Snapped head bolt!

Buggyman · Dec 16, 2015

I was installing passenger side head today and I was following the torque setting exactly and was on the final torque and the 4th bolt snapped off in the block :bawling:

. I have no idea what went wrong, I tightened everything to 59 ft. lbs then backed every bolt off by one full rotation then tightend to 40 ft. lbs and then was on my way to 65 ft. lbs. I followed the sequence in the shop book and torque specs listed, I also bought Ford OEM bolts and I cleared the holes out with compressed air and oiled the bolts prior to inserting. Any idea what went wrong? Can this even be fixed? I have not yet removed the head to see if any bolt is sticking out that could be used to remove it but I have my doubts as its recessed threads and quite a bit of bolt came out.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated, both on how to remove what is left of that bolt and to figure out why this bolt broke.

Thanks.

Big Jim M · Dec 16, 2015

Most times the head bolts break in the area of the head itself and have enough sticking out of the block to unscrew the part left.
However the part left isn't tight in the block (most times) so attempting to unscrew it with a small pointed instrument is usually successful.
Big Jim

Buggyman · Dec 16, 2015

Thanks Big Jim, pulled the head and the bolt is about 1/4 inch below the surface of the block. Would an easy out retrieve something like this? It was getting pretty tight right before it snapped. Looked for the broken bolt but it will take some time as I have no idea which way I threw it in the moment....

Big Jim M · Dec 16, 2015

The reason it was getting tight is because the part of the bolt in the HEAD was stretching!
The part left should not be very tight.
I would attempt to twist it with a pointed instrument! Next I would get a drill bit and grind it about flat and then attempt to turn the bolt out using reverse in the drill.
Really the part left should be easy to unscrew.
Big Jim

adsm08 · Dec 16, 2015

I would forgo the destruction of a drill bit and grab a left handed bit and use that from the get go. If the bolt is loose the bit should bite and bring the bolt out almost right away.

Andy D · Dec 16, 2015

If you have a Harbor Freight handy, they sell a small index of LH bits for really short money , under 10 bux IIRC. A pick or a small screw driver is often enough to start it. If I can't get it loose, I drill the sucker out until all that is left is like foil and I pick it out I don't have anything but bad luck with EZ outs. When you insert a LH EZ out into a hole it grips against the outer edge of the hole and wedges itself in. It runs counter to trying to relieve the bolt. Snap one of those and you really have troubles.. That is is my take on EZ outs. When you drill the center of a bolt out you relieve the threads. I start with a 1/8 and go up by 16ths. I stop or at least. slow down when I see threads. I bought the LH bits, but I haven't sheared anything since. That's even better.
Patience is required. Sharp bits and oil are good too

Make sure the the hole is empty of all oil and debris. If anything, the debris is less important than the liquid. they don't compress and if there was any in the hole, the bolt will shear or the block will crack.

Buggyman · Dec 16, 2015

Thanks for all the suggestions. I wonder if I had too much oil on the bolts when I inserted them. I dipped each bolt into a tin can of oil, shook the excess off and inserted it. Could it be possible that too much oil built up at the bottom of the bolt and then could not be compressed anymore and snapped the bolt? Seems far fetched but is the only theory I can come up with other than crappy bolts which I highly doubt. I hope I did not crack my block, the heads look fine and the cylinder wall seems fine next to the bolt.

Big Jim M · Dec 16, 2015

Head bolts should take a lot more than 65 pounds of torque. I am afraid you have purchased a lemon! Happens to the best of us.
I'm thinking you now need a new set of bolts.
Big Jim

Buggyman · Dec 16, 2015

After the kids went to bed I went out and tinkered with it and managed to extract the bolt with a pair of forceps and tiny needle nose pliers, like you all said, it was lose and once I could get it to rotate, it came right out. I then cleared out the bolt holes again with compressed air and got a lot of oil out of some of the holes. The oil looked black, not clean like the oil I used on the bolts. I also noticed air coming out of one of the water pump bolts that is removed while clearing out the front passenger side bolt hole with the stud. Is this normal and is it normal to have engine oil accessing any of the bolt passages? I attached a picture with arrows showing the passage in the one bolt, I could put a light up to it and see it pretty clearly through the other hole. I also recall some of the head bolts being very oily when I removed them, could this be a sign of a cracked block?

Big Jim M · Dec 17, 2015

SEE!!! Your last post should be read by all newbys that come here! TRUST the info the guys here give!
As for the threaded holes in engine blocks, They are where the HEAD needs them to be held down tightly to the block. If there is a water jacket or WHATEVER in that location in the block then there is where the threaded hole is.
So forget about it and go ahead and reinstall that head.
I would even use the same head gasket! I know others here would opt for a new one but not me I'd take that damn bolt down to the local bolt company and see if they had one just like it and go from there.
Personally I am not a fan of the new tightening sequence you are using. I prefer the old way of not loosening and then retightening. Just tighter and then tighter.
Big Jim

jeremysdad · Dec 17, 2015

Big Jim M said:
SEE!!! Your last post should be read by all newbys that come here! TRUST the info the guys here give!

Personally I am not a fan of the new tightening sequence you are using. I prefer the old way of not loosening and then retightening. Just tighter and then tighter.
Big Jim

Agreed. It's a head bolt, not a wheel bearing. lol

pjtoledo · Dec 17, 2015

since those bolts go into a water jacket use sealant, not oil or grease, on the threads. without sealant they will leak.

Andy D · Dec 17, 2015

pjtoledo said:
since those bolts go into a water jacket use sealant, not oil or grease, on the threads. without sealant they will leak.

Yah there are timing cover bolts that penetrate the water jacket on a Jeep V8 for the water pump. That is where I discovered Permatex Aviation Forma-Gasket. I'm just a shade tree hack. But I've been doin it for 50 yrs or more. Thats a lot of trial and error learning. I'm pretty sure I boogered stuff up on the first try for at least the first 20 yrs. Now a days , I'm a husk of what I was 30 yrs ago. Stuff that used to take only 3 times longer than anticipated, now takes 10 times as long.

Snapped head bolt!

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