thermostat housing bolts rounded off

[andyhudson 10]

Well I made the mistake of not using any penetrating fluid the three thermostat housing boltts at the weekend and two have rounded off, fustratingly the bolt at the bottom if one of them. What have most people done in this case I was thinking along the lines of drilling the heads off so I can get the housing off and then I should be able to get the bolts out?

 

Also any one know of a website with the bolts listed to get online?

 

Cheers andy

[davidwort 0]

Irwin bolt grippers or similar?

[andyhudson 10]

Just looking now, but I don't think the sets go small enough

[Southie 10]

You could also try the screw type bolt extractors

 

Like these

[fendervg 33]

Irwins work well - use plenty of pen oil and some heat first - a bang with a chisel and hammer to shock it won't do any harm either. I've had luck sometimes with hammering on a slightly smaller socket or on a hex head, a star key to start it off. Worst case is you need to cut and drill - and this will take ages unless you have a really heavy duty drill. Just take your time and be patient.

[Jim Bowen 1]

Where abouts are you. I have the full irwin set if your local.

[andyhudson 10]

looks like the sets do go small enough, the head is 10mm on a m6 cap head. sadly im not local im in burnley lancashire, ill buy my myself one this week. im guna try penetrating fluid all week before having ago

[swampy 0]

I have just supplied another forum member with a set of these bolts

All in a2 stainless steel

[Jim Bowen 1]

Sometimes you can hammer in a star drive or torx head thing

[andyhudson 10]

i did try that briefly but it was abit in between sizes for the torx keys

 

---------- Post added at 6:21 PM ---------- Previous post was at 6:19 PM ----------

 

well that was my plan to go stainless. with my hours of work ill struggle to get to local shop so thats why i asked of something online. you able to supply me and how many pennies? cheers

[CazzaVR 0]

Had this myself, and Irwins get them off in seconds.

[andyhudson 10]

well just for reference for people, i sprayed the thing with oil a day or two in advance. i did it by just removing the battery no need for coil pack to come off. the irwin bolt grips did it in seconds. i checked the thermostat that was removed and it appeared to work but with all the news bits on i appear to have better engine temperatures. so dispite the thermostat that came out working it always pays to replace it.