'02 lower Thermostat housing

[gbadgley]

Anyone have a good way to break one of the 6mm mounting bolts that hold the lower housing to the block loose? I managed to get the other two loose but the third simply will not break free. After I rounded the head, and chewed the remains with a twist socket it still remains. I suspect that a chisel and saw blade will come into play soon.

If I ever meet the brilliant engineer that ever thought that (1) soft steel bolts & aluminum were a good match and (2) place the entire assembly under the intake where you can not get to it, I think we will have words and possible some bloodshed.

 

[adsm08]

Drill the head of the bolt off. Then undo the bolt with vice grips.

 

[gbadgley]

Nice idea, but the bolt head sits under the intake even after the throttle body is removed. Plus the bolt is over 2 inches long so I would need 4" of clearance to remove the plastic body. I really don't want to pull the intake if I don't have to.

I am almost thinking of going in through the water inlet with a sawsall and cutting through the steel sleeve and the bolt as low as I can. That may give me enough get the housing off and still have enough to use vise grips to work the bolt out. The only other thought had was to use the steel sleeve as a guide and drill down an inch and a half through the bolt shaft.

Any way I look at it this does not look like a fun job. So far the aluma seal is holding so possibly I can hold out until warmer weather.

 

[RonD]

Drill the head off, lift housing up as far as possible, prop it up, sawall bolt from under the housing.


If you use a reverse drill bit for drilling the head, it might break the threads free, might not but nothing lost, head still comes off.

This is a video of this housing being replaced, I assume the bolt that will not come out is the one all the way at the back, per Murphy's Law
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TQaChQ8mNVA

 

[adsm08]

Nice idea, but the bolt head sits under the intake even after the throttle body is removed. Plus the bolt is over 2 inches long so I would need 4" of clearance to remove the plastic body. I really don't want to pull the intake if I don't have to.

Two things.

1) Don't be a sissy, this is one of the easier Ford intakes to remove.

2) The way you suggested doing it is a lot harder than what I suggested.

 

[gbadgley]

Not a question of being a Sissy, I'll tangle with anything if I HAVE to. I was just hoping that I was missing an easy solution. Change Hyd. hoses in a 54' telescopic offroad forklift sometime (all of the boom sections have to come apart). Same situation, NO easy way to do it.

I DO agree with you, NObama care.

 

[adsm08]

Yeah, I agree that engineers are dumb. But there is just no easy way to deal with a broken bolt once you get it to the level you have. Only other thing to try is to tighten it until it breaks.