Snapped Balancer bolt off in Crank...what now?

[429]

This is why i prefer the stock crank bolt. It isnt as brittle as the ARP.

[PMJ]

Originally Posted by maxdmax

Are you sure the bold was not longer than the factory bolt? Is there any chance the bolt bottomed out at any point? If it did it may have messed up the end of the bolt on the back of the crank and flattened the end of the bolt. Then when you started removing it the end of the bolt where it was flattened out on the end messes up the threads and the metal just piles up and then it seizes at some point. If that is not it did you run the lot in with a impact? If so it could have cross threaded and had the same issue coming out. It would be next to impossible to drill it out and ever get it re-tapped correctly with the motor in the car. I know a guy this happened to on a corvette LS3 and he ended up having the crank removed drilled and tapped to a larger size by a machine shop.

I'm positive it was the same length, i double checked yesterday when deciding which to use to press the balancer back on ...w/o the washer, the ARP was longer for the initial press. Our process was to press a little and check the pin alinment, press a little more, check alignment and complete the press. We did use an impact driver for the first 1 1/2 presses (i guess a bad idea in hind sight), however each time we backed it out to chech the pin alignment and then would run it all the way back in w/fingers...no hangups or issues. The final time, I tightened w/my fingers, and then used the torque wrench the rest of the way...

Originally Posted by 429

This is why i prefer the stock crank bolt. It isnt as brittle as the ARP.

Now you tell me ...no more ARP bolts for me either.


I'll definitely buy the right tool to press the balancer on from this point forward as well.


I have another friend coming over with bits and a tap set...I'll let you know how we fair...


Thanks to all for the great advise.

[YLWJKT]

My 2 cents;
Unless you're VERY experienced at removing broken bolts, don't jack with it.
Take it to a professional and let them get it out for you.

I can't tell you how many times a customer has made a bad situation much worse by trying to extract the bolt himself first, including breaking off drill bits, extractors or taps in the piece they were trying to save. I won't even go into the off center drilled holes.

[maxdmax]

Originally Posted by YLWJKT

My 2 cents;
Unless you're VERY experienced at removing broken bolts, don't jack with it.
Take it to a professional and let them get it out for you.

I can't tell you how many times a customer has made a bad situation much worse by trying to extract the bolt himself first, including breaking off drill bits, extractors or taps in the piece they were trying to save. I won't even go into the off center drilled holes.

I agree on this, there is no way you will ever get it out with an extractor if it would not come out and broke off. I would say it would be best to just pull the motor and find a reputable place to deal with this. Just be sure they can go as far as a new crank install if needed. If you ever wanted to forge your motor I am afraid you will have the chance to do so with what this is going to take to fix.
I hate this happened but it is what it is at this point.

[chevybowtie]

I know this is after the fact. Never use the crank bolt to push the crank pulley on. Use a actual LS crank pulley installer tool. Your pushing the pulley on while straining the threads inside the crank when using just the bolt. A crank installer tool actually is already seated inside the crank while the nut from the tool push the pulley down. This is the correct way of doing it for next time. I heard of a red neck way is if there is enough threads left on that arp bolt you could use red thread lock and hope it has enough to threads to hold.

[Oxtar41]

Originally Posted by maxdmax

I agree on this, there is no way you will ever get it out with an extractor if it would not come out and broke off. I would say it would be best to just pull the motor and find a reputable place to deal with this. Just be sure they can go as far as a new crank install if needed. If you ever wanted to forge your motor I am afraid you will have the chance to do so with what this is going to take to fix.
I hate this happened but it is what it is at this point.

There's no reason to build a whole motor just because of this little incident. I would have that bolt out in an hour tops with the right tools. I have got far worse situations taken care of with broken bolts that were smaller then the crank bolt. Having the bolt be a pretty decent size makes drilling easy and the chance of the extractor breaking very slim as long as you use a quality tool. Not some harbor freight crap. There is a good chance that the broken bolt is loose down there and may even come out with just a left handed drill bit if it catches. I have had that happen on many occasions. It's really not that huge of a deal....

[KRich2587]

As stated before the only reason you had issues was you used the bolt to press on the balancer that's a bad idea


Posted from Camaro5.com App for Android

[maxdmax]

Originally Posted by Oxtar41

There's no reason to build a whole motor just because of this little incident. I would have that bolt out in an hour tops with the right tools. I have got far worse situations taken care of with broken bolts that were smaller then the crank bolt. Having the bolt be a pretty decent size makes drilling easy and the chance of the extractor breaking very slim as long as you use a quality tool. Not some harbor freight crap. There is a good chance that the broken bolt is loose down there and may even come out with just a left handed drill bit if it catches. I have had that happen on many occasions. It's really not that huge of a deal....

I would agree with you except in the OPs first post he said

"As we tried to break it free, it wasn't "breaking"...it was turning, but actually getting harder to turn than pressing it on. We had to go to a longer cheater bar. I broke one 1/2" ratchet and then started on a second...I was pissed because at this point we knew the result was not going to be good. A few turns later the worst result...bolt snapped.:

If the bolt had just snapped before moving I would agree with you, but it seemed to gall and seize as it was being removed. I would think that if it broke a 1/2" ratchet, drilling the bolt and trying an extractor would not work. For the OPs sake I hope I am wrong, but I saw pictures of this on a corvette LS3 and what I am explaining happened. This sounds exactly the same thing from the description. Again I hope not this is a bad deal either way.

[litle88]

Man this sucks, I've had an ARP bolt for years since I has an Ls1 in my ws6 been on and retorqued many many times without an incident BUT I've always used this

http://www.ws6project.com/user_stor/...k-pulley-bolt/

With a big washer to press the pulley on and never had a problem.

OP be very careful not to damage a thread DON'T rush and if you can't do it there's nothing wrong with calling for some help. Borrow (if needed) a pickup/SUV and rent you a uhaul trailer to take to a shop and bring it right back it will cost you $55. Just saying.

[Jayrcr3]

When we installed my cam, I put my balancer in the oven on 250 for about 20 minutes. It slid right onto the crank. No installation tool, and no bolt to pull it on.

Not sure it would work as well trying to line up the pins though.

Sent from my HTC One X using Tapatalk 2

[Bad70supreme]

Good luck man, that sucks!

[PMJ]

Not sure who is interested, but i called a number of places, and no one wanted to touch my car unless the motor and or crank was pulled.

So I had a matco truck come by the house...man, talk about candy land . I bought a matco tools cobalt drill bit to get started. I used a torx socket I had as a guide (the bit fit down the middle perfect and the socket fit in the crank perfect. I got a good center hole started, but had the bit spinning too fast and it was dull less than an 1/8" in.

I started to convince myself all things happen for a reason...maybe my 700 whp goals needed to be reset with 800+...if i'm going to have to replace the crank, might as well go all in on forged internals.

But then today a friend sent me an artical that increased my optimisim in being able to extract the snapped bolt. I talked to ARP and they recommended a small company called "Rescue Bit". I talked to Mike at Rescue bit and they are making me a 6" left handed drill bit that he said "would drill right through my cobalt bit" . It was pricey, almost $100, but a lot cheaper than redoing the bottom end. I'll also be investing in Kroil lubricant and if we successfully extract it, then a thread chaser.

If this works, i will post the details. I say i'm more optimistic...but reality i still think it is more likely we fail and I rebuld with forged internalls, but if we succeed I'll be happy (i think...wasn't planning to do forged internals now, but this sure was a good excuse, i convinced myself ).

If we succeed, i'm going to get up to 700 whp and hold tight and see how long the bottom end last...from what I hear, it could last a very long time! If we fail, i rebuild with forged internals and shoot for 800+...i'm begining to think it's a win/win....only problem is 1 1/2 weeks w/out driving my car is the longest i've gone since i bought her...it will be painful waiting on redoing the bottom end.

[McBeevee]

Sounds like a plan and I really hope it works for you. I must say your attitude has been much better than mine would have been....props to you

[epstein]

Definitely care and plenty of us are watching this thread. Im sure youll get it out after a couple more curses and sweat...

Good Luck

Brian