changed water pump yesterday :(

That seems to be common. On the old motor in my 90, I broke off the farthest to the driver side bolt too. I just put it back together with no leaks.

Even those same 2 outside bolts on my 351W look like rusted ass, and they've only been in for about 5-6 yrs.

Here’s the parts list for the broken water pump bolts. Not cheap, but it will get you fixed and back on the road…

A word about the links, if they don’t work, do a search on the part number (P/N). MSC updates their catalog regularly, and the pages may change, but the part numbers don’t. You will need the Adobe Acrobat viewer which is also a free download – http://www.adobe.com/products/acrobat/readstep2.html


http://www1.mscdirect.com/CGI/NNPDFF?PMPAGE=1096 Use drill bushing 5/16” OD, 5/32” ID, ¾” long, P/N 07010457, price $8.57 This centers the drill bit in the housing bolt hole so you don’t get off center and damage the water pump, timing cover housing or engine block


http://www1.mscdirect.com/CGI/NNPDFF?PMPAGE=27 drill bits - use 5/32” Cobalt/TiN coated bit. P/N 78530433, price $3.91

http://www1.mscdirect.com/CGI/NNPDFF?PMPAGE=1928 Screw/bolt extractors. Use EZY-OUT Screw Extractor P/N 63760037 Price $2.67


One step specialty item: See Drill-Out® Broken Bolt Extractors drill bushing, reverse twist drill & extractor all in one unit. Best to use when the bolt breaks off with the remaining part below the start of the threads. .P/N 05027164. Price $18.33 each. You MUST have a reversing drill motor (either air or electric) to use this bit. http://www1.mscdirect.com/CGI/NNPDFF?PMPAGE=19268

A long shank tap should be used to chase the leftover metal out of the original threads. Also recommended to clean the corrosion and dirt out of the threads before you reassemble everything. Cleaning the threads will help prevent the bolts from seizing next time (yes, there will be a next time).

Long shank 5/16” taps

http://www1.mscdirect.com/CGI/NNPDFF?PMPAGE=279 5/16” pulley tap, 6” shank P/N 04801189 price $14.26

OR second choice, will not clean all the bottom threads unless you grind the end of the tap.

http://www1.mscdirect.com/CGI/NNPDFF?PMPAGE=2798 extension tap, 6” reduced diameter shank P/N 04701181 $16.17

See http://totallystainless.net/totally.html for the bolts. Last time I checked, they didn't have the studs. Nice folks, very into cars of all types. They have all kinds of stainless fasteners for almost every car. The prices are very reasonable, less the $8 for the water pump kit without the studs.

The studs are a Motormite item available at your local Advance Discount auto Parts store.

Motormite Water Pump Stud Kits for Ford, Lincoln and Mercury cars and trucks w/3.8L, 4.6L, 5.0L, 5.8L.



Part Number: 23744

1.) Remove the water pump, fan, fan shroud & radiator – you’ll need lots of room to get the drill positioned straight.
2.) Test fit the drill bushing in the timing cover housing – this assumes that the bolt broke off below the surface of the housing. If it is too loose, use some scotch tape wrapped around it to make a snug fit. The drill bushing helps center the drill bit up on the broken bolt so that it does not get off into the timing cover or engine block. If the bushing does not fit at least 3/8” into the timing cover, you may want to consider removing the timing cover and attacking the remnant of the bolt shank with a propane torch and Visegrips. If not, then find a drill bit big enough to drill off some of the remnant of the bolt shank until you can get the drill bushing in the required 3/8” or deeper into the timing cover housing. You will end up using the timing cover housing to center the large drill bit on the broken bolt shank. This is not the best plan, since the aluminum timing cover is soft and it would be easy to get the bit off center and damage the timing cover.
3.) Once you have the drill bushing in place, chuck up the drill bit and drill the broken bolt. Use lots of WD40 to cool the drill bit. If you break the drill bit off in the bolt, it is time for a tow trip the automotive machine shop. Drill bits and easy outs are extremely hard and cannot be removed by ordinary means. It takes a solid carbide bit and extreme care to remove a broken drill bit or broken easy out.
4.) When you have drilled about ½” into the broken bolt, then remove the drill bushing and use a hammer to tap the easy out into place. Then chuck up the easy out in a T handle tap wrench. Turn the tap wrench slowly counter clockwise and you will feel it dig into the broken bolt. If it starts to slip, tap on the tap wrench with the hammer to reseat the easy out into the bolt.
5.) Keep turning and one of three things will happen:
a.) The bolt will come out and your efforts will be rewarded.
b.) Or the easy out will continue to slip and more efforts will not make it grip. This means you get to remove the timing cover and attack the bolt remnant head on. That means you get to drill the bolt out to a thin shell & either re-tap the hole or install a helicoil threaded insert.
c.) Or worst of all, the easy out will break off it the bolt shank. The it is tow time to the automotive machine shop and pain in the wallet.

place a nut ove the broken bolt and weld it....fill the whole center of the nut with weld. let it cool and give it a wiggle back and forth and it should come right out....if the bolt broke a little further in than flush build the broken bolt flush with a few zaps with the mig than do the above. I do this all the time at work and it always seems to work...me and my boss are always doing this for the other guys aswell cause they are afraid to try something new I guess