Sheared right side engine mount bolts

[prabjohns]

I discovered the right side engine mounting bolts that conect to the engine have shear off flush in the block. No idea when it happened. It could have been just before I noticed the exhaust was sitting on the bottom of it's exit hole from the body work.

(I was 20 miles from home and drove home and drove home ok).

It could have even been like it since I bought the car two years ago.

Anyway, here's what they look like,

and

https://files.me.com/paulrabjohns/gl75i1

I was thinking I need to remove the exhaust from the engine, then remove the engine mount from the frame, buy a 90 degree drill chuck and some kind of easy-out to try and get the bolts out of the engine.
Here's a few questions,
this will be by far the trickiest thing I've had to do yet.
Will I need to get a new gasket for the exhaust? if so anyone know where from. My engine is a zetec zx1.

Also anyone know what bolts I need to replace the sheared off bolts?

Can I jack the engine up to line it up against the engine mount to put the new bolts in?
Can the sump take the weight or should I jack somewhere else?

Any tricks, tips or advice gratefully recieved.

-Paul

[Doug Liedblad]

Paul

I don't believe they were sheared off when you bought it as I'm 90% sure I checked them the first time you bought the car over.

If all the bolts where sheared off you might have noticed some side to side movement of the engine and maybe seen this when you were on the dyno.

I'd try to get them out with a left hand drill first. See my PM to you.

Doug

[prabjohns]

I've been searching the web for a zetec zx1 exhaust manifold gasket.
I'm presuming I'll have to replace it if I take the exhaust manifold off. Is that necessary?
The only ones I could find were for a Zetec 'E'. they were UK sites.
Burton Power and http://www.ldsengineering.co.uk.
What is a Zetec 'E'? is it the same?
Thanks,
Paul

[soareyes]

Paul, I once had my exhaust off and there was no gasket, just some high-temp sealant. I got some at Pep Boys and it seemed to work fine when I reinstalled. This was a ZX3. Does yours definitely have a gasket now?
Stan

[prabjohns]

Hey Stan,
Thanks, good to know. Just got home with a bunch of new tools and will attempt to fix this tomorrow

[slomove]

Paul, I once had my exhaust off and there was no gasket, just some high-temp sealant. I got some at Pep Boys and it seemed to work fine when I reinstalled. This was a ZX3. Does yours definitely have a gasket now?
Stan

That is how Woody reconnected the exhaust after he removed the engine of my car. However, he had the flanges ground flush and used the copper high temp sealant.

I took the engine out a few times since and it is not bad: use a mild abrasive nylon brush disc on the drill to remove old sealant from head and header flanges and put a thin layer of new sealant on when reinstalling. Just don't overdo it to avoid blobs of sealant in the exhaust. But maybe they would burn off, anyway.

[Doug Liedblad]

Try one from any Ford Zetec from the Contour to the Focus.

Unless the ZX1 is a lot different I think it will work. I have a spare I can send you to test too.

Doug

[Clark]

Zetec Engine Mounts

From the photos, it appears you have the old style engine mounts made of round steel tubing. Mine broke fairly early in my car's life, and Caterham U.S.A. provided a much stouter right-side mount made of square or rectangular tubing. No problems since then.

[prabjohns]

Hi Clark,
Yes, I just managed to pull off the exhaust manifolds, (the four pipes) and then got the engine mount out this evening. It is indeed made of round tubing. The mount itself seems to be in good condition on cursory inspection.
I don't know what I was thinking typing that it was the right side, it's the left side engine mount bolts that snapped off, sorry.
Hopefully tomorrow I'll have a crack at getting the sheared bolts out of the block. (fingers crossed).

Turns out there is no manifold gasket on my Birkin BTW. Just some orange looking powder between the pipes and the engine, maybe remnants of some old sealer?
Thanks,
Paul

[soareyes]

Turns out there is no manifold gasket on my Birkin BTW. Just some orange looking powder between the pipes and the engine, maybe remnants of some old sealer?
Thanks,
Paul

Yes, most likely. Follow Gert's advice to clean it all off, then use the copper high-temp sealant to reinstall.

[prabjohns]

After much faffing about today some progress has occurred.
Nose cone off, sump guard off.
Right angle drill chuck attached, left handed small drill bit on.
Front of car on jack stands, Gauntanamo Bay stress position adopted...
Let the drilling begin!
Three hours later several conclusions to be drawn from the 2mm deep pilot hole.
One, my back hurts.
Two, this is some damn strong steel these bolts are made of!
Three, I need a better drill, one that doesn't run on batteries.
Four, (after looking on the web) I need some cutting fluid and some carbide bits.
Any tips on drilling grade 8 steel bolts gratefully received.
As Doug suspected the bolts are 10mm, got replacements from OSH.
thanks,
Paul

[Doug Liedblad]

I've been sick for 4 days so I have an excuse for not remembering these sooner.

http://www.sears.com/shc/s/p_10153_12605_00952158000P?blockNo=2&blockType=G2&prdNo=2&i_cntr=1315721330466

Not cheap but if they work it will be the better way.

They have other types of extractors too and you may not need all these sizes.

Buy a 3/8" electric drill motor too, variable speed best. One you can use the
90آ؛ adaptor on. Or they make dedicated angle drills too.

I'd suggest an air drill if you have access to a compressor but they may turn too fast for the extractors.

Doug

[Clark]

Right-side / Left-side Engine Mounts

Hi Paul,

I too was twisted around when sending my last post about your engine mounts. I was thinking left side, but writing right. About ten years ago on my Zetec powered car, I noticed some rumbling and rattling one day while driving up and down Hwy. 18 in the San Bernardino mountains. I got home and found my header pipes resting on the bodywork and thought something had just slipped. Upon digging in (taking things one-step-at-a-time), I found the entire engine would move up and down when I pushed on the headers. Like you, I supported the engine and removed the headers. That's when I found the cracked and broken engine mount. Since my car was still fairly new (less than 10,000 miles) I called Cody at Caterham U.S.A. He told me they had encountered the left-side broken mounts, but so far only on race cars and not on road cars. Their fix was the rectangular tubing mount that includes a plate that bolts to the engine block. Cody sent me one to try. This mount is very solid. Because of fitment requirements on my chassis, I had to add an additional spacer plate between the mounting plate and block. Please call Ben or Jon at Caterham U.S.A. for their recommendation about getting one for your car. In your case, I have a feeling that flexing in the old tubular mount probably caused the mounting bolts to partially loosen and shear.

Best of luck for getting the stuck bolts extracted. Something similar happened on my BMW race car (almost a half-century ago!), and I eventually had to remove the engine and seek help at a machine shop.

Best wishes,

[Doug Liedblad]

Clark

Paul's car is a Birkin, I don't know if the motor mounts are interchangable.

Doug

[prabjohns]

Ha! Haa!
The bolts are OUT!
10 drill bits, two right angle drill attachments, three bolt extractor kits and one drill later!
Hopefully that doesn't turn out to have been the easy part of getting the engine mount re attached!