Well, from what I've read, it's pretty common to break a bolt or two when removing the water pump, necessitating the removal of the timing cover to get the broken bolt out.

Sure enough, broke two. One sheared right under the head, so left plenty of stud to work on, but the other broke about 1/4" inside the timing chain cover, so I have to remove that to get the thing out.

That cover will not budge. I have even taken an air chisel to it to try to get the thing loose. No go.

Suggestions?

 

which one is still stuck in the cover? below is a pic of what is supposed to be yours..
http://d354nuoz4t18d4.cloudfront.net...?cb=1479146474

If you have to replace it, $312.00 here plus shipping i guess..
http://www.tascaparts.com/ford/f-350...e=timing-cover

RA lists aftermarket for around $60.00 I also noticed one note says reverse flow. I assume they are talking about the water pump. My 85 has standard belts while my 85 has a serpentine belt. I think, don't hold me to this, but i think all serpentine systems use a reverse flow water pump...

You did remove the bolts on the bottom of the oil pan?
Depending on which bolt it is and how much room you have, perhaps you could drill some small 1/8 holes in the aluminum casting at the bolt and spray some lubricant in the holes and let it soak.. That way you might be able to salvage the timing cover. another way might be to use a dremel tool and cut a slot in the cover at the bolt and try some lubricant. If you wind up having to replace the cover, cut a slot in the housing over the broken bolt with the dremel tool and tap a screwdriver in the cut slot and it should break of part of it from around the bolt.

Another method is to try to drill it out. start with a small bit first. After a 1/4" or less, swap to a larger bit, then back to the smaller bit. keep doing this till you get to the depth of the bolt through the housing. be very careful that you don't break the smaller bit off..


I was removing the transmission tail-shaft on my 85 and broke 2 bolts off. in this pic you can see the small bit broken off in the bolt from drilling too deep at one time


Next I used a dremel with a carbide tip bit to grind out the broken bit as well as the bolt.

 

Thanks, and yes, I did get the oil pan bolts, 4 of them.

There's enough stud left, if I can get the timing cover off I can put a tool on it to pull the stud. Assuming it doesn't break off in the block! =:O

I've got one of these arriving from Amazon today.

But I cannot get the timing cover to budge. That's where I need the help at the moment.

 

This is insane. I can't even get a utility knife blade pounded down in between the timing chain cover and the block. It's like it's expoxied in place!

I could really use some suggestions!

 

I hope you had some luck as you posted this this morning. I am going to be removing my water pump in the next few months and probably go a head and put in a new timing gear and chain while there. So I am interested in this too and have been reading on other threads.

You know there are probably 2 timing cover line up dowels that are normally placed in the engine block and are at the bottom near the oil pan. They may also be corroded in place and keeping the bottom half from coming lose. Then there is your broken bolt that is corroded in place. On top of that, depending on what type of sealant was used, the cover itself is glued to the in place after all the time and heat.

If you are trying to save the timing cover you are going to have to be very careful as many of the articles I have read talk about cracking, breaking, or bending the cover.

If you have room to get heat to it, that might help loosen it up. Allot of glues soften somewhat when heated. You have to be careful not to over heat the aluminum.

Another thing I read was where a guy took a very small drill pit and drilled around the bolt he had broke off. He drilled into the corrosion between the bolt and the cover hole. The bolt shank is a good bit smaller then the timing cover hole.

I am sorry i don't have any other better advice.
It sounds like you might wind up having to break the cover to get it off if all else fails.

Something i did read that you need to be careful about. When removing the timing cover, be very careful that the line up dowels do not fall down in the oil pan. If so, then you have to drain the oil and try to fish them out with a magnet. In some articles the guys removed the oil plug and somewhat flushed out the bottom of the pan while they had the little access through the front around the crank.

I am sorry I couldn't find any videos showing how to remove a stuck timing cover
I don't know that these videos will help any but here are a couple with tips on installing the cover. It will at least give you a look at what you will find once it is off.. one video also shows the position of the different bolts.

I hope you report back with good luck.

 

Here is a video showing the guy broke timing cover to get it off

 

Thanks, folks. The cover is already broken, so I'll be calling NAPA in the morning.

I did manage to pound some disposable utility blades down in between the cover and the block, but my son could not get a second one in beside the first. I was hoping to wedge the cover off by stacking successive blades in there. No go. I may give it a try in the morning, though. He couldn't get one in at all, but I managed to get 4 in there along the top edge. Sometimes the old bugger has a better touch than the young buck.

I didn't know about the dowels - that's good to know!

I like the "drill in" suggestion. Anything to get the penetrating oil in deeper.


I'm thinking that the combination of the two corroded bolts (on opposite sides) and the old gasket is what is stopping me.

I'm going to apply heat to the one stud that is exposed, and then try my new stud remover on it. If I can get one of them out, I should be able to break the cover loose, and then rotate it on the one that's left, and break the corrosion loose on that one.


Those videos look helpful. Thank you!

When this thing goes back together, there will be liberal application of anti-seize!!!

 

Well at least now you know which direction to go!

When i replaced the thermostat on my 88, one of the bolts broke off even with the thermostat housing. instead of taking a chance on the second one breaking off too, I just went ahead and used a hammer and chisel and snapped the ear off on the side that still had the bolt in place. I then knocked the rest of the ear off leaving the bolt with the head. It came out without breaking..

So I am thinking after hearing all these terrible stories, when I change my water pump, I am just gong to try to beak all the ears off of the pump, leaving the bolts in tact with the heads on them, and then try to remove them..

Another note is about the extractor tool you have. I have read about many people using them with success. Once you have the timing cover off, hopefully you will have enough bolt sticking out to get your tool on it. i used a different type of extractor on my thermostat bolt that had less then a 1/4" sticking out..

Thinking about the two different extractor tools, the one you have, try not to use it in a position where it will pulling on the bolt at an angle because it might snap it off.

When using mine, it pulls pressure directly over the center of the bolt.. I got mine at Northern tools. It is like a drill chuck and tightens up on the bolt as you turn the ratchet trying to break it loose.


I also cleaned all the corrosion off of the broken bolt before I tried to remove it

 

Good to know those work on the shorter ones. I saw them on Amazon, but didn't know anything about them.

Once I get the cover off, I think I'll have enough for my remover to get a good bite. One one of them, I have plenty now, so I should be good.

 

Cool tool! Where did you get it ?

 

Oreilly's site says they sell them. I got mine at Northern tools but their site says they no longer carry them..
Titan 16023 is the part number when searching for one.

Ebay has them too along with one that looks the same but has a different brand name.
I dont know if it is the same tool or not. One thing I will say about the Titan brand one is: if you look close at the 3rd from the bottom pic that has the broken bolt still in it, the 3 jaws are spreading out somewhat. I believe that is because the bolt was only about 1/4" inside the jaws and the jaws were so far out to grab the bolt. Once I took the bolt out of the jaws, there was no apparent damage to the tool. If the bolt or stud would have been longer, I don't think that would have happened. I would say it held up good

Here is a video I saw just before I ordered mine!

 

I have six tool boxes and I'm ready to buy another. I'm a tool freak.
I just ordered one.
Better to have it before you need it than not have it when you do need it.

 

Success!

Well, partially. I just got the one bolt out that is sticking out. My son twice heated it to glowing orange, and let it cool, then I used the KD stud remover on it. Lots of PB Blaster, too.

Got it. Now to start prying on the cover again....

 

Progress. Got the cover loose, but that one sheared bolt won't let go. I'm going to try massive amounts of heat in the morning, and if that doesn't work, I'll probably go at it with the air chisel to break the cover away from the bolt, then try twisting it out.

Such fun with a 20 year old vehicle!

And did I mention that I'll be using liberal quantities of anti-seize when it's reassembled?

 

fun times.....NOT