Broken Thread Chaser in Engine Mount hole

Hi folks, just like the title, on the passenger side engine mount I broke off a thread chasing bit when cleaning out the threads to the hole where the engine mount bolt goes into the frame.

So other than junking the car (which is a serious possibility based on the opinions I've seen on this issue so far), what are the options?

There's not enough bolt shank left to grab onto with a extractor socket. Also it's broken off at a sharp angle which is going to make it hard to drill. And as I understand it, those thread chaser bits are made from hardened steel (lol less than 20 ft/lbs was all it took to break) so drilling may be difficult anyway.

Otherwise, anybody wanna buy an 07?

 

Can you get something welded to it that would allow you to turn it?

 

Thanks, that's possible I suppose, I mean not for me but for somebody haha.

But there's really not much shank left above the hole to weld to, and what is left is at a pretty steep angle, gonna try to post pics but kinda hard to see...

 

Yeah I would weld a nut onto that if you "someone" can and then loosen it like normal. The heat would also help break the rust and make it easier to turn out. If you have the other bolt in you could likely just baby it to a shop.

 

Yeah, there's actually really not any rust down there, I was really on the last steps of cleaning the hole out with that thread chaser bit (it's the bit that broke not the actual bolt). I would estimate I was maaaybe 20 ft/lbs when it snapped, and it actually snapped on the way back OUT of the hole.

But thank you, it is definitely baby drivable but finding a shop actually willing to do it is gonna be the hard part probably. Maybe a mobile mechanic with a welder?

 

Update...much to my astonishment, there is actually a tool called a "tap extractor" tool that fits into the little flutes down the side of the tap to grab it. Got one on the way from Amazon we'll see how it does but it looks perfect for the job...hence the name of the tool I suppose.

 

Very interested to see how this goes. Make sense there would be a tool for this scenario

 

You and me both man haha, supposed to come fri or sat will post update.

 

While you're waiting for the extractor to show up, spray the Shit out of that thing with penetrating oil. It might be the picture, but it looks like that mount might be covering the bolt hole too. Make sure that it doesn't interfere. You may not be able to weld to it, as it's hardened steel.

 

I think the other pic is a better angle, but it is almost perfectly centered so no worries there. And the hole really wasn't all that rusty or dirty I think just bent/squished threads, but yeah prob a good idea anyway just to provide as much lube as possible.

 

Make absolute sure that you only go a 1/4 turn at a time, in both directions, when trying to get it out. That allows the shit to clean out of the treads. Thrust me, you don't want to drill it out!

 

I've used a dremel to cut a slot in broken bolts and used a flat head screw driver or driver bit with good results as long as the bolt wasnt seized. Good luck!

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Update - haven't had much time to work on it but kinda back to square one, the tap extractor thing is too big for the flutes in the chaser, but the good news is that the material is not as hard as I thought it might be, was able to grind down the rough spots with a dremel pretty easily. So I'm going to try one of those grabit extractors first, if that fails then left handed drill bit until it comes out on it's own or until there's little enough left where I can just break it. And it's far enough down and the hole is so small that I think welding a nut on there would be more trouble than it's worth (since I can't do the welding myself anyway).

I think the good news here is that the head of the tap chaser I am using is less than 1/2 inch long (the threaded part like this...the one on the left in the picture), and like I said it broke off on the way out at around 25 ft/lbs, so I'm pretty confident that the grabit will work.

 

Interesting. I fucked up my frame rail installing the passenger side mount too way back when. I ended up drilling everything out a couple sizes larger, tapping new threads, and using larger hardware.

 

Yeah that's pretty much the last resort, gonna try everything to avoid that. I do have time on my side, not a daily driver and in no particular rush.

 

FYI, total success but a SLOOOOW process. Managed to save the stock threads, didn't need to go up a size or anything.

Long story short, I started with small drill bits to drill out the center, then stepped up to bigger drill bits until I could get a dremel down there. Dremeled it right up to the stock threads and picked/pried/poked it out one sliver at a time. Then took a real tap and spent a couple hours very very slowly working those stock threads back into shape.