suggestions? broken cam shaft bolt
 

So, my experience with torque wrenches lately on the rover haven't been good. I just bought a fancy digital craftsmen torque wrench because I didn't trust my old one as I broke a bolt off with it. Well, I set the new torque wrench to 50Nm for the cam shaft bolt per the RAVE and ended up breaking the head off the bolt and now the bolt is stuck in the cam shaft which obviously won't allow me to secure my new timing belt and gears. Suggestions? Last night I used my dremel to flatten the bolt face and started a pilot hole for a bolt extractor and I'm thinking tonight I will enlarge the hole and try to drill through the bolt and extract it with an easy-out. Anyone had a similar experience and have advice?

I'd be surprised if the remaining portion of the bolt is tough to remove with the head off. An easy-out should actually work in this situation. You may want to hit the face with a drift to try to release any residual stress before you get after it with the easy-out. Good luck!

I hate to ask a stupid question but... hit the face of the broken bolt? with a drift... not sure what a drift is.

A drift is like a center punch. If you used one to center your drill bit you have already done this only maybe not very hard. When you tightened the bolt, it was pulled against the side of the threads closer to the end of the cam. If you hit it, any binding of the threads against that face may be relieved. At 50 Nm, there isn't much force in the system anyway so you're probably ok with just the center punch.

Thanks for clearing that up!

Good news! I tapped the broken bolt with my center punch and started drilling it out with a 1/8 in drill bit. About 1/4 inch in, I noticed movement. The bolt was loose and came out easily. I went to the hardware store and bought a new 10M x 30mm grade 8 bolt and I'm up and running.

Question, with the water pump and timing cover gasket, it was suggested by the car parts store guy to use aviation form-a-gasket. Has anyone used this before. The guy said to paint the pump and cover with it, place the gasket and then paint the gasket with it also before placing both pump and timing cover... whaddya think?

I'm concerned about breaking that new cam shaft bolt again even with my new digital torque wrench... any thoughts to just tightening it as tight as I can with a long handled half inch ratchet and using blue loctite on the threads?

The RAVE states: Apply smear of Retinax LX grease to oil seal running surface on crankshaft.

What are all of you using? Retinax LX grease is impossible to find at a auto parts store. Lastly, I've searched the forum and haven't found what is suggested to use to press the new front crankshaft seal into the timing cover. Light taps all around with a rubber mallet/hammer maybe?

Don't use the torque wrench. Use just common sense with these bolts now.
You could snap or strip the new bolt.
I would back off by 10 lbs the torque.

You could thread lock it too - and figure that this is the last time that the bolt comes out.

Most people don't repeatedly tear engines down again.

Thanks jfall,

I replaced the oil pump gears and screwed down the cover but now the gears won't turn full revolutions. The only way I can get 'em to spin is by loosening the screws. With the gear plate/cover fully tightened down, I can manually turn the gears only 20-30 degrees. Will this loosen up by itself if I have the screws fully tightened or should I loctite the screws and then partially tighten them down?