umm... I'm stupid. really stupid. ok? everyone read me say to myself that I'm stupid. nobody call me stupid because I already know it, its a given.

what do I do when...

I was changing the thermastat. I got the housing off. cleaned both ends off. put the thermastat on. put the seal on. put the housing back on. start bolting it back down when... crink... the bolt broke off. it didn't look like it was going to break.... I don't know what to do...

advice would be VERY GREATLY appreciated.

 

Hey, I know how you feel. I snapped off both bolts on my thermostat housing just trying to get them off! OK, take the other bolt back out and remove the top housing. If the bolt broke at the top, just get a set of vice grips, squeeze the heck out of it, and remove the piece of bolt. If, however, it broke off flush with lower housing or in it, get a set of easy-outs (a square-like thing that has a reverse screw thread on the bottom). Carefully drill a hole in the center of the bolt, thread and/or hammer in the easy-out, and remove the piece of bolt by turning it and the easy-out out. If neither of these work, replace the water pump housing (Ouch! That's what I had to do!). Good luck!


Irv, Keith's dad

 

here is what all I did.

oh yeah, it was sticking out about a 1/4 of an inch

first I went and got vice grips and tried to get it out. they didn't work. it was really stuck in there. so I went back and got some JB weld to see if I could either weld the head back on or kinda make a new head. I dont know how to use that stuff so I messed that up. then I got a titanium drill bit. I thought that was cool. and I got a center punch and an EZ out. I didn't want to mess up with the drilling so I waited a bit. to ease my frustration. my dad showed up and he thought if we got it with a monkey wrench. we went and got a monkey wrench. and some liquid wrench at the same time. couldon't hurt, right? sprayed the stuff on and got a cranking with the primape and it didn't turn. so we drilled it until there was enough room to get the ez out in without touching the bottom of the drilling. twisting the EZ out didn't work. we eventually got it out by having one pair of plyers on the EZ out and the other on the bolt itself. well I got it off and I'm taking the 'intact' one and getting a match at national hardware. I heard they had metric so that's my choice. if not... then I'll order from mazda, or the mazda wrecking yard near sacramento.

eehhhh......