Has anyone ever had the driver's side stud that holds the thermostat housing down break in half? I have about 1/4" of the stud coming out of the intake manifold but cannot move it with vise grips or anything else. I sprayed some PB blaster on the thing and will try seeing if it budges tomorrow but I doubt it. Otherwise it's calling the tow truck and having a shop drill it out and put in a new one.

 

welcome to the club. did that on my 86 when i 1st got it. at the time i wasnt too mechanicly inclined so my old man had to drill it and tap it.

 

It's not much fun I tell you that. I am going to have it towed to a place to put in new hardware. I thought that manifold was aluminium so I don't know how it rusted in there. The last time I took it off about 25,000 miles ago it was fine but oh well. It sucks how the simplest thing turns into some whole big project which = $$$. I would drill it and tap it if I had a clue what I was doing. That's defintely something I rather not screw up.

 

Edit: my bad, my responce was for a V8, didnt notice you had a V6. My bad, I was just seeing it it would be smarter to upgrade your intake.

 

Upgrade the intake on a V6? I didn't know there was such a thing. I know for a V8 there is a big aftermarket but for a V6 I am lucky they carry parts

 

if u havent already got it drilled and tapped, u might also try to weld or braze another bolt on top of the broken one and wrench it out that way

 

I had it done at a shop which cost me. If I had the time and money to learn how to weld that would have been worth a shot though. Now it's fixed and I hope I don't have to run into a problem like that anytime soon.

 

use anti-seize compound on it and you wont have that problem again, especially important with aluminum parts, the aluminum somehow "welds" itself to the bolt. anyone take spark plugs out of an aluminum headed something while still hot...hehe, it sucks. i now have a spark plug in my van that is going to be permanent as long as it doesnt blow out of the head.

 

That's pretty funny about the spark plug. My brother on his 99 Z28 just cannot get to his 8th plug so it's basically only changed by the shop if he REALLY wants it done. I thought aluminium would be better for resisting rust or having bolts sieze up. Oh well, hopefully the shop that did the work put something on there. I know when I took the bolt out before it seized up about 30k miles ago I put some sealant on it like silicone RTV. I would assume though that threads in aluminium are more likely to be stripped.

 

careful use of a torch and some vice grips should be able to get it out without a real big issue....


but i realize alot of people are reluctant to take heat to part of their car.... i was for the longest time too... but it really does work.

 

I have a torch like the kind you might use on copper pipe in a house. I thought of using that on it but I just was afraid I would make the problem worse so I left it alone. I think I might use that torch idea on a bolt in my brother's Borla exhaust that sheered off. It's a lot easier to use a torch there with my inexperience than the thermostat.

 

yea, thats a kinda cramped area to learn in...


pratice on your brothers exhaust first... matter of fact, pratice everything on his car.... thats what bros are for right?

 

Yeah I'd like to try it out on his exhaust. The head of the bolt sheered off but there is plenty to grab with some pliers or vise-grips if it's heated up.