Stripped Captive!

[phil200tdi]

Hi All

This week I have been trying to change the Clutch Slave Cylinder. Unfortunately upon removal of the old cylinder the bottom bolt stripped the captive thread in the gearbox bell housing, meaning that the new cylinder will not tighten against the bell housing... Annoying..

Any ideas of how to fix this? I have heard of drilling the hole and fitting helicoils however, seems alot of tools are required.. Anyone got any experience of this?

Oh and don't search for "stripped captive" on a work machine! Go on, ask me how I know!

Cheers

Phil

[Milemarker Type S]

Helicoil or similar sounds your best bet- They are usually in a kit with the correct size drill bit, tap and insertion tool. Very simple to fit and stronger than the original thread.

[FridgeFreezer]

A few solutions of varying bodginess, mostly only suitable as field repairs:

- If there's some thread left, find a longer bolt and go easy on the spanners.

- Drill & tap to a bigger thread (may also require the slave cyl hole to be redrilled)

- Weld it up, redrill & tap

- Fill with chemical metal / JB weld, redrill, tap.

- Rotate the slave a few degrees, redrill & tap both holes.

- Drill out & insert a rivnut (may as well helicoil it through)

- Get a self-clinching nut on the back

- Cut a hole in the side of the bellhousing & use a conventional nut, although one welded to a plate to keep it captive would make life easier.

- Plate & captive nut as above, bolted/tekscrewed to the back of the hole (a-la Dzus fastener)

- Wind a bolt through from behind with loctite on the top and use it as a stud.

There are multiple other ways to skin this cat, but those are the first lot that came to mind.

[white90]

Fridge has a perfect list there

I would opt for this one:

Drill & tap to a bigger thread (may also require the slave cyl hole to be redrilled)

the Aluminium is soft you can use a ratchet to drive a Tap.

[phil200tdi]

Thanks for all the advice, a guy from my landrover club is an engineer and has all the taps and even an angle head drill to get into the tight places etc.. I usually try to buy the tools so i can do it next time but in this case the tools are expensive and I can see them being rarely used!

Cheers

Phil

[landmannnn]

Ff - you forgot to mention araldite it in place!

[FridgeFreezer]

Ff - you forgot to mention araldite it in place!

I'd go for cable ties first, given the low surface area available and high tension forces on the part.

[phil200tdi]

Unfortunately after having stripped the holes and tried a number of times to refit the slave cylinder it seems the operating rod came loose and has now (subsequent to retapping the holes) left the clutch solid... On Les Hensons tech archive he says:

"Be very careful about removing the slave - if it's tight on the operating rod, then there's a chance you will pull the rod out of it's clip inside the bellhousing". What do I do if this has happened, do I need to split the Engine/gearbox.

Cheers

Phil