Pierre Gillet Posted September 3, 2003 Share Posted September 3, 2003 After replacing the waterpipe gasket of my 1.6 K 1997, I am now unable to tighten the two bolts . In fact after one cm of easy turning, it becomes very hard, leaving one cm of thread outside. I stopped at a torque of 5 N.m (about the torque of the head cover bolts), scarred to cross thread the head hole 😳 Is there any tip I should know, or should I just use brutal force and apply a higher torque ? Cheers, Pierre Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sheds Moderator Posted September 3, 2003 Share Posted September 3, 2003 Suggest you clean out the threads with a tap of the correct size (M5 or 6, IIRC) before forcing anything. If you take the water rail /coolant transfer pipe off do the threaded holes still look good, ie clean and not stripped? Is there rubbish in the bottom of the hole? Will the bolts go in without the pipe in the way? IIRC the bolts are not very long in any case. Are you sure that you haven't simply crossthreaded the bolts as a result of the pipe not lining up? If so and you haven't overtightened them you will be OK. If you have stripped a thread there will be metal shavings in the hole, in which case a tap *may* save the day if used with care and skill, failing that you will need to have it helicoiled which doesn't cost too much provided the threads are accessible. I think they are reasonably OK where the water rail bolts to the head. Good luck. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pierre Gillet Posted September 3, 2003 Author Share Posted September 3, 2003 Merci Maitre Thanks for sharing with me your expertise. You are right, I have been a bit lazy, and was hoping to avoid taking out the water rail to check the holes in the head. Tomorrow is another day, and if also sunny, will take the time to do every thing you say. The bad point is that it is not really pleasant to work in ethylene glycol Pierre Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
elie boone Posted September 3, 2003 Share Posted September 3, 2003 Pierre, you gamble on two horses the french & english web. Best is to clean the holes in the head, with a screwdriver if its something " soft " or with a tap when its something harder like blue locktite. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pierre Gillet Posted September 3, 2003 Author Share Posted September 3, 2003 Ah, Ah, you caught me Elie 😳 Good to check if mechanics on both side of the channel do the same. I can note that you have chosen to advise on the British forum only 😬 Cheers, Pierre Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
caterhamnut Posted September 3, 2003 Share Posted September 3, 2003 'suck and eggs etc, but also worth giving the bolts themselves a good wire brushing, as the threads can get full of crud as well. Just done exactly the same thing on my k-series, and of course, because the gasket was leaking, the bolts had no doubt got wet, and were encrusted when I took them out fully. New site! mycaterham.com here 50,000miles in 2 years Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Howe Posted September 3, 2003 Share Posted September 3, 2003 Suggest you go with the first suggestion i.e. running a tap down the hole. The angle of the head makes it very simple to mis-align and therefore cross thread... but do remove the water rail first. JH Deliveries by Saffron, the yellow 222bhp Sausage delivery machine Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pierre Gillet Posted September 4, 2003 Author Share Posted September 4, 2003 You make a good point here John, the head is inclined... Pierre Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Colin Heseltine Posted September 4, 2003 Share Posted September 4, 2003 Slightly off topic but not a lot. Following recent problems with No. 4 exhaust primary I found the thread stripped in the head. This is the thread just below the water manifold you are talking about. This necessitated helicoiling. Beacause of the inclination of the head it is very difficult to tap at right angles to the machined face. I had to remove the complete manifold and you would be wise to do the same. It is possibler when replacing the manifold to get the final bolt caught on top of the water manifold and for it not to screw in fully. To do this task required a right angle drill adaptor for rechargeable drill. In order to get at right angles to the face I first gently screwed a 5 inch long bolt into the damaged thread, and then (with nosecone removed) was able to look through the gap between edge of radiator and chassis and talk an assistant through drawing a parallel line (with steel ruler) onto the aluminium bulkhead panel. This line was then used as a guide (assistant advising up/down with drill until parallel with the line) whilst drilling and helicoil tapping the damaged hole. The job was completed successfully but required care. This same technique could be used to successfully tap and helicoil your damaged thread. Hope this helps. Colin. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pierre Gillet Posted September 4, 2003 Author Share Posted September 4, 2003 Thanks Colin. Your method might be useful next time if helicoil became necessary, as I had to use three 6mm taps in the two holes. I then was able to torque the bolts at 5 N.m(same as head cover bolts) . I hope it is enough.No leak for the time being. Cheers, Pierre Edited by - Pierre Gillet on 4 Sep 2003 19:27:42 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pierre Gillet Posted September 5, 2003 Author Share Posted September 5, 2003 Damnit, I forgot to put some blue Loctite on the bolts before screwing them 😳 Pierre Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Howe Posted September 5, 2003 Share Posted September 5, 2003 Pierre, whilst I am a great user of Loctite, I suggest you do not use it in this location, as it will cause a stiffness should you need to undo and refit then bolts again. The easier they run in, the easier it is not to cross the thread. JH Deliveries by Saffron, the yellow 222bhp Sausage delivery machine Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pierre Gillet Posted September 5, 2003 Author Share Posted September 5, 2003 Ah, I like what you say very much John Undoig the damned bolts was not a plan I was looking for. Cheers, Pierre Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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