ooops I did it again.....

[steph74]

OK so last fridayI felt like giving a little more TLC to the jeep and changed the sway bar bushings (easy) and give a little greasing....

Then look into the coolant and flush it......
Then start inspecting hoses and removing one that had a severe nick in it and looked that it had to be replaced....
Then, thinking well I might as well change the thermostat.... so here, I start unbolting the housing.....

DANG bottom bolt snapped right away.........

So right now, the little SOB is soaking into PB blaster and I will try heat and vise grips later today if no...... well I am not looking forward to remove the front to be able to drill that.....

didn;t work I am not that lucky
Soooooo I broke the jeep

decided to go with the traditional drill and tap (i knew the time to learn how to do that was going to come....)
there was a piece of the bolt still sticking out so before doing that I took the chisel to it to make it flush with the block head .... right
It didn;t bread... what it did, it broke the head the red part circled on the picture is gone....

http://www.cherokeeforum.com/attachments/f36/31326d1291570893-northern-utah-bs-thread-gdi24.jpg

So basically I cannot put a bolt in there because it doesn;t have anything to hold onto....
I am thinking this..... get a big amount of weld in there, let is cure, drill and tap and consider it solved....

In the meantime, I just put everything back in with lots of RTV and it works so far but I bet the pressure will make it a very temporary fix.....
I am SOOOOOOO PISSSED

[bigjim350]

Yep thats what I would do. Get a weld in there, grind it down smooth, then drill and tap it.

[steph74]

and let's say I don't have access to a welder.... or don;t want to pay for a shop.......
what are my chances of success with a JB-Weld kind of deal ?

[4.3LXJ]

I wouldn't do the JB Weld. You can get drills with right angle heads on them. Electricians use them all the time. I have a battery powered one. Remove that belt, needs to be replaced anyway and drill it and try the easy out. Probably won't come out, but worth a try. If not go the rest of the way and tap some new threads.

[steph74]

well yes that is definitely what I was planning to do..... unfortunately this didn't turn out the way I wanted.

I don't know if it was not clear enough, but the whole bottom hole is gone with the bolt...
I tried to draw it on paint (I am not good sorry) because I didn't take pictures...

http://i1195.photobucket.com/albums/aa381/stephaneb74/brokenstuff.jpg

[steph74]

Now let's face it, I know what the proper solution will be,
I just decided to post it anyway just in case someone had the same kind of problem or someone had a brilliant idea / product that would make it an easier fix.

[Mudderoy]

Now let's face it, I know what the proper solution will be,
I just decided to post it anyway just in case someone had the same kind of problem or someone had a brilliant idea / product that would make it an easier fix.

Holy crap, with the drawing I understand now. I guess you were lucky it isn't the block, still that kills the head. Man oh man. I don't know if you have enough room for it, but maybe weld a threaded sleeve there. Basically with that being under pressure you're going to have to have some kind of clamping force on that side.

[4.3LXJ]

I didn't understand the situation either. What you can do is weld it with nickel rod, grind it smooth and then drill and tap. But it may be that a new head is the solution since it would probably be cheaper than having that done.

[steph74]

seee now ? I told you it was bad lol

I guess I will have to find a head because I was was thinking on changing the head gasket anyway at some point soon....


What are the odds of finding a good one in a junkyard ? or should I avoid the JY route for that ? and what is an average price for it ?

And I can count on you guys to guide me when I start that project right ?

[4.3LXJ]

If it was me doing it, I would get a cheap head at a pick and pull, then take it to a auto machine shop and have them do the valves and surface it and check for cracks. It is more expensive that way, but that fresh head will pay for itself over time with just a little more compression and efficiency from the valves being tight.

[default83]

would it be possible just to relocate the bolt/hole

tap a new hole in the head and the t-stat housing and just leave the old one alone...

[alwaysxj]

man Steph that is worse then I thought, let me know when you get a new head and I wlll help you when I have time.

[steph74]

yep your help will be appreciated ;) maybe when it is time we should have a garage party....
but I am broke right now because you know Christmas....
So I'll stick with my guetto fix for now lol and I will try different TEMPORARY stuff and keep that post alive so people can laugh with my ingenuisity or learn from my mistakes lol

In the meantime we really should have a beer before the holidays;)

[cantab27]

its not a ghetto fix its a redneck fix ...lol

[steph74]

its not a ghetto fix its a redneck fix ...lol

My bad....

[cantab27]

wouldnt worry about it steph ,, been there done that // heres my opps fix ,,, dont tell anyone

http://i469.photobucket.com/albums/rr52/cantab27/Image0229.jpg

[Punisher]

OK so last fridayI felt like giving a little more TLC to the jeep and changed the sway bar bushings (easy) and give a little greasing....

Then look into the coolant and flush it......
Then start inspecting hoses and removing one that had a severe nick in it and looked that it had to be replaced....
Then, thinking well I might as well change the thermostat.... so here, I start unbolting the housing.....

DANG bottom bolt snapped right away.........

So right now, the little SOB is soaking into PB blaster and I will try heat and vise grips later today if no...... well I am not looking forward to remove the front to be able to drill that.....

didn;t work I am not that lucky
Soooooo I broke the jeep

decided to go with the traditional drill and tap (i knew the time to learn how to do that was going to come....)
there was a piece of the bolt still sticking out so before doing that I took the chisel to it to make it flush with the block head .... right
It didn;t bread... what it did, it broke the head the red part circled on the picture is gone....

http://www.cherokeeforum.com/attachments/f36/31326d1291570893-northern-utah-bs-thread-gdi24.jpg

So basically I cannot put a bolt in there because it doesn;t have anything to hold onto....
I am thinking this..... get a big amount of weld in there, let is cure, drill and tap and consider it solved....

In the meantime, I just put everything back in with lots of RTV and it works so far but I bet the pressure will make it a very temporary fix.....
I am SOOOOOOO PISSSED

When I was rebuilding my motor and got the head on I did the same damn thing and it broke right where yours did and what I did was got a smaller drill bit and drilled it out all the way through the inside of the head and re tap it and you put the bolt in make sure you use antiseize so the water wont leak out and plenty of RV gasket around the waterneck... and if you fail then get a new head or pay to fill it up with weld and tap it again...

[XJ4IV]

... Sooooo you got the old bolt OUT?I gotta say man Your not the only one to have done this, I talked my brother in law into getting a ZJ and he called me up last year and needed a water pump replaced so I came out and did it for him and I reccomended he chage the thermostat as well... and guess what FREAKING broke!? the SAME lower bolt I asked him what he wanted to do now and that I would pay for it and he said not to worry that a guy at work had a torch and they heated it up and backed it out with vice grips... really shocked me but it worked... no FURTHER breakage. as for YOUR issue it would only cost like 25 bucks to have that arear welded again BUT having it smoothed out perfectly you can DO it BUT you might need to go over it afterwards with some jbweld to make sure its level... and contrary to what others say YES you can put jbweld on the head to smooth out any pits... NO you cannot use it to reshape the head JUST to fill any imperfections!
as far as tapping it your going to have to remove the front panel of the jeep to do it correctly so I guess start with that! ORRRRR
just go with no t-stat and have the housing welded on permanantly LOL

[steph74]

that is good info there....

so this is where I stand for now..... don't yell at me guys, I am just an average guy with basic tools at home and I am "playing" with it.... after all experiences make you learn quicker lol....

I removed my wonderful RTV patch / gasket that was leaking anyway, pulled the housing, sanded everything lightly, took a chunk of quick steel, reshaped the hole, sanded down .
Tonight if time allow, I am taking the front off, and I will try to drill and tap that plug and give it another try.

I KNOW it is not like welding it. The idea is to try because you never know, maybe it will be strong enough to be qualified as a temporary repair if someone needs to buy some time before getting it fixed properly.

Ultimately, I will do the head change... but money money money ;) Plus looking into the head through the opening, it looks scary and full of rust/scale/lime.... even after a good flush.


I'll keep updated ;)

[steph74]

Thought I would share this link here.... good info http://www.greatlakes4x4.com/showthread.php?t=661