[dcdoug]

OK, so here's the update - need some advice again:

I have never been able to get the broken bolt to turn with an extractor for some reason. I have no idea why it is so stuck as they all have turned easily in the past, but it is what it is. I have broken 3 extractors (with surprising little torque on them – I was being very careful on the last one) and don't think it’s worth spending any more time with this approach. In drilling out the broken extractors the hole has gotten pretty beat up and this may prevent the remaining piece of bolt (there is some left at the top of the hole and maybe still some bolt along the sides of the hole, hard to tell) from turning. (My original plan was to extract the bolt and use the Permatex epoxy thread repair solution and repair it, but I don’t think I will have enough good thread to do that – still a very outside possibility)

So here is what I am thinking. Drill out the rest of the bolt using the largest bit that will still fit inside the hole so that it can use the hole as a guide and stays plumb (I am doing this on my back under the car and the frame cross member is a bit in the way, so keeping it plumb is an issue – as Chas previously pointed out. I would insert the bit partway by hand and put a small level on it to be sure that the bit is plumb at the start). Once it’s “clean”, drill, tap and install a helicoil repair unit.

Initial questions/concerns:

• Is there a pretty strong chance I can keep the hole plumb doing this on my back (using the existing bolt hole as a guide)?

• Will the tap for the helicoil mostly be self-plumbing using the hole that I have drilled as the guide?

• How hard is helicoil to install, I have very little experience with it?

• If this doesn’t work for whatever reason, I assume that I can pull the engine and get the hole repaired? Pulling the engine seems to be the fallback option anyway.

Other ideas? I am really hoping not to have to pull the engine for a broken pan bolt. It’s almost too painful to think about, but I don’t see many other options and since I have been fighting this for more than a week, I am realizing that this is a distinct possibility.

Any other ideas/options?