Started leaking coolant around the bottom of my water pump. Went to change it and the two outer most bolts broke which I believe someone said goes into the coolant channels, I didn't use much force. Broke right where my threads start. Both sides

In a 97 f250 with eec-v and the crank mounted sensor. I don't want to have to do the front engine cover too now as I have little space and time to work and life's been in my way. Don't even know yet how I'm going to get these broken bolts out. Someone suggested drilling them using a brass sleeve to center my drill and protect my timing cover.

Need input on what cover I need if I am forced to change it as far as I know having the misfire trigger pickup changes alot. I don't want to but might have to do the chain too if I'm that far in but I really don't want to go this route

 

sadly it's not a easy job that has many short cuts, best way is to remove the cover, i have been there, tried like you state and broke the bit and wound up going the long way, pulled the cover which was also found rotted around the bolt , and in need of a new one, yes while in there change the timing set, even if it looks reusable, it's not a job anyone would want to do again in a few months
good luck hope you have warm place to work in

 

As I kinda feared, I guess I need to know which cover I need and what timing set is worth getting. I have a heated shop my issues largely fall into I'm recovering from serious physical injury right now

 

I've been where you are but I was lucky not to get screwed so bad. The trick to remove any stuck bolt is never to break it. It's easy to say, but hard to do in practice. Once it's broken, it only gets harder.

My very little experience is that the cover has corroded on the bolt and no amount of drilling to going to fix that. My trick would be to weld a nut on the broken bolt. Break the cover with a sharp chisel to access the bolt hole. The more you break, the less holding power all that corrosion has. If you did not break the head off, then it would have been so much easier, but that is too late. Spray a lot of penetrating oil to help you out. The less corrosion and cover, the easier it will be to turn the bolt. Again, I don't have a lot of experience but the stuck bolt is not the treads in the block but the corrosion between the cover and bolt shaft.

I would never use EZ outs unless the bolt can be turned by hand. Broken EZ outs make the job worse by 10x.

Accept the fact you must by a new cover. Once you do, the job is much easier to accept. The simple coolant pump replacement idea is long gone. Be aware, the thermostat bolts have the same issue. Remember, never break the bolt, the more you know how tight a bolt should be, the more you are aware how much torque you should be putting on the bolt. Sometimes head does the trick but I have found that a tig welder can work wonders. It can apply a lot of heat into a precise area. Less issues for heat damage in the surrounding areas. Heat does not work well with penetrating oils.

If you ever have to do an intake manifold, same issues.

Once the cover is off, you might think about the other things you might want to do. Timing chain? Gears? Oil pan gasket? Something to think about and only you can make the right decision for yourself. If you really are looking for punishment, try to see if your distributor is stuck. They tend to get stuck because of the same crappy alloy Ford used to put this engine together. The Chinese are not the only ones that know how to build cheap junk.

Once you are ready to put things back together, a good coat of anti seize on the shaft of the bolt is a good idea. Maybe the threads too.

Don't fret, you are not the only one that has gone down this path before. You are in good company.

 

I also had to deal with a broken water pump/timing cover bolt. It was also broken at the threads, so the broken part was in the block, almost flush with the mounting surface. I did not have a welder of any sort at the time, so I tried drilling it out. That damaged the hole, so I ended up drilling it out an tapping it for bolt the next size up (3/8").

To prevent this from happening again, I used stainless steel bolts where I could. There are a couple of places where Ford used double-shank bolts, and there are no stainless replacements. Worse for the newer engines, they use more of those double-shank bolts, and it's the old 5/16" on the engine side, and a larger stud on the accessory side, so you no choice but to re-use those.

The other preventive action you can take is to make sure the coolant is in good condition. The most common type is ethylene glycol, which by itself is very corrosive. The anti-corrosion additives keep it from eating up the insides of your engine, but they do wear out. You can get those floating ball checkers to periodically check the effectiveness of the coolant, and replace as necessary. That should reduce the corrosion in the cooling system, which is always where leaks start, like in the timing cover, the intake manifold, and thermostat housing. In worse cases, they can rot out the freeze plugs.

 

I've always believed that checking coolant and oil is a waste of time. Sure, you can check it and save money knowing you don't have to replace it, but I tend to think 'It's 4 years old and I'm just replacing it'. I use my F250 about 1-2k miles a year. Mostly towing. I just change the oil every year. I suspect I can go longer, but I just change it and turn the page. I just rebuilt my E4OD and I suspect I will be changing the fluid every other year. I would just drain the pan and converter and fill it up again. I would not replace the filter.

Without a doubt, my experiences is that coolant does not get changed out enough on these older vehicles. If can't tell what color the coolant is, it's way over due for a change.

 

That's a great idea with fixed schedules.

Rust never sleeps, so a regular schedule for coolant is an excellent idea. The old rule of thumb is 2 years for the old type coolants, even if you don't drive the car very often. The new Dexcool types are supposed to be good for 5 years, so 4 years is being conservative. Also keep the overflow recovery tank filled to the correct levels so the suction hose never sucks in air, which contains about 20% oxygen. Anything you can do to prevent additional oxygen from getting into your cooling system helps.

I'm told you should also change oil regularly as well, even if you don't drive very often, as they can presumably oxidize just sitting there exposed to air. But I wonder if that's still a problem with today's sealed crank cases controlled by the PCV system.

 

I've done the thermostat housing last year, upper and lower intake 4 years ago, and distributor 2 years ago and none of them even remotely were stuck they all came right out zero effort. These two water pump bolts were the only two even remotely stuck and again I didn't even put much force on them they broke perfectly clean and straight but based on the way they broke they definitely look like the broke in the block and not the cover but I guess I'm about to find out. The outer two and only really the outer two bolts are horrifically corroded compared to the rest.

The question still stands though every timing cover I find is listed to 95, I can't find a 96-97 cover part number as mine has the eec-v crank sensor. Don't know yet what I need but I have yet to break the cover I just and trying to get my balancer off waiting on tools

 

good company is 100% correct, as many of us have been there, for me the last one was a 100% numbers matching 1966 K CODE 289, 2 water pump bolts broke off right at the block , lucky i saved the timing cover and found a very rare hatchet weight timing set , on ebay ( yes $300.00 please ) front seal presses in the cover from INSIDE ,heaven help one leaks your doing the whole job over
reassembling the motor after the rebuild we put all new bolts on it not wanting to go though it again , coated them going back in with a very heavy dose of marine grade never seize around the shaft ,a very light coat on the threads

good luck op learn you will, BUT please don't be afraid to ask in here, this bunch loves to share what they learned going by the school of hard knocks

 

Your gonna need these-->Ford Mustang 5.0 Water Pump Bolts & Stud Kit (79-93)

1 bolt is missing, I forget which, but I used S.S. all thread from Scndsin great read-->5.8 Water Pump/Timing Cover Bolts & Stud Positions/Dimensions (Inside) - Ford Truck Enthusiasts Forums

 

This is what comes up on FordPartsGiant.com for your truck:


You might be able to find a NOS part somewhere. This is what I used on the ‘89 302. I did use a Dremel to clean up the coolant ports in the casting.



It appears to have threaded holes by the crankshaft seal to mount a sensor. I don’t know what your cover looks like except for the picture on the Ford website. Looking at the pictures on RockAuto it looks like the reverse flow water pump covers had those threaded holes.

I have used Cloyes double roller timing chain sets on a couple engines.




If he had only thought about that before it broke….

 

Update, yeah not the usual case, the timing cover came right off without breaking the bolts weren't corroded to the cover, they are corroded big time into my block. They snapped off pretty much flush with the block. I can't get tools very well onto them, but they are seized beyond tight, cutting a slot into them didn't work to turn even with vicegrips added.

 

Yeah, but that is how the school of hard knocks works. Remember your parents told you not to do something but you were so smart and they were so stupid back then. Over time, you figured out who the stupid one is.

You're right, nothing you can do now, but there are others that might read that and put one and one together. If you break the bolt, it's a rougher road ahead. Many times, it's the excessive force that will break the bolt. Heck, you can break a new bolt, but if you understand that more force is not always the answer, then you start using other tools in the tool box to get your problem solved. I know the excessive for with these bolts and the covers can be the covers are corroded on the bolt shaft. Breaking the cover allows the bolt to come off. If the bolt is seized into the block, sometimes cutting the head off, removing the item the bolt is holding, then you have the rest of the bolt to grab on to get the bolt loose. There is no one way that gets all broken hardware out.

I just know, I don't break bolts often anymore but I did when I was younger. I learned new skills with every broken bolt I had to fix. Skills I used to help me with the next bolt. Always rule #1 never break the bolt. Again, I know sometimes that is not possible.

 

This post has to be a joke.

 

I know, just adding to my post count to catch up to you.