How to Drill Out a Broken Bolt?
 

Finally, a copy of the Mercury Service Manual arrived last night.

AWWWW! had to go and spoil all the guessin' fun by goin to the book!
Well good for you! At least you got to where you wanted to be. As for
the hogged out hole, this looks like an opportunity for "JBWeld to step
up to the plate. Clean the daylights out of that hole, I mean REALLY
clean it! Mix up enough of the A part, and B part to fill up the entire
threaded hole. (from your description it goes entirely thru the
casting?) if so that is great. Working from the BACK side of the
casting will guide you. After the JB sets drill in the EXACT CENTER
with a small pilot drill, 1/8 or smaller, then when satisfied you have
a good center, drill with the tap drill taking all the time you need. A
drill press would be handy for the previous steps. Hand tap then,
backing out very often, and try to pick up the original threads.
Carefully run your tap thru. As an afterthought somewhere I have LO
temp ALUMINUM stick, that I tried to use to plug a tank hole
unsuccesfully. Did melt the stick, but I did not have enough heat to
have it fuse to the sheet. Was using a propane torch. With your
casating you might have a similar problem. If there are better ways to
recover from the situation, we will soon hear about them. maybe
another member has a better recommendation

Den 48tfYF

How to Drill Out a Broken Bolt?
 

JoeSpareBedroom wrote:
wrote in message
ps.com...
Clams Canino wrote:
I wanna know how you broke *three*.
I mean - after you broke one... didn't a clue rake at least try to hit
you
over the head about the rest of them?

Actually, I could have broken all four -- instead of merely three. I
must have come to my sense when I was bearing down on the 4th bolt.

I have a tendency to over-doing anything (such as running my knee to
the point that I needed to have a surgery done on my knee). And
tightening up the bolts too much is one of my tendency. That was the
reason why I bought a torque wrench hoping that using the torque wrench
will prevent me from over-torquing the bolts. Unfortunately, I mistook
60-inch-pounds with 60-feet-pounds, and I ended up over-torquing the
bolts by 12 times. And the fact that the torque wrench that I use is
quite big (designed more for higher torque such as for torquing the
propeller); therefore, I didn't get a good feel of the tension. I have
ordered a 1/4" torque wrench that is designed for lower torque (such as
60-inch-pounds); hopefully, this will prevent me from making a similar
mistake.

Jay Chan


1/4" for 60 ft lbs.....hang on a minute. Who makes a 1/4" drive wrench with
60 *FOOT* lbs in its range?

INCH-pounds.

How to Drill Out a Broken Bolt?
 

JoeSpareBedroom wrote:
wrote in message
ps.com...
Call around to hardware stores and ask if they sell spiral screw
extractors.
Before you jump in the car, measure the diameter of the bolt shafts
you
need
to remove. And, if you know the socket size that fits the heads, write
that
down too.

I tried that already. Either it didn't work or I went too easy on the
hammer. Anyway, it could not grab the bolt and could not spin the bolt
out. I attempted to drill one of the broken bolt away. But this
simply messed up the thread in one of the hole.

Hammer????????

Do you mean I am not supposed to use a hammer to work with the screw
extractor? I am under the impression that I am supposed to drill a
hole in the middle of the borken bolt, and hammer the screw extractor
down into the hole, and then use some kind of handle bar to lock on the
screw extractor and turn counter clockwise, and hopefully the screw
will back out. This was exactly what the owner of the hardware store
told me to do.

May be we are talking about two different types of screw extractors?
May be you are referring to the type that is like a drill bit, and we
are supposed to use it with a power drill (running in reverse) to dill
and back off the bolt? I could not use that type because the bolt was
sunken inside a small hole that the special drill bit was too large to
fit inside.

Jay Chan

This is the type I was talking about. No hammer is used. The flutes of the
tool are deep enough that they grip without having to be forced into place.
http://www.mytoolstore.com/hanson/extractr.html

Yes, the one that is being shown in your link is exactly the type that
I have. If I understand you correctly, I am not supposed to use a
hammer on it; instead, I should have used it with a power drill and use
the extractor like a drill bit and run it in reverse. In other words,
the hardware store owner fooled me. Oh well...

Thanks for the correction.

Jay Chan

How to Drill Out a Broken Bolt?
 

Calif Bill wrote:
"Don White" wrote in message
...
Gene Kearns wrote:
snip...

This is a *BIG* hot button for me, but this is endemic of no longer
teaching real Industrial Arts in our public schools. Higher education,
from mechanic programs, to engineering programs, to medical programs
all suffer from incoming students that have, in too many cases, never
even held a tool in their hands..... and in almost all cases, save
some rural areas, lack any real experience in using tools or in
dealing with the logic required of fixing everyday items that need
repair or adjustment.....
--

You got that right!
When my two sons were in jr high, they had to take homemaking courses half
the year and shop the other half. The pc crowd decided that the girls
whould have equal time hammering, cutting etc. while the boys learned
baking, etc.
I don't mind if the girls want to take shop, but don't force the boys
to be Suzy Homemaker unless they want to.

So you figure the women will be the kitchen slave. Not much more pathetic
than a guy who has to go to Burger King because he can not cook anything!

He didn't say anything like that. You just can't read can you? Did you
know that Homemaking courses teach a lot more than cooking? Do you
realize that Don never said anything like "women will be the kitchen
slave"? Do you realize that Don never said a man shouldn't know how to
cook?

How to Drill Out a Broken Bolt?
 

Go to a machine shop, show them the situation and have them do it for
you.

Not only cheaper in the long run, but it will be fixed right.

Yes, I brought the lower unit to a marine mechanic, and he will give me
a quote in the middle of next week for fixing the
messed-up-threaded-hole (and to remove the propeller that is really
stuck from day one). They are quite busy lately with winterizing and
putting boats in storage. Hopefully, I may be able to get it back in
the next weekend.

Jay Chan

How to Drill Out a Broken Bolt?
 

wrote in message
ups.com...
JoeSpareBedroom wrote:
wrote in message
ps.com...
Call around to hardware stores and ask if they sell spiral screw
extractors.
Before you jump in the car, measure the diameter of the bolt shafts
you
need
to remove. And, if you know the socket size that fits the heads,
write
that
down too.

I tried that already. Either it didn't work or I went too easy on
the
hammer. Anyway, it could not grab the bolt and could not spin the
bolt
out. I attempted to drill one of the broken bolt away. But this
simply messed up the thread in one of the hole.

Hammer????????

Do you mean I am not supposed to use a hammer to work with the screw
extractor? I am under the impression that I am supposed to drill a
hole in the middle of the borken bolt, and hammer the screw extractor
down into the hole, and then use some kind of handle bar to lock on the
screw extractor and turn counter clockwise, and hopefully the screw
will back out. This was exactly what the owner of the hardware store
told me to do.

May be we are talking about two different types of screw extractors?
May be you are referring to the type that is like a drill bit, and we
are supposed to use it with a power drill (running in reverse) to dill
and back off the bolt? I could not use that type because the bolt was
sunken inside a small hole that the special drill bit was too large to
fit inside.

Jay Chan

This is the type I was talking about. No hammer is used. The flutes of
the
tool are deep enough that they grip without having to be forced into
place.
http://www.mytoolstore.com/hanson/extractr.html

Yes, the one that is being shown in your link is exactly the type that
I have. If I understand you correctly, I am not supposed to use a
hammer on it; instead, I should have used it with a power drill and use
the extractor like a drill bit and run it in reverse. In other words,
the hardware store owner fooled me. Oh well...

Thanks for the correction.

Jay Chan


NO! You DO NOT use a drill! You drill into the bolt to make a space for this
tool. Then, you give the drill to your wife and instruct her not to let you
have it again until you're ready to drill the next bolt. I don't care WHAT
the hardware guy told you. If this is the tool you bought, he gave you the
wrong instructions. And, if this tool came in its original package, AND you
opened it carefully, you still have the instructions.

Maybe your web browser options have been set to make simple instructions
invisible. Here's what I saw at that link:

How to use a Screw Extractor to remove a broken bolt or screw from a hole:
First, drill a hole in the broken bolt. The correct drill size to use is
shown below and is also stamped on each Screw Extractor. Insert Screw
Extractor in the hole and, with a Tap Wrench, turn counterclockwise. The
Screw Extractor acts like a corkscrew. It grips into the sides of the
drilled hole and removes the broken part on its own threads without damaging
the threaded hole.

How to Drill Out a Broken Bolt?
 

"basskisser" wrote in message
s.com...

JoeSpareBedroom wrote:
wrote in message
ps.com...
Clams Canino wrote:
I wanna know how you broke *three*.
I mean - after you broke one... didn't a clue rake at least try to hit
you
over the head about the rest of them?

Actually, I could have broken all four -- instead of merely three. I
must have come to my sense when I was bearing down on the 4th bolt.

I have a tendency to over-doing anything (such as running my knee to
the point that I needed to have a surgery done on my knee). And
tightening up the bolts too much is one of my tendency. That was the
reason why I bought a torque wrench hoping that using the torque wrench
will prevent me from over-torquing the bolts. Unfortunately, I mistook
60-inch-pounds with 60-feet-pounds, and I ended up over-torquing the
bolts by 12 times. And the fact that the torque wrench that I use is
quite big (designed more for higher torque such as for torquing the
propeller); therefore, I didn't get a good feel of the tension. I have
ordered a 1/4" torque wrench that is designed for lower torque (such as
60-inch-pounds); hopefully, this will prevent me from making a similar
mistake.

Jay Chan


1/4" for 60 ft lbs.....hang on a minute. Who makes a 1/4" drive wrench
with
60 *FOOT* lbs in its range?

INCH-pounds.


OK. I mis-readulated it.

How to Drill Out a Broken Bolt?
 

"basskisser" wrote in message
oups.com...

Calif Bill wrote:
"Don White" wrote in message
...
Gene Kearns wrote:
snip...

This is a *BIG* hot button for me, but this is endemic of no longer
teaching real Industrial Arts in our public schools. Higher education,
from mechanic programs, to engineering programs, to medical programs
all suffer from incoming students that have, in too many cases, never
even held a tool in their hands..... and in almost all cases, save
some rural areas, lack any real experience in using tools or in
dealing with the logic required of fixing everyday items that need
repair or adjustment.....
--

You got that right!
When my two sons were in jr high, they had to take homemaking courses
half
the year and shop the other half. The pc crowd decided that the girls
whould have equal time hammering, cutting etc. while the boys learned
baking, etc.
I don't mind if the girls want to take shop, but don't force the boys
to be Suzy Homemaker unless they want to.

So you figure the women will be the kitchen slave. Not much more
pathetic
than a guy who has to go to Burger King because he can not cook anything!

He didn't say anything like that. You just can't read can you? Did you
know that Homemaking courses teach a lot more than cooking? Do you
realize that Don never said anything like "women will be the kitchen
slave"? Do you realize that Don never said a man shouldn't know how to
cook?


Don *did* say something about "girlie men", though. Quite a few male chefs
would've had him hoisted onto the chopping block within seconds of hearing
that nonsense.

How to Drill Out a Broken Bolt?
 

JoeSpareBedroom wrote:
"basskisser" wrote in message
oups.com...

Calif Bill wrote:

"Don White" wrote in message
...

Gene Kearns wrote:
snip...

This is a *BIG* hot button for me, but this is endemic of no longer
teaching real Industrial Arts in our public schools. Higher education,
from mechanic programs, to engineering programs, to medical programs
all suffer from incoming students that have, in too many cases, never
even held a tool in their hands..... and in almost all cases, save
some rural areas, lack any real experience in using tools or in
dealing with the logic required of fixing everyday items that need
repair or adjustment.....
--

You got that right!
When my two sons were in jr high, they had to take homemaking courses
half
the year and shop the other half. The pc crowd decided that the girls
whould have equal time hammering, cutting etc. while the boys learned
baking, etc.
I don't mind if the girls want to take shop, but don't force the boys
to be Suzy Homemaker unless they want to.

So you figure the women will be the kitchen slave. Not much more
pathetic
than a guy who has to go to Burger King because he can not cook anything!

He didn't say anything like that. You just can't read can you? Did you
know that Homemaking courses teach a lot more than cooking? Do you
realize that Don never said anything like "women will be the kitchen
slave"? Do you realize that Don never said a man shouldn't know how to
cook?



Don *did* say something about "girlie men", though. Quite a few male chefs
would've had him hoisted onto the chopping block within seconds of hearing
that nonsense.


You should have noticed my comment was directed at Colicky Bill.... not
at the male chefs of the world.

How to Drill Out a Broken Bolt?
 

Ernest Scribbler wrote:
wrote
each broken bolt went through a threaded hole in
the water pump base into another threaded hole in the lower unit. Seem
like the threaded holes in the water pump base had some chemical
reaction with the bolts, and the threads in the hole in the water pump
base had completely corroded away

Take a look at a new water pump base for reference. I'll bet there aren't
supposed to be threads in the holes. (Doesn't make sense mechanically to run
a bolt through one threaded hole and into another.)

I don't have a new water pump base yet. I will get it next week.

When I examined the holes for bolts in the old water pump base, I saw
thread in the holes. They were really corroded. Moreover, the bolts
also had thread in that area. And yes this is kind of strange; I am
wondering how the thread in the water pump base will match up with the
thread in the lower unit underneat the water pump base.

One possibility is that those "thread" in the old water pump base may
not be "real" thread. They may be a corroded surface that mirrors the
thread in the bolt.

I ended up messing up the thread in one of the
hole in the lower unit (the other three are fine). I don't know what
is the best way to deal with this. I will bring the lower unit to a
marine mechanic in this afternoon to see if he can help.

The standard way to fix something like that is with a heli-coil insert.
http://www.emhart.com/products/helicoil.asp

Yes, this is exactly what the marine mechanic proposed to me when I
brought the lower unit to his store. One question that I would like to
ask you: Do we need to re-apply the heli-coil insert whenever we
replace the bolt (like when we need to replace the impeller)? Thanks
for any info in advance.

Jay Chan