Fighting a VERY stuck bolt in a bad spot. Out of ideas.

[SwampSurvivor]

So the old plugspitter 5400 is down for a head gasket job. No overheating / mixing oil and coolant / compression loss / misfire.

It's hemmhoraging oil out of the head gasket / block surface. Hopefully it's the head gasket and not the block or head corroded away. In October I took it on a 140 mile round trip and it leaked 2 quarts. Covered the trailer, tailgate and my Jeep on the trailer in oil. And lots of smoke because it runs down the bellhousing and drips on the exhaust crossover.

I have been stuck for 4 days on this bolt. Trying to not break off the valve cover because they are not cheap to replace any more!

I really don't want to pull the heater box. I think at this point it would be easier to pull the starter and a handfull of bellhousing bolts and pull the engine? Help!

Just an 8mm head bolt sitting on a rubber bushing. torqued to 12 inch pounds or something ridiculously low from the factory. It will NOT come out. The head was dust. I have tried MAC extraction sockets of all sizes. They just keep making the head smaller. I've welded 20+ nuts to it and they just twist off. I'm thinking someone at the factory must have crossthreaded it and drove it on home.

I have the passenger side valve cover from the original plugspitter 4600 in my grand marquis, but of course that has Romeo heads and this has Windsor heads. The only major difference is valve covers. I suppose I could mix and match and put the passenger head on this engine just for the valve cover but I really don't want to go that route.

 

[mattd]

You’re not getting good adhesion with the weld. Make sure you fill that entire nut with weld, I would keep trying that route. You can also try “quenching” it right after welding if it won’t come out with heat from welding.

 

[Convert]

Is it possible you could cut the head of that bolt off remove the valve cover and then work with the remaining bolt which might be as much as 3/8 to a half inch long left in the head it could be that the existing Bolt is not stuck in the head it's stuck between the Rubber and whatever the bushing is just saying.

Convert
Tom B

 

[emmett442]

Sounds like the head is coming off to make the repair.

In that case, cut or break it off, and deal with the rest of it later.

 

[Cujet]

That seems like a job for a TIG welder, 175KSI aerospace hardware and 308 or ER70s2 welding rod. The high strength nuts are good quality and won’t crack. The 308 rod mixes with the differing alloys and provides adequate strength. The 70s2 rod will also work with most alloys, although it may be a touch more likely to crack when welding to high strength steel

 

[Greasymechtech]

"plugspitter 5400" .... helluva marketing term. Could've doubled their sales.

Break it off and so be it. 4 days of labor vs a replacement cover? Time is valuable too, as are busted knuckles.

 

[BigCahuna]

The head of the bolt doesn't look rounded off, I,m surprised you can't get a 6 point socket or box wrench on it. If it's super tight, put a pipe on it for leverage. Heat it up with a torch if you need to.,,,

 

[SwampSurvivor]

The head of the bolt doesn't look rounded off, I,m surprised you can't get a 6 point socket or box wrench on it. If it's super tight, put a pipe on it for leverage. Heat it up with a torch if you need to.,,,

The bolt at the bottom is good. It's the one near the top of the photo that has a nut welded in

Is it possible you could cut the head of that bolt off remove the valve cover and then work with the remaining bolt which might be as much as 3/8 to a half inch long left in the head it could be that the existing Bolt is not stuck in the head it's stuck between the Rubber and whatever the bushing is just saying.

Convert
Tom B

Can't get to the head straight on with anything without removing the heater box. That's really not something I want to do. The rubber washer / gromet / whatever Ford wants to call it is definitely hardened and causing problems.

You’re not getting good adhesion with the weld. Make sure you fill that entire nut with weld, I would keep trying that route. You can also try “quenching” it right after welding if it won’t come out with heat from welding.

I'll go for more weld. I did have the nut glowing red. I'm sure at this point I've melted a hole in the cover. I also did try a 1/2'' nut that was bigger and got onto the flanged part but no dice. I'll try quencing!

 

[D60]

Let us know what happens!!

 

[Blueshound]

I would try to get in there with a dremel or die grinder and grind / cut the rest of the bolt head off. If it is as soft as you say, it should go quickly. Get the cover off then extract the rest of the bolt on the bench.

 

[Exhaustgases]

4 days? The engine could have been removed in 1 day.

 

[supton]

Probably no help, and I know nothing about this setup- if you undo the motor mounts, remove them, can you lower the engine enough that the angle changes enough to gain access? Leave the trans mount on, but otherwise figure out how to twist and contort the motor to get it into a better spot.

Otherwise, snap the head off, grind down, retap once on the bench. Its not like it needs to be perfect when this goes back onto the engine.

 

[SwampSurvivor]

I broke the valve cover off. Got too frustrated. The engine is junk. Can't find another cheap 5.4 . At this point I think I should probably should scrap the whole truck. An engine this full of sludge isn't worth all of the work I'm about to do.

 

[supton]

Can't say I disagree, although I don't think it looks that bad. I mean, it was running and all, and it's not like you plan to cook your next meal in there.

I'd probably first do a cranking compression test on the (good) cylinders. If they still blow good, maybe it's worth pulling and then checking the rod and main bearings. If they are down to the copper... yeah call it done. After that I'd think about cam chains and phasors (not sure if they are on this or not). If it passes that, then maybe continue on with the head gasket job. Worst case, you find block damage and just the remains into the bed, and call the local junkman for a pick-up (no pun intended).

All said and done though... without looking at it, and with my low standards, I'd probably shove a fork in it and call it done. It's been nothing but problems. If you can rent a U-Haul truck the 2-3 times a year you need to move your Jeep to various meets, that may be the cheapest option going.

 

[Quantico]

Bone yard it and start over

 

[mattd]

Only thing I would do is pull the motor and rebuild it looking at that mess. Can you replace it for the cost of an overhaul? If you really need a truck it may be worth investing a 2500 bucks to fix it. How’s the rest of the truck?

 

[Greasymechtech]

 

[LDB]

When all else fails, get a bigger hammer.

 

[D60]

How many miles are on this? Did I miss it? Just curious

 

[SwampSurvivor]

How many miles are on this? Did I miss it? Just curious

Well I always thought it was a 215000 mile engine when I put it in 30K miles ago. The junkyard had a 215000 mile engine from a 1997 F150 and a 110000 mile engine . I always assumed they sent me the wrong engine because the left valve cover on this one says 8/21/1997, but it's got the PI heads from 2000 and the timing set is in great shape. I think it might have around 140,000 on it ... not nearly 250K like I thought for the past few years.

Only thing I would do is pull the motor and rebuild it looking at that mess. Can you replace it for the cost of an overhaul? If you really need a truck it may be worth investing a 2500 bucks to fix it. How’s the rest of the truck?

Not a lot of cheap 2 valve 5.4s. They tend to run forever, so they weren't really kept around at the scrap yard. Rest of the truck is ... bad. Bed is rusted competely out, cab needs rockers and cab corners and probably might collapse soon

Can't say I disagree, although I don't think it looks that bad. I mean, it was running and all, and it's not like you plan to cook your next meal in there.

I'd probably first do a cranking compression test on the (good) cylinders. If they still blow good, maybe it's worth pulling and then checking the rod and main bearings. If they are down to the copper... yeah call it done. After that I'd think about cam chains and phasors (not sure if they are on this or not). If it passes that, then maybe continue on with the head gasket job. Worst case, you find block damage and just the remains into the bed, and call the local junkman for a pick-up (no pun intended).

No phasers here. It is getting new timing components. I wonder if it was short tripped or something? The timing set is original and much better than the timing set that came out of the grand marquis engine. Guessing based on the condition of the timing set, this engine might only have 140,000 on it. But if it was short tripped, and with how quiet it is, I'm probably going to clean it out and run it. I am not, however, taking the time to pull the non-leaking left head to clean it off.