300tdi water pump bolt

[Reiny]

I was attempting to replace the water pump on a mate's 300tdi when one of hte long bolts rounded off and refused to budge. Time was tight and shops were closed so we just re-assembled everything and left it for after the holidays. We plan to grind the bolt head off, slip the pump off and pray that the remaining stud gets undone with a pair of mole grips. I would also be tempted to weld a nut to the stud and wrench it off however, space is a tad tight and i'm not too confident with an arc welder. Any other tips?

[Jim1]

I used a 3/8 A/F socket hammered on then undo normally worked for me.

[Bluemoon]

I had this exact problem a month back,, tried welding on a big nut and the stud snapped below the surface, like you I put it back together till I could get it sorted. When I did sort it out, I damaged the housing that the water pump attaches to , as the only way was levering and hammering at the same time as the bolt was corroded along its length, within the housing. I guess I could of reused it but it was unsightly , just may be wise to get a spare just in case . Hope you have better look, cheers Brian

[Bluemoon]

be ready to usher any kids away as the swearing can get intense!

[Retroanaconda]

I had a similar problem. Ended up with this:

Drilled it out in the end and fitted a Helicoil insert, it was the top bolt of the 'triangle' for the waterpump on the right.

[Frax]

I find that a good knock with a hammer on the head of the bolt till you get a dull thud noise works a treat. If you can send a shock through the bolt it will also disturb any corrosion and you then have a chance of it coming out.

Works for me but don’t go to daft with the hammer.

[Christophers1247]

there are a few tricks of the trade like frax said a good knock with a hammer works wonders if not i wouldnt hesitate to get the welder out weld a nut to a washer then to the rounded of bolt or a bit if flat bar or long bolt to the rounded bolt making a sort of welded on breaker bar then u can knock the flat bar with a hammer until somthing happens.grind of the head as you suggested then weld an over size nut to the stud or try stud extractor. mole grips probably wont work but u might get lucky but my favorite and one i have had success with rounded bolts are irwin screw and bolt extractors they are sockets with reverse fluts that grip the bolt as u turn u can pick them up for £15 or so at most places that sell tools. http://www.irwin.com/tools/screw-bolt-extractors/bolt-extractors

[Reiny]

gulp!

[AndyDuller]

I had the same problem yesterday and having tried heating it, hitting it try to release it I eventually cut the head off the bolt so I could remove the water pump.

After many attempts with mole grips which were just chewing off the shaft of the bolt I tried using an old drill chuck that I had lying around in the shed. The good thing about this is that mole grips around the outside of the chuck will tend to tighten the jaws on the shaft of the bolt. With a fair amount of effort I found that this worked a treat.

I suppose that this is a bit like a poor man's version of stud pullers/removers e.g.https://www.machinemart.co.uk/p/laser-stud-remover-set-5-piece/