Darn that Broken Bolt!

[Dougieb]

I noticed some water in the spark plug wells of my 1972 Spider.
Not hardly any water in #1, very little in #2, lots in #3, little in #4.
Here is what it looked like:




Enough that it concerned me.


So I went around tightening all of the hoses and fittings to see what I could find.
Everything was pretty snug. I thought it might be the heater hose coming out of the top of the cam tower.
It tightened up a little. Not sure if that was it or not.

But I found this.
One of the bolts in the water elbow on the top was stripped.
The PO put some kind of sealant in there.
Maybe some JB Weld on the bottom, I can't tell yet.



It looks like the bolt broke off right where it enters the cam tower.
I ran the engine and I could not see any water coming out of the hole or around the piece.
But I know that there are 4 bolts in it for a reason and not just 3.

Questions:
Can I just tap it out for a size bigger to fix this?
Does that hole go through the cam tower so I have to pull it to retap out the threads?
Is this a common thing?
What is not just the easiest but the best fix?

Thanks.

[wizard124]

I would look for the leak closer to #3. Maybe the temp sensor, spray from a heater hose, or.....

The broken bolt needs fixing but it may not be your biggest problem at the moment. I would remove that coolant elbow to get a better look at the broken bolt. You will probably need to drill a hole in the broken bolt end and use an EZ out tool to remove it.

[focodave]

Here are some photos of the casting inside. (see below)
I had the exact same thing happen to me long ago. I did exactly what wizard said to do, and when I re-installed the new bolt, I added an extra washer to it to make sure it did not bottom out in the cast boss and snap again.
The cast boss does not have a thru-hole to the inside of the head. If you drill all the way through to open the hole up larger and tap it, you may create a new leak-point that you don't want. I would try to avoid drilling and tapping larger, if at all possible, and try to get the remainder of the old bolt out of there and use the same size bolt as the original with the additional washer -- and don't torque it too tight. Remember that the head is aluminum!

[Dougieb]

Thanks to both for the responses.
I never thought of the temp sensors.
Wow, things we can overlook when we are focused on something else.
I always knew I was going to have to remove the elbow.
Just was avoiding the obvious.
Thanks for the pics and the suggestion about the extra washer.
I may try to track down the leak first and then fix the elbow.
We shall see.
And I thought I had appeased the Fiat Gods enough.
Man!
Ha ha

[baltobernie]

The torque spec on the bolt that broke is only 8 ft. lbs. Borrow a torque wrench and tighten a scrap item to that tension; you won't believe how little pressure 8 ft. lbs. is.

I'd leave the elbow alone until you have the time and resources to repair it. This means not only a repair manual and tools, but contingencies to remove the head, machine shop $$, why not a valve job while I'm at it? Etc.

I've seen coolant elbows so corroded that they crumble when removed. They are also NLA, so be careful.

[TimpanogosSlim]

I think i broke the same one.

I'm hoping the RTV holds. I do have a whole other 1.8 head i can send to the shop and then swap on, though.