing the IM as simple as unbolting it, or does it require more? Two gaskets would have to be replaced, I assume. I have the FSM, but haven't checked it yet to see what's involved. I'm getting really frustrated sitting out there trying everything only to come up empty.

And yeah, lol, I've checked the ground and the upper hose has been removed completely already so it's definitely hiding somewhere in there.

If you really want to find it, Fill up the whole cooling system with distilled water, dont turn on the engine however loosen all hoses and releive air.

Pump one of the radiator hoses hard enough to hear a jiggle (besides the OE jiggle valve). If its not in a hose it should make a marble sound. Good time to replace all hoses

I tried filling everything up, but didn't know where to go from there and just drained the system from the drain bolt. I tried undoing the heater hose by the heater cock, but didn't spend too much time on it and couldn't get it removed. By "all hoses" do you really mean "all hoses"? If I loosen all of the hoses, it's all just going to start flowing out everywhere until it's practically empty. Sorry if I'm just not getting it; like I said above, I'm about to rage on something if I don't find it soon and am not thinking totally right.

Before I drained it all, I tried shaking the car/pumping lower hose to see if I could come up with a sound or anything at all, but I didn't hear a thing besides a little squeak from my springs.

I also bought a twisty magnet with a LED light in the center of it like this, but it didn't really go any further and didn't pick up anything:

http://www1.conrad.de/xl/8000_8999/8200/8230/8230/823068_RB_00_FB.EPS.jpg

If you guys think I should just remove the IM and go digging, then I guess that's that and I'll do it. Or if I could fill up the system with water and try flushing it out, I just don't know how to go about that yet.

[Def]

Taking off the coolant outlet takes about 2 mins. Just do that and go from there. It's probably down in your block, and I bet you can get at it with your magnet pickup with the outlet off.