Saturday, November 20, 2010

Water pump stud broke. Am I screwed?

1994 Geo Metro XFi.



The lower left water pump mounting stud broke as I was trying to torque with a Powerbuilt click type torque wrench good for between 10-150 foot lbs. My manuals (cliton檚 and mitchell檚) both said 115 Inch lbs for the torque spec. 115 inches pounds = 9.58333333 foot pounds. So, I figured it would be ok to just set the wrench for 10 ft lbs and I檇 be ok, in fact it檚 so close to 10 ft lbs, I don檛 know why they didn檛 just say 10 ft lbs.



Unforntuately I didn檛 have the right extension to get on that lower left nut and was forced to use my u-joint, which I know you檙e not supposed to do, but it was exactly the right length and I held it perfectly straight with my other hand so I figured it would be just the same as a straight extension. It ended up breaking the stud. Now I檓 not sure what to do. I can feel the stud sticking through the back side of the water pump mounting surface.



Is the stud pressed into place?



How do I get the stud out to change it?



Where can I find a replacement stud?



Thank you very much for your help.Water pump stud broke. Am I screwed?
The stud is not pressed in. You'll have to use an extraction tool for the broken stud. If there's enough thread try using a vise grip to take out the stud. You can purchase replacement studs at your local autoparts store.Water pump stud broke. Am I screwed?
The main problem now is not getting another stud but rather getting the old stud out. If it's broken off with access to it, try a pair of vice grips. If it's broken flush, try a reverse turning (CCW) drill bit - it may back right out when the bit bites into the metal - if it doesn't, you will have a nice hole to try an easy out in. If all else fails, drill it completely out, re-thread it for a heli-coil and you'll be good to go.

Don't despair - it's sometimes normal for a 10 minute job to turn into a frustrating hour or two.