Oh SNAP!!!!

K

kcam67

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Guys, I just made a boneheaded move yesterday while changing my oil. I noticed a bolt that looked like it was not torqued in all the way. So, without my better judgment, I decided to torque it, and torque, and torque until the damn bolt snapped. I lay there in disbelief and not knowing what the bolt is for. Can you guys give me some info as to what it is that I snapped? I know I gotta get this taken care of and can they even do it. Any feedback would be greatly appreciated. I attached two jpegs and highlighted the area. Thanks guys and happy Easter.

BTW-the area in question is just on inside of both front wheels, next to the oil pan.

DriverSide.jpg


PassengerSide.jpg
 
Looks like a cross member/front suspension bracket bolt. Costs $10 (retail) and a dealership would need to order it. You can likely get it on-line cheaper like here:

http://www.wholesalefordparts.com/p/Lincoln__LS/BOLT/9836132/W708091S439.html

Part #: W708091S439

The big trick/cost will be removing what was broken off.

My dealer broke this off also about a year ago when they replaced my suspension arms. I still have not replaced it. I should have the dealership who broke this do it at their cost, but I did not recognize the damage until maybe 8 months after it occurred.

Being what it is, it may be a safety thing, but I have driven a year with mine broken with no issues that I can tell.

Good luck.
 
They will have to use extractors or easy outs. I did this on my oil pan bolts when I changed it and snapped three of them even with a torque wrench. By the bolt being as big as it is, it should be fairly easy to get out. Just remember on cars there are a lot of aluminum bolts and if you over tighten them they will snap. That's why you have to know torque specs of certain bolts.
 
kcam67 said:
Guys, I just made a boneheaded move yesterday while changing my oil. I noticed a bolt that looked like it was not torqued in all the way. ...
Click to expand...

Those bolts are not supposed to be snugged up. They are supposed to be exactly they way they were before you messed with them.
 
If it ain't broke, don't mess with it.
 
Bad the same issue on my 01. Thought it was causing some front end noise so I tightnes it. I to broke the bolt. Luckily got it out and was more careful the next time.
 
Thank you

Guys, thanks a lot for all your help, especially Voyeur, for the part number. You guys are all correct, I had the specs torque for the bolt but was too damn lazy to look at it. Serves me right for being a lazy ass. BigRigLS, I always abide by that motto, "if it ain't broke, don't fix it", but in this case I didn't and it cost me. I did a test drive on it today and making sure I hit some bumps but I didn't hear anything out of the ordinary. I just need to buy some time until I can get down and dirty with this mess this weekend.

LKing, how did you get yours out? Did you have to take it to a shop or did you do it yourself?
 
No idea what year your LS is. The part # says it is for a 2005-2006 LS. I can't imagine it is different for earlier years.
 
That's a sub frame connector. It adds torsional rigidity to the frame by tying the front and rear sub frames together.
 
Wicked Ace said:
That's a sub frame connector. It adds torsional rigidity to the frame by tying the front and rear sub frames together.
Click to expand...

It's actually there to add rigidity in the event of a front end crash. Very early 2000's don't have them. They were a production-run "upgrade".
 
kcam67 said:
Guys, thanks a lot for all your help, especially Voyeur, for the part number. You guys are all correct, I had the specs torque for the bolt but was too damn lazy to look at it. Serves me right for being a lazy ass. BigRigLS, I always abide by that motto, "if it ain't broke, don't fix it", but in this case I didn't and it cost me. I did a test drive on it today and making sure I hit some bumps but I didn't hear anything out of the ordinary. I just need to buy some time until I can get down and dirty with this mess this weekend.

LKing, how did you get yours out? Did you have to take it to a shop or did you do it yourself?
Click to expand...


No worries, don't sweat the small stuff in life.
hit it with a center punch, take a drill bit to it, right smack in the center of it, drill it out, keep increasing the drill bit size until it's about the width of getting close to the threads then turn in a extractor bit and reverse the remaining out. Done a thousand times per day all over the world.
 
Went to the dealer my brother works at. Put it on the lift and used drill bit designed for these situations. Got lucky to be honest. I thought I was screwed!
 
... screwed, I get it, I get it !!!

smiley-signs025.gif
 
oh that's actually making me a little nauseous.
Thanks for sharing that ...
 
Gonna Take Care of it this weekend

Thanks again guys for your thoughts and......visuals. That picture almost made me cough up my Tubby's right on my screen. Nasty!!! I remember when Joe Theisman had that same fracture when Laurence Taylor was getting ready to put the hurt on him, he dodged the sack but payed for it....with his career.

I actually drove it to work yesterday with no issues but I will do the drilling this weekend and use the extractor to get it out. My fingers are crossed. This will be my first extraction :give

BTW - my ride is an 06 LSE
 
Last edited:
HB4 Bolt

voyeur said:
No idea what year your LS is. The part # says it is for a 2005-2006 LS. I can't imagine it is different for earlier years.
Click to expand...

Voyeur, looking at the parts callout, I believe the bolt is a HB4 and not a HB2.
Can someone concur with my observation? I too, thought it was an HB2 but it is actually a HB4. Reason I tihnk so is because of the torsion bar at the lower right hand page on the exploded view. Notice the HB4 and where it is going to.
 
Ok guys, I made an attempt yesterday to extract the broken bolt with an extractor bit. No luck because the broken stem was too tight and the extractor couldn't grip it. We ended up drilling out the stem but in the process we ended up smoothing out the treads. I'm going to have to retread the bore and use a different size bolt to replace the broken one. It wasn't easy I'll tell you that much, especially when the vehicle is not on a hoist. A hard lesson to learn. Don't mess with it if it ain't broken.
 
same thing happen to me and i resolved the problem with this
http://www.walmart.com/ip/Helicoil-5521-6-Coarse-Thread-Repair-Kit-3-8-inch-16/16487899?ci_src=14110944&ci_sku=16487899&sourceid=1500000000000003260530&adid=22222222227000000000&wl0={matchtype}&wl1={network}&wl2={ifmobile:m}&wl3=21486607510&wl4={aceid}&wl5=pla&veh=sem
 
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