That could have turned ugly.....water pump change

[Graham Palmer]

As part of my winter 'why not' maintenance an my 240z, I wanted to swap the water pump....no reason..other than, I'd bought one as a while back and do not know when the current one was fitted....(oh and there's the small matter of my 1500 mile Euro trip this spring )....

anyway having read a few 'threads' on this...its clear the longer bolts can be a challenge to remove (err snap = nightmare)....

and...all but one of the bolts came out easily..the final one was TIGHT ..very reluctant to turn....but slowly, slowly I manged to coax it out (with help from a lot of PlusGas) ...you can see the amount of corrosion on the bolt is ugly...but I've got new bolts on order ....anyone have any ideas on how I can clean up the bolt hole/threads ?.

its the hole on the side of the block which is open ended (behind the alternator)....I could use a tap/die (but worried that could snap off in there and its kind'a limited access)..is there a chemical what will 'dissolve' the crud in the bolt hole ?

any ideas welcome

cheers Graham

 

[Rob Gaskin]

The joys of classic car ownership.

Well done for not damaging anything.

If you've got new bolts on their way and your threads on the bolts and in the alloy aren't damaged you might like to try cleaning the bolts with a wire brush and then cut some slots in then longitudinally. Then use them like a tap and with oil gently work them in and out, be gentle and tease them in backwards and forwards - take your time and remove then occasionally to remove 'crud' from the grooves you cut.

 

[Mr.G]

The joys of classic car ownership.

Well done for not damaging anything.

If you've got new bolts on their way and your threads on the bolts and in the alloy aren't damaged you might like to try cleaning the bolts with a wire brush and then cut some slots in then longitudinally. Then use them like a tap and with oil gently work them in and out, be gentle and tease them in backwards and forwards - take your time and remove then occasionally to remove 'crud' from the grooves you cut.

That's what I have done too Rob and it's worked well, it's very gentle as it doesn't cut into the aluminium. Back and forth gentle cleaning each time and reoiling. I usually use brake cleaner to clean the crud off, reoil and do it again until clean.

 

[Graham Palmer]

Thanks guys, I've used that technique before and will give it a go..cheers

 

[Robotsan]

The joys of classic car ownership.

Well done for not damaging anything.

If you've got new bolts on their way and your threads on the bolts and in the alloy aren't damaged you might like to try cleaning the bolts with a wire brush and then cut some slots in then longitudinally. Then use them like a tap and with oil gently work them in and out, be gentle and tease them in backwards and forwards - take your time and remove then occasionally to remove 'crud' from the grooves you cut.

Great tip, thanks for sharing that

 

[Rushingphil]

As Rob and George have stated already - the 'secret' is lubrication and keeping the slots clean. Taps are generally only snapped due to galling from zero lubrication