Disco 1 Helicoils

Hi, got a new MY98 Discovery 1 300tdi registered 1999 on a T plate.
Nice car but some monkey has been on it before me. Overtightening bolts.
Two water pump bolts female thread stripped.
1 Fan pulley bolt missing due to thread stripped.
Tensioner bolt stripped.
Exhaust manifold. 1 thread stripped in the cylinder head.
Waterpump and tensioner fixed.
Has anyone successfully helicoiled piston 4 exhaust manifold. The lower one nearest the bulkhead.
Just wondering if there is enough room to get a drill and tap in there?
I'm pretty sure a torque wrench don't cost much these days. Probably used a ½ inch drive ratchet on a 10mm socket.... ****s

currymunster said:

Hi, got a new MY98 Discovery 1 300tdi registered 1999 on a T plate.
Nice car but some monkey has been on it before me. Overtightening bolts.
Two water pump bolts female thread stripped.
1 Fan pulley bolt missing due to thread stripped.
Tensioner bolt stripped.
Exhaust manifold. 1 thread stripped in the cylinder head.
Waterpump and tensioner fixed.
Has anyone successfully helicoiled piston 4 exhaust manifold. The lower one nearest the bulkhead.
Just wondering if there is enough room to get a drill and tap in there?
I'm pretty sure a torque wrench don't cost much these days. Probably used a ½ inch drive ratchet on a 10mm socket.... ****s

Click to expand...

Cheap helicoil kits on ebay under 30 quid with all sized included.

You used to be able to buy drill bits with a hex shank, which in your case could be driven by a ratchet spanner, but as 300 head easy to remove I would take the head off to make sure its a good job.
I have a selection of drills that I have cut down/resharpened for difficult access areas.

currymunster said:

Hi, got a new MY98 Discovery 1 300tdi registered 1999 on a T plate.
Nice car but some monkey has been on it before me. Overtightening bolts.
Two water pump bolts female thread stripped.
1 Fan pulley bolt missing due to thread stripped.
Tensioner bolt stripped.
Exhaust manifold. 1 thread stripped in the cylinder head.
Waterpump and tensioner fixed.
Has anyone successfully helicoiled piston 4 exhaust manifold. The lower one nearest the bulkhead.
Just wondering if there is enough room to get a drill and tap in there?
I'm pretty sure a torque wrench don't cost much these days. Probably used a ½ inch drive ratchet on a 10mm socket.... ****s

Click to expand...

Think its pretty tight where the lower one is one of these might be an option....

You can also get a 90 degree chuck adaptor for your regular drill for not much coin.

kevstar said:

Think its pretty tight where the lower one is one of these might be an option....

Click to expand...

Don't tell us, you're on commission!!!

Cheers guys, I've got the helicoil kit already, I'm not keen taking the head off as I've only just done it this weekend with a victor reinz multilayer.
When I took it off I just thought it was loose. It wasn't till I reassembled that I realised it was already stripped. Too late by then......
I've worked on these engines so much and never stripped a thread. I can't believe I've found so many.
The two water pump threads were repaired by a local garage as my Amazon order wouldn't have been here in time
They used time sert which looked a lot better than helicoil. When I saw the price of time sert though....wow.
I've seen the angled chuck at Screwfix. I'll look into that.....
P gasket and head gasket done.
Phew

I have had helicoils spin inside an ally head.
Don't trust them, if there's enough meat I always go a size or two bigger and tap a new thread. Then make a bigger hole in th thing that is being bolted to it.
Each to their own and all that!
Stan

Stanleysteamer said:

Don't tell us, you're on commission!!!

Click to expand...

I try my best

kevstar said:

I try my best

Click to expand...

Wot's your take on helicoils?
Points out of 10?

Stanleysteamer said:

Wot's your take on helicoils?
Points out of 10?

Click to expand...

They can be tricky in ally, all good if you can do them right personally id re-tap a bigger thread
& use a wider stud n drill the manifold if need be.

kevstar said:

They can be tricky in ally, all good if you can do them right personally id re-tap a bigger thread
& use a wider stud n drill the manifold if need be.

Click to expand...

Same as me then! Tis exactly what I did with the exhaust manifold on my D2.
A garage used helicoils on my Dolly Sprint head. Didn't last 5 minutes.

Stanleysteamer said:

Same as me then! Tis exactly what I did with the exhaust manifold on my D2.
A garage used helicoils on my Dolly Sprint head. Didn't last 5 minutes.

Click to expand...

Done it since I was a lad if your re-tapping a thread, why not just use a stud or bolt in it.

kevstar said:

Done it since I was a lad if your re-tapping a thread, why not just use a stud or bolt in it.

Click to expand...

Quite!
and if the female thread is fecked, drill it out and tap a new thread.
All that matters is having enough meat around the hole and no risk of cutting into a water or oilway!!

Stanleysteamer said:

Quite!
and if the female thread is fecked, drill it out and tap a new thread.
All that matters is having enough meat around the hole and no risk of cutting into a water or oilway!!

Click to expand...

Meat & hole in the one sentence just as well this aint AG

kevstar said:

Meat & hole in the one sentence just as well this aint AG

Click to expand...

Durdy bugre!!

Stanleysteamer said:

Durdy bugre!!

Click to expand...

Why thank you sir

currymunster said:

Hi, got a new MY98 Discovery 1 300tdi registered 1999 on a T plate.
Nice car but some monkey has been on it before me. Overtightening bolts.
Two water pump bolts female thread stripped.
1 Fan pulley bolt missing due to thread stripped.
Tensioner bolt stripped.
Exhaust manifold. 1 thread stripped in the cylinder head.
Waterpump and tensioner fixed.
Has anyone successfully helicoiled piston 4 exhaust manifold. The lower one nearest the bulkhead.
Just wondering if there is enough room to get a drill and tap in there?
I'm pretty sure a torque wrench don't cost much these days. Probably used a ½ inch drive ratchet on a 10mm socket.... ****s

Click to expand...

just did the HG on my 300tdi and a PO had used a bolt where a stud should have been and it stripped when I did the bolt up (only then did I realise it should be a stud).

i fixed it by making a new stud out of a bolt, I made sure it had a longer thread than standard so it could engage with what was left of the thread deeper in the head, i used a tap to clean out the thread in the head first obviously. I did not do the nut up on this stud as tight as the others to give it max chance of holding, no leaks so far.

maybe there is enough thread left in your head for you to try this?

KiwiTDI said:

just did the HG on my 300tdi and a PO had used a bolt where a stud should have been and it stripped when I did the bolt up (only then did I realise it should be a stud).

i fixed it by making a new stud out of a bolt, I made sure it had a longer thread than standard so it could engage with what was left of the thread deeper in the head, i used a tap to clean out the thread in the head first obviously. I did not do the nut up on this stud as tight as the others to give it max chance of holding, no leaks so far.

maybe there is enough thread left in your head for you to try this?

Click to expand...

Hate to say this, but on a head stud that is a bit of a bodge, hope it holds.

For really tight places to drill I use a pancake drill,
They are readily available on eBay and used in aviation a lot,

https://www.browntool.com/Listview/tabid/344/ProductID/201/Default.aspx

Europa486 said:

For really tight places to drill I use a pancake drill,
They are readily available on eBay and used in aviation a lot,

https://www.browntool.com/Listview/tabid/344/ProductID/201/Default.aspx

Click to expand...

Like this, never seen one before.
Just a shame you need threaded drill bits which I also have never seen before.
But still very useful!
thanks for enlightening me!