Stripped Water Pump Bolt

Rembrant wrote

AmericanSavage wrote

Yes, it is.

Ahh, OK, my bad. I thought it was one of these two bottom bolts which look to be the ones that thread into the timing cover and not the block.

I am thinking based on my edit to that response, that you might be correct.  Stand by, I have now isolated it between ALL the gaskets, and a shot of my front cover—I think I was wrong in my insistence it goes into the block….stand by.

Does the heli-coil come with the needed tap?  It is a special tap.

OK, I think YOU all are right—Based on location it HAS to be plate only? And not screw into the block.  The upper bolt definitely goes into the block.  I double checked with my pics I took, and with the pump, + the TWO gaskets I have on hand.  

I want to thank everyone for making me better at this—all of you are immense help.

I will confirm all this with pics and hand out awards to those who got it right.


See pics below:

Gary Lewis wrote

Does the heli-coil come with the needed tap?  It is a special tap.

I have a kit, and it comes with a tap, several coils, and a tool to install and break the piece at the end (inside).  Some come with a drill to boot, but I think the one I have does not have the bit with it.

Sorry for all the posts—I found a rather nice pic of a 351m/c

This really helped me, and Rembrant and ArdWrknTrk and mat in tn (also 85lebaront2).

All you had it right.  I think I was off one hole.  Thank you all for making me check twice, 3 times.

Here is the pic:

after seeing the picture of the cover from pro comp. I think i would order that if i was to ever need my cover off again. that seems like a problem solver redesign.

None of us wanted you to mess things up. Now you see how the threads are made in the 335 series timing covers. I think Ford stole the idea from Oldsmobile, complete with the vertical fuel pump bolt orientation.

mat in tn wrote

after seeing the picture of the cover from pro comp. I think i would order that if i was to ever need my cover off again. that seems like a problem solver redesign.

read the few reviews of the Pro Comp.  Not a great fit.  The Summit one is laser cut.  I would like to see more reviews though.

I will decide what to do after I get this cover off.  I may replace it, and if I do, I will likely go with the more expensive Summit cover.  Great reviews on that and near perfection on the fit to OEM.

if that is a concern then I will just weld flange nuts to the back of the oe cover.

mat in tn wrote

if that is a concern then I will just weld flange nuts to the back of the oe cover.

This is definitely one thing I am going to look into doing.

Based on all the great advice here, I cannot see a way other than grinding down the braze-on bolt, and re-welding a new nut in its place.  

However, there is some, shall we say, pitting on the cover.  I may just replace it.  I hope to know more this week when I remove it.

as I said, I just did mine and yes it had some pitting where the gasket goes against the cover. I cleaned it thoroughly and wire brushed it as smooth as I could then buttered it well with rtv on the gasket too as I did not want any weeping from a bad fit. if it weeps it is getting a new cover.

When tapping a hole for heli-coil, or anywhere you don't want chips getting into places that are hard to clean them out, I used to fill the tap grooves with chassis grease so the chips will become imbedded in the grease and not go where not wanted.

ArdWrknTrk wrote

From the link Cory posted it appears the bolt threads into the tin cover and not the block. (well inboard of the water inlet)

When I read this I realized I was somehow looking at the wrong bolt the whole time

In the bitter cold today, got the timing cover off.  Suprisingly, to me anyway, the timing chain looks pretty good.  Looks new.  Color me shocked.

So, you can see the stripped part on the cover.  There’s not a lot of real estate on this cover for the bolts to grab onto.  When it warms up a bit (tomorrow I hope) I am going to check clearance, and see if a welded on nut will work.  

While I was there today, I went ahead and changed out the fuel pump—the other one looked old, but seemed to work ok.  Still, it is a cheap part to replace, and I had easy access, so why not?

AmericanSavage wrote

While I was there today, I went ahead and changed out the fuel pump—the other one looked old, but seemed to work ok.  Still, it is a cheap part to replace, and I had easy access, so why not?

The way aftermarket parts fail now, I don’t think that way.

My son wanted me to replace the water pump when I did the head gaskets on the Xterra we now own. I said no, what if the new one only lasts 10,000 miles? The old oem pump could last 200,000 more.

grumpin wrote

AmericanSavage wrote

While I was there today, I went ahead and changed out the fuel pump—the other one looked old, but seemed to work ok.  Still, it is a cheap part to replace, and I had easy access, so why not?

The way aftermarket parts fail now, I don’t think that way.

My son wanted me to replace the water pump when I did the head gaskets on the Xterra we now own. I said no, what if the new one only lasts 10,000 miles? The old oem pump could last 200,000 more.

This is, of course, a real problem these days, so you are correct.  The fuel pump I replaced was NOT OEM, though.  I did not go for the cheapest—went with NAPA.  We shall see.

I saved the old one for an emergency spare.

The chain does look good, but how much play is there in it?  If I remember correctly Ford's spec's are 1/2" max.

save this picture! what a perfect shot of how a fuel pump run off an eccentric works

Gary Lewis wrote

The chain does look good, but how much play is there in it?  If I remember correctly Ford's spec's are 1/2" max.

Hey Gary,

You are correct about the ½”  

I checked the chain where it sits—I have not cranked the engine over.  One side (pass) is tight.  The other side (D side) has slack.  

There is at least ¾” slop on that side.

Regardless of which, I decided over the weekend to get a roller set.  I am here, and so, I am going to do it right while I have everything opened up.  So, a few more days of waiting for reassembly.

Recs on Rollers anyone?

I see at Summit there is a Cloyes, Edelbrock, and Comp Cams.  Looks like only Edel/Comp are made in USA.

I think replacing it is the right thing to do.  And I like Cloyes, although I wouldn't mind an Eddie or Comp.