"Simple" fix gone bad. GRRRRR

[Aredubjay]

Did all the prep work to get the old, rusted, nasty power steering pump cooler out. Got the car up on the ramps, crawled under and went after the first bolt that held the passenger's side bracket. SNAP! The head snapped off. <Expletive Deleted> So, I went over to the other one. SNAP! <Multiple Expletives Deleted> Finally extracted the old cooler, but now, I'm stuck with the dilemma of how to get the rest of the bolts out of the bracket holes. They're rusted in badly (obviously). I've soaked them both with PB Blaster, but, there isn't enough of the bolt to get hold of with vice grips. Even if I completely remove the radiator, I don't think I can get grips on the inside of the bolts to turn them all the way through. There's not a lot of room to try to drill them out. Anybody know of an effective tool? After I sprayed the PB Blaster on them, I was able to get a punch on the end and tap them a few times and re-spray them, but, darn it, this is nuts! Not only that, but, they didn't supply new bolts with the cooler. Just new hoses & clamps (and the clamps are shoddy, by the way). I'm open to any suggestions. Right now, she's still on the ramps,since it started to rain, and I had to abandon the project. Hopefully I'll be able to finish up tomorrow.

[Landshark]

Craftsman bolt extractors worked well for me, but you do need to drill a hole in the bolt to work the extractor in (then you just manually twist the extractor and bolt out.) think you can get a drill in there with a small bit? have/borrow a right angle drill?
good luck!

[ensteele]

Darn, I hate that when you start to do a simple job and it all goes south. One step forward and two steps back. Why does it always have to be so hard!

[nubs]

You can do what I did and get rid of it all together, I went to a salvage yard and got a real power steering cooler from a Ford Explorer. It is a a smaller version of a B&M tranny cooler.I mounted it on the left side on front of the condenser and ran longer hoses to it.
You can see it on the left of the attached picture. It was pretty easy to do.

[benebob]

Originally posted by nubs
You can do what I did and get rid of it all together, I went to a salvage yard and got a real power steering cooler from a Ford Explorer. It is a a smaller version of a B&M tranny cooler.I mounted it on the left side on front of the condenser and ran longer hoses to it.
You can see it on the left of the attached picture. It was pretty easy to do.

Nubs,
How much turning are you doing that you need a cooler from an Exploder?

[Aredubjay]

Originally posted by nubs
You can do what I did and get rid of it all together, I went to a salvage yard and got a real power steering cooler from a Ford Explorer. It is a a smaller version of a B&M tranny cooler.I mounted it on the left side on front of the condenser and ran longer hoses to it.
You can see it on the left of the attached picture. It was pretty easy to do.

That'd be great, Mike, but, I've already bought and paid for the stock cooler.

[Aredubjay]

Originally posted by Landshark
Craftsman bolt extractors worked well for me, but you do need to drill a hole in the bolt to work the extractor in (then you just manually twist the extractor and bolt out.) think you can get a drill in there with a small bit? have/borrow a right angle drill?
good luck!

I checked to see if I can get a drill in the space, and I can. But, I'll need to get a smaller bit than the smallest I have at the moment. Will be making a trip to Sears in the morning (Or, rather, THIS morning).

[nubs]

Originally posted by benebob



Nubs,
How much turning are you doing that you need a cooler from an Exploder?

Not much really,I got if for nothing and when I was replacing my hoses I thought I would stick it in. I am sure it can't hurt.

[Landshark]

Originally posted by Aredubjay


I checked to see if I can get a drill in the space, and I can. But, I'll need to get a smaller bit than the smallest I have at the moment. Will be making a trip to Sears in the morning (Or, rather, THIS morning).

check to see what size bit you'll need on the bolt extractor package - there are different size extractors depending on the size of the bolt, and they each require a specific size hole to be drilled.

[svx_commuter]

I occasionally just take things apart and put them back together on the SVX with silicone on the threads to avoids these problems. Ah Randy, Hi you said that the PS cooler rotted away from rust. Right? How is that radiator and ac condensor doing? I broke the 10mm (bolt head size) that holds the fans in my 91 Legacy. But I had 4 bolts and broke only 2. @ is good enough. You do not have to use the same size bolt. Tap a new hole for a bigger bolt or if you can, try a bolt and nut.