Followers of the saga of the temperature switch that broke off in the intake manifold of an '87 Toyota Pickup know that I have the remainder of a brass part unremoveably
screwed into its intake manifold.
I’m just about to drill it out (it’s raining and snowing;
I have no garage) when I realize that after I drill out
the threads that the part inside, a piece of brass 1/2"
diameter, an inch long, will fall inside.
Does this matter?
How best could I grind it up instead? I could insert
a 3/8" bit and roll it around, grinding it off. I’ve
already inserted a screw extractor far enough to ream
a hole through the end; it has a 1/2" diameter shaft.
Alternatively, how hard is removing the intake manifold?
'87 Toyota Pickup, carbureted 22R engine
OK, I’m unclear on the exact situation, but if you have a part threaded into the manifold and the exterior part with the wrench fitting is broken off, why don’t you try an “Easy Out.” These are hardened, reverse threaded, sort of drill bit like tools. You drill a pilot hole in to the part, then start turning the easy out in. The shape is such that as you turn it further in it gets tighter and eventually the broken off bolt/part starts to turn instead. Worth trying before drilling out the part.
Finally, a part floating around in the intake manifold could lodge in a valve and cause damage to the valve and seat, which would require removing the head to fix. It’s going to be easier to remove the manifold now rather than the head later.
Quoth Ranck: ‘why don’t you try an “Easy Out.”’
‘Easy Out’ is a brand name for a screw extractor, which my message mentions.
When the exterior portion of the ‘switch’ (it’s really a temperature sender
gauge; the official nomenclature is ‘temperature switch’) broke off the
mechanism, in a 19/64" hole, came out. I bought a set of screw extractors
(the generic name for what many call 'Easy Out’s), inserted the smallest
(and largest) one that would fit, and screwed it until it went all the way
through the switch and beyond. The switch didn’t budge.
The shaft of the screw extractor is 1/2", the shaft (minus the threads)
is 9/16", so the threaded part is now down to a 1/32" (minus the threads);
much of the portion beyond is ground up, but not all. If I apply the 9/16"
drill bit to remove the shaft of the threaded part, the portion beyond will
fall into the manifold. This seemed like a bad idea.
So how hard is it to remove the manifold? I have manuals, but they don’t
tell me how hard the job will be. Replacing the temperature switch was
2 sentences: ‘remove the wire connected to it’ and ‘unscrew’.
Ooops, my bad. Missed the mention of the screw extractor in your post. I knew there was a generic name but was blanking out on it. I really can’t help on the rest . . .
Drain the coolant until you can see the metal engine block under the hole.
Drill it with a shop vac next to the bit. The shavings will almost entirely be sucked up. The tiny few that do end up in the coolant will not hurt you.
The remaining round sliver of brass from the sending unit carcass is very thin and can be pulled out with a pair of needle nose pliers. You’ll probably have to crush it a little bit to make it fit. Keep in mind that the hole will get larger when you run the pipe tap into it.
If you want to be sure it stays in one spot the instant the drill bit breaks through, put a dab of grease in there.
Quoth Bodybagger: ‘Drain the coolant until you can see the metal engine block
under the hole.’
The hole I’ve made is 1/2" diameter and in a spot hard to look through. When
the screw extractor broke through the far end I had no choice about draining
the coolant to beneath it.
Quoth Bodybagger: ‘The remaining round sliver of brass from the sending unit
carcass is very thin and can be pulled out with a pair of needle nose pliers.
You’ll probably have to crush it a little bit to make it fit.’
What? The hole is 9/16" diameter empty: I’m going to stick needle-nose pliers
a 1/2" into that hole to hold a piece?
The threads are 3/8" NPT, which means the outside of the threads is 5/8", the
body 9/16". The part beyond the threads, in the manifold, is 1/2": when I drill
out the body of the threaded part the part inside the manifold will fall into it.
Either I take the manifold off (how hard is that?) or I grind the inside part
off from the inside with a drill (3/8" too large?).
Quoth Bodybagger: ‘Keep in mind that the hole will get larger when you run the
pipe tap into it.’
How much bigger? Must I drill it out and insert a helicoil insert?
Not much bigger, but every little bit helps.
You can obtain a pipe thread helicoil insert kit. It may or may not be necessary.
As for getting the scrap out of the hole, I never said it would be easy!
At best, it will be like the game Operation. You’ll need needle nose pliers that are just right. A selection of several would help.
Quoth Bodybagger: 'As for getting the scrap out of the hole, I never said it
would be easy!
‘At best, it will be like the game Operation. You’ll need needle nose
pliers that are just right. A selection of several would help.’
? I can’t believe you are close to being right: the hole in which I have to
work, when it is empty, is 9/16" diameter. When there is some of the shaft
of the threaded part remaining it’s thinner - and thinner than the part
I need to remove.
When there is none of the shaft of the threaded part remaining the portion
of the part inside the manifold has fallen whither pieces fall. No needle-nose
pliers will be able to get it out in either circumstance. A flexible tool with
pincers, light, and light fiber to carry the image back out to one’s eye, such
as surgeons use for laparoscopic surgery would work, but I haven’t seen those
at Pep Boys.