DCX550

My dumbass broke the bolt off inside the crankshaft, that holds the harmonic balancer in place. The broken bolt is an inch deep inside the crankshaft. I researched how to remove a broken bolt and bought left-handed drill bits, and an easy out bolt extractor set. I also had the center of a new bolt bored out from a machine shop - as to not damage the inside threads of the crankshaft once I begin drilling out the broken bolt.

I began drilling out the broken bolt with a left-handed drill bit (in reverse) for about 20 mins and maybe only got 1/64th of an inch into the bolt. I am using grease to keep everything properly lubed. The angle at which I am drilling is very difficult, with the crankshaft still inside the engine.

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

Do I need to pull out the crankshaft in order to work on this? And how would I go about doing that?

Any Las Vegas Mechanic willing to come to my house and fix this issue?? $$$

And lastly: Torque wrench pressure setting on the harmonic balancer bolt? (Once I’ve extracted the broken one)

Thanks for your time.

• Daniel

Mark Doiron

You don't want a mechanic. You want a machinist. Ask the machine shop if someone will come to your house to extract the bolt. Compare the price of that to securing a tow truck to take it to the machine shop. If you want to do the work yourself, pick up a right-angle drill. That should provide plenty of clearance, especially if the bits you have are screw machine length (shorter than typical jobber length). The "crankshaft damper bolt" torque spec for the 3.8L is 54 N-m or 40 ft-lbs.

EDIT: Don't feel too bad, BTW. I busted my harmonic balancer years ago not realizing how to properly remove it. Live and learn. :-)

Sixty4x4

Have you pulled the balancer seeing as the bolt is broken and is the broken part of the bolt near the outer edge of the hole in the crank? If so then I suggest with the balancer removed you use a center punch on the edge of the bolt just in from the threads punch a hole there. Then use the center punch on an angle that directs the bolt to undo and tap with a small 1/2 or 1lb hammer gently not hard. I have done this a few times in my life and it worked. Takes a while. Try the punch in two places 180* apart but strategically located to help with limited access to the crank.

RedneckJeep

If the balancer is still in place on the engine and you are saying the broken bolt is one inch into the crank, then very possibly the broken bolt is very close to the front of the crank snout. If that's the case, remove the balancer. Clean the broken bolt up SPOTLESS. Next, find a large nut and mig weld the nut (or have someone do it who can mig GOOD) to what's left of the broken bolt. Build the weld up GOOD, but only weld the broken bolt to the nut. Be careful not to hit the threads. If it were me, I would remove the radiator as well to give yourself plenty of room to work. If you cannot do it, find someone who is proficient at mig welding and they can. It's not difficult at all for a professional welder.

Now, if the broken bolt is really that deep into the crank, then that might not be your best option. Good luck. I know this is a pain place to be, but you'll get it one way or another.

resharp001

Reminds me of this thread -

https://www.jk-forum.com/forums/stoc...w-what-339741/