01-27-2013, 04:35 PM | #1 |
Seeking 9s on M6...
Drives: 2012 2SS/RS LS3 aka "BlackWidow" Join Date: May 2012
Location: Houston, TX
Posts: 397
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Snapped Balancer bolt off in Crank...what now?
I think i'm screwed. I was installing a new cam this weekend following robertway's great DIY. i also had a fried helping out who is much more experienced than me.
So we were pressing on the balancer with my ARP balancer bolt that came with my whipple kit. As i understand these are reusable. we were trying to line up the pin holes, so we pressed on a little and would have to pull it again (did this a few times). Finally everything lined up, so i torqed down to 240ft/lbs per my approximately 3 ft long tourge wrench. Seemed like we were cruising right along, until we tried to back the bolt out to put the pins in... My experience has been you "break" the bolt free (no pun intended), and then you can pretty much remove with your fingers. 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. Below you can see how much snapped off...the ARP bolt w/the washer was the same length as the stock. No signs of thread issues on the part of the bolt that came out...about 1/2" remaining in the crank. I'm looking for suggestions i might be able to fix this at home. Worse case, i'll have it towed to a local shop. I'm planning to drill it and try an easy out, but as hard as it was to turn before it snapped, i'm not very confident. A second option is to remove/replace the crank...but i'm not sure that's a job i'm ready to tackle...if someone knows of a good replace your crank DIY...please post a link... I think it's time for a beer or 12...
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01-27-2013, 04:44 PM | #2 |
Drives: 2006 Z06 Join Date: Oct 2010
Location: Gilbert, AZ
Posts: 5,712
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Good luck. Getting that out will be hard or near impossible.
Replacing a crank means pulling the whole motor and rebuilding it. Rebalance, new bearings, etc. Might as well plan on some upgrades at that point.
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Nick
Corvette Z06 -1200ish rwhp |
01-27-2013, 04:46 PM | #3 |
I.AM.
Drives: 2011 2SS/RS/A6 cammed-n-whippled Join Date: Oct 2008
Location: NY
Posts: 2,638
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Ouch, sorry. Yeah, it's time for some beer. Pretty sure i've seen another thread here before w/ the same issue...might want to do a quick search and see if there was a happy ending. But i would think drill/ez out is the only way to try and salvage it (and check/repair threads if you do get it out). Or, use it as an excuse to upgrade to forged internals
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01-27-2013, 04:53 PM | #4 |
Drives: 2017 rally yellow ss Join Date: Feb 2012
Location: east greenbush, new york
Posts: 776
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A very very good drill bit and a very very very patient person can start with a small drill bit dead center then gradually get to a bigger bit. Then if the motor gods are on your side you can just remove the outter piece of the threads
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01-27-2013, 04:55 PM | #5 |
knows 2 facts about ducks
Drives: ...and they're both wrong Join Date: Aug 2009
Location: The HMS Invincible
Posts: 25,072
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This. Plus some praying.
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01-27-2013, 05:18 PM | #6 |
Drives: 11 Seconds or Faster Join Date: May 2012
Location: Arvada, Colorado
Posts: 2,797
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Yep drill it out, I've had bolts get stuck in the turbo housing on my Subaru, just have to drill it out. It's a patience required process, so take your time and you should be ok. Line it up really well though, that'll be key.
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01-27-2013, 06:50 PM | #7 |
Drives: 2011 IOM 2SS/RS Join Date: Dec 2010
Location: Chatham, Illinois
Posts: 756
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If you know someone with a lathe, have them drill out the center of a cheap bolt that you can screw into the crank. Then you can use it as a guide for the drill bit you will use to drill out what's left of the ARP bolt. The hard part is always getting the pilot hole started in the center of the hardened bolt.
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01-27-2013, 07:28 PM | #8 |
Drives: '18 Sierra Denali '05 GMC 2500HD Join Date: Jul 2011
Location: Upstate NY
Posts: 1,396
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^^^^^That is an excellent idea, never thought of that.
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01-27-2013, 07:34 PM | #9 | |
Drives: 700 rwhp 2010 SS Join Date: Sep 2010
Location: Garage..
Posts: 803
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Left handed drill bit and get a decent sized hole in it and then use a bolt extractor / easy out. Use a quality left hand bit like a snap-on or mac tools since they are cobalt bits and same for the easy out so you dont break that off in the hole. Don't use cheap craftsman or harbor freight stuff here...
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01-27-2013, 07:39 PM | #10 |
Drives: 2016 2SS coupe 2015 3LT Stingray Join Date: Aug 2012
Location: El paso texas
Posts: 880
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be patient buy several drill bits as youre going to mess them up and use lots of wd40 as your drilling to keep things cool good luck
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01-27-2013, 07:48 PM | #11 |
Drives: 700 rwhp 2010 SS Join Date: Sep 2010
Location: Garage..
Posts: 803
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One good mac or snap-on hardened cobalt bit will work, they run about 40 bucks a bit but cut right through. You will be there for days with regular bits as that bolt is probably hardened too.
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01-27-2013, 08:00 PM | #12 | ||
Ed
Drives: 2013 AGM Camaro 2SS/RS/1LE Join Date: Dec 2012
Location: Seattle, WA
Posts: 951
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Quote:
Quote:
Its not hard if you follow the above advice and take your time. |
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01-27-2013, 08:08 PM | #13 |
Drives: 2011 2ss Join Date: Oct 2012
Location: United States
Posts: 272
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Sorry to here that. You already have lots of great advice let us know the outcome.
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01-27-2013, 08:11 PM | #14 |
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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.
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