Water T Junction

[adrians]

Hi,

Could someone help ! ! Please

I was 'burpping' the cooling system yesterday, after fixing the heater, when I reinserted the brass screw back into the top hole of the T junction it spun all the way around.

It looks like I've managed to mangle the thread in the T junction, is this a common problem ? The brass screw/bolt won't seal now !

Can I simply tap another screw ( larger diameter ) into the hole ?

Thanks

[So Cal Mark]

if there is enough material around the hole you could tap it to a larger size. It might be best to use a repair sleeve, like a helicoil or timesert.

[adrians]

Thanks Mark.

I'll go source some !
Adrian

[lanciahf]

Adrian,

I had one once that was tapped to 14mm 1.5, oem is 12mm 1.5.

Ralph

[rlux4]

Funny you should ask "is this a common problem". I was over to Ventura Ace's house today to pick up some parts and we ended up changing my timing belt and tensioner bearing. When we were putting it all back together and got to those bolts he made sure I didn't tighten them too much. His comment was it's real common to strip the alluminum threads. Small world Adrian. Too bad Alvon wasn't there to help you, but I had him occupied.
Ron

[launieg]

Ron, did you change the bearing for any particular reason or just as maintenance when changing the belt? Why not the tensioner spring? Planning to change the timing belt real soon, and want to do it right.

And yes, we are having a poor spring, for a part of Canada that normally is great by now.

[So Cal Mark]

I've never seen a bad tensioner spring, but lots of bad bearings

[ventura ace]

"Ron, did you change the bearing for any particular reason . . ."

We were trying to chase down the source of a whirring noise in Ron's engine. The stethoscope test had me thinking it was the tensioner bearing, so we took the bearing out for a closer inspection. It spun fairly smoothly, but it did have just a hint of a dragging sound, so we decided to replace it with a spare new one that I had. We attempted to remove the old bearing from the pivot bracket, and it completely fell apart! The bearings were totally dry! We put the new bearing in place, buttoned everything back up, but alas, the whirring noise was still there. Since Ron wasn't sure about the age of the belt (it was on the car when he got it), and the belt teeth appeared to be rounded off, we thought the belt may be the source of the noise. I just happened to have a spare 2L timing belt, so we put it in place of the old one.

Wouldn't you know the whirring noise is still there!! We don't think it's coming from the water pump or alternator, and that would be easy to test (remove the V-belt). I'm wondering if the whirring noise is typical for the plastic auxilliary shaft pulley??? Has anybody attributed engine whirring noises to one of these plastic pulleys?

Ron plans to pull the V belt off tomorrow to rule out anything associated with those parts. I suppose it could be the V-belt itself. It's the type that has scallops on the inside -- maybe the scallops generate a whirring noise.

Oh, back to the screws -- sorry about the long detour -- the originals are 6mm diameter (10mm wrench for the head of the screw). 12mm and 14mm are quite large -- I'm guessing that Ralph was referring to the wrench size rather than the screw diameter. I've seen the 6mm screw threads stripped out of the aluminum neck, mainly due to using a screw that was too short and didn't have enough threads engaged. I fixed the problem once by just putting in a longer screw. I believe the threads may go all the way through the flange, so you can put a much longer screw in place. You might try that before opening up the diameter.

Alvon

[adrians]

Alvon,

Thanks for the advice, I'll try a long screw first, - making sure it doesn't touch the temperature sensor (for the FI) - Does the new screw have to be brass, can it be stainless steel ?

Regards

[lanciahf]

Hi Guys,

I was referring to the brass bleeder screw size.

[mdrburchette]

Alvon, did you read where Marc Sova was having the same problem with that noise after changing the timing belt? I think it eventually went away after a few miles. I know you don't have that belt too tight so it may be that $800 tensioner.

[ventura ace]

Sorry, Ralph and Adrian. I guess I didn't read your original post close enough. I'm not familiar with the burping screw that you describe. You're right -- Ron and I were talking about different screws that hold the 'T' to the neck.

[rlux4]

Alvon, did you read where Marc Sova was having the same problem with that noise after changing the timing belt? I think it eventually went away after a few miles. I know you don't have that belt too tight so it may be that $800 tensioner.

$800 tensioner!?! You know, I think I'm beginning to like the whirring sound. Kinda like a jet engine warming up.
Ron