Bruno3288

So, to start out I bought a 2012 Jeep Wrangler in December. The waterpump exploded. One day coolant was just being flung all over the engine. Which I was okay with, parts go bad and I understand this.

I am just having a difficult time adjusting to how soft the aluminum engine really is. I have a Haines manual for a rough idea of what I am doing and torque specs. While replacing the waterpump I have stripped 3 bolts so far. It is super annoying. I've been working on my own cars since 2007. I own a 2004 VW Jetta that I used to wrench on regularly. It currently has 210k miles and I have NEVER stripped the bolts. I did shear the exhaust studs while upgrading the down pipe, but that was because I didn't listen to a friend of mine to wait for him. He ended up using a torch on the one's that were left and that was so much easier.

I just wanted to see, is this normal?
Should I buy more helicoils?

I was puting the idler pulley back on and was "trying" to tighten to 18ft-lbs of torque.

resharp001

Yikes. I've not had to pull anything off the engine in my 2013 yet. This isn't very encouraging to see.

Rednroll

I haven't had to replace my water pump but seeing as though the bolts are steel and the block is aluminum, it makes sense that the bolts would seize and potentially strip when removing them. I had to replace my EGR valve which is a similar situation and most of the EGR valves come with replacement bolts since the original ones are expected to be damaged when removed. Like yourself, I grew up using Haines and Chilton manuals for auto repairs. However, now there's YouTube and I have found especially with a Jeep Wrangler the info you can get of seeing someone actually do the work is 100 times more valuable than a Haines Manual.

Here's a couple YouTube vids of replacing the Water pump on a 3.6L and 3.8L. It looks like everyone recommends to use anti-seize on the bolts when replacing the water pump to help prevent future occurrences of bolts seizing. I'ld suggest to check out these videos to give you some further insight as well as get some replacement water pump bolts. I'm actually surprised that the new water pump didn't come with new bolts since it has to be a similar situation as replacing an EGR valve like I mentioned.

3.6L water pump replacement

3.8L water pump replacement

Rednroll

Just to provide a further suggestion....this is what my Haines Repair manual looks like today. It's my Browser bookmarks which is a collection of forum post write-ups and YouTube videos but organized into folders which look similar to a Haines Manual Table of contents.

resharp001

This is a little off topic, but kinda along the same lines as stripping threads. Has anyone used one of these Uniburr bits, or something similar? They look pretty handy. Been wondering if that would be a useful tool to have around. Usually when I end up with some stripped threads, they're right there at the end.

UNIBURR | Deburring Tool, Saving you time and money

Rednroll

Have never used that but have used a tap & die set to run the bolts through to help un-booger them up.

resharp001

Y, that is what I usually do too. Have some lang thread files too. I just keep seeing this gizmo advertised on youtube vids I'm watching, and every time I think it looks interesting, but not sure how handy it would or would not be to have.

icrashbikes

Funny, the last time I did a water pump I broke a bolt..

Mark Doiron

That's an interesting looking tool. I have a Craftsman rethreading kit that I use to repair damage threads. However, I can see where sometimes I'm trying to insert a bolt and it just won't go in the hole. Being able to taper the tip slightly to help get it lined up might do the trick (if you've never looked closely at your body bolts, that's how they come from the factory). Other than that, I think I'll stick with the rethreading kit.

https://www.sears.com/craftsman-40-p...AaAuGKEALw_wcB

Mark Doiron

Many years ago I had a bolt break on my Tenth Anniversary Trans Am (yes, I still have it). It went into the head, and broke flush with the surface. I tried to drill a hole to use an easy-out, but my drill bit barely scratched it. Mentioned that to my dad (I was living in Biloxi, MS, he's in San Diego). My dad is a (now retired) welder. If you ever are flying and notice that when the airplane lands they run up the engines, but the craft slows down, that's because of the thrust reverser. My dad (at two engineer's behest) built the very first one, a model used to convince Boeing to hire Rohr Corporation (where my dad and the engineers worked) to build the engine nacelles for the newly minted Boeing 707 back in the 1950s. Anyway, my dad LOL'd and said, "I'll send you something." He sent me a diamond-tipped drill bit. Went right through that hardened bolt like it was butter. Somewhere in all my military moves and over the decades, that bit has been lost. I now have a set of carbide bits, but wish I had that diamond-tipped one. Anyway, apologies for wandering off subject.