bolt snapped on rear main seal.....

[StricNyne]

Ok today was suposed to be a good day, i got all my parts i was missing and i started cranking on the motor nice and early, but about an hour into it while torqueing one of the bolts to the rear main seal it snaps effortlessly. ok no big dead i have extracted tons of bolts, so i drill it out perfectly center and procede to use my extractor which than snaps in the bolt which is inside the block. i tried almost every bit known to man and nothing grabs it,, i bought a super expensive industrial bolt out but i cannot not drill into the old bolt out. the snap is flush with the block so i cannot try to grip it and take it out. my ONLY option is to drill and extract. does anyone know a good drill bit that i can use to get this out. i am soo f***ing mad i thought i was gunna slam motor on the hood of the chassis in a fit of rage. has this happened to anyone else ? i know better than to ask this, but has anyone else only used 5 of the 6 bolts that hold the seal in place ? at this point i dont even car and would probally use the 5 bolts to get the car running long enough to get to a pier and drive my car into the ocean.....

[Coolwhip]

snap-on has some nice Ti bits that we use at the shop to drill out bolts but you're referring to a normal small 10mm eh? It'll take time stepping up one bit size to the next but I bet you can get them out.

[StricNyne]

problem is that i am drilling into hardneed steal

[robbie2883]

the bolt extractors can actually be broken apart with a small tipped punch and a hammer. it's a strong metal but also very brittle. i've ran into this before and we ended up just having to break the backout piece apart and pulling the pieces out with tweezers

[StricNyne]

ahhh thats a good point !!! thats good advice, i am going to try that, and NEO showed me a couple drill bits i can try as well

[Kevin.A]

if your skilled enough with a welder, I've had luck welding a 5-7 in bar at a 45deg angle to snapped bolts, then using this as a handle.

[StricNyne]

i thought of that but its very pretty much flush with engine, also i am right in perth amboy, and yor in edison you should swing by some time !!

[Ramius83]

I have had this happen to me at the dealership before. Broke off an extractor inside the broken bolt and could not punch out the extractor. I found a similar metal nut to the bolt and held it in place over the broken bolt (flush with block) and welded it to the stud. I tacked it on first and then built up the weld flush with the end of the nut. It worked for me, but then again, you can do this and turn it one time and the nut can break from the broken bolt just as easily.

BTW, starting from left and going clockwise right, which bolt number broke? If it were numbers 2/3 or 4/5, I really don't see it presenting a sealing issue. But then again, to each his own.

Just as a side note. I removed a transmission from a 99 Maxima to replace it and upon inspecting the rear main seal, one of the three 10mm head bolts holding the rear main retainer was broken off. And to add, it was the far left bolt, and it was not leaking one bit (done at another dealership over 4 years from that time)...........

[StricNyne]

ok thats the bolt thats f***ed up on the right, i dont think its going to come out without going to a machine shop. i think i can get away without using since it dosent hold and torque and its rtv sealed down. any imput ?

[Ramius83]

Personally Stric, I think that you will be fine. As long as you have the retainer sealed and bolted in correctly, I don't think it will be an issue. I say to install away.

Get some other input from the other guys here, but I think you will be ok.

[robbie2883]

i would think you'd be ok with it. there's no lateral tq on it or anything. just dab a little extra rtv on the bolt hole to help seal it. and it you want it to seal really good put a thin bead of rtv around that little section and let it sit for about an hour. then put the rest of the rtv on and tq the cover down

[Sil240]

Los when do you need the engine in the car??

If you got time take it to a machine shop and get it done right.

If not throw it in you shouldn't have a problem.