Sometinaintright

Ok, so the starter sounded like crap. This is what I found. I figured the starter needed some shims well it needs a lot more help as you can see. This is what I found when removing starter. The bolts were loose, I torqued them to 35 ft lbs and there stripped. bolt threads were tore up pretty good. I chased the threads on the block but the bolts are severely wobbly. I had one new bolt put it in a torqued it. it smooched the threads. I dont think new bolts are going to solve this.
I believe those are helicoils? never done one before. I watched a bunch of videos installing different thread types. All seem to be more of a surface threads (when installing you set the helicoil just a smidge past the surface). These are set inboard. I understand why because the knurled part is supposed to go into block.

How would you approach this? first clean it up right... ok... can or how can I remove the helicoil's to replace if it is? would you drill it out and put surface helicoils and get bolts that don't countersink the shaft? (note: the back starter bolt bracket is there). Any advice would be greatly appreciated.
update.. cleaning it up. dont have a nice brush to get in there on hand but I can clearly see the wire ends of the helicoils.

Next question? If I get the helicoils out and want to replace them. Will any brand work or do they have special taps they use so I would have to find the correct thread to use the tapped holes? now Im thinking what if the threads the helicoil is threaded into are stripped and this is causing an an additional issue?
if I cant grab the end of the helicoil and wind it out couterclockwise will a broken bolt extractor work?

Gumby22

Wow… talk about a DIY’er who didn’t know how to DI…

I would use a time-sert rather than attempting to install new helicoils. Time-sert is similar to helicoil but it’s a threaded solid barrel. Both are installed in a similar manner.

Here’s a link to an M10 kit, but you may need to get a different size depending on how much larger you need to drill the holes. You’d be OK using a 3/8” bolt instead of an M10 if you had to.



A second option is to drill & tap the holes for a larger bolt, set the bolt with red thread locker and cut it off flush with the block, then drill and tap the bolt for the correct size bolt. The drawback to that is it will have to be done in the truck which obviously makes it more difficult and time consuming.

Whatever you do, make sure the drill bit and tap are SHARP. Even slightly dulled bits/taps make thread repair much more difficult and this is something where quality tools pay for themselves with one job.

When drilling, use low speed (even if it’s a “high speed” drill bit), steady pressure, and don’t try to force it or the bit may break off and that’s a whole other problem. About once per minute, spray lube or cutting oil on the bit to keep it cool.

When cutting threads, use plenty of oil, only cut about 1/2 a turn before backing it out and clearing debris with compressed air.

Obviously this is a job that requires patience, so take breaks if you need them.

Don’t forget safety glasses and/or gloves.

Sometinaintright

Thank you for the reply, I am currently going to go down the path of trying to replace the helicoils, if that does not work I will try the time-sert, Omg, now you got me thinking maybe i just helped f this up. When i used the 3/8-16 re-tapped really easy- as in this is a falure attempt. I had looked up bolts on rock auto (2000 express 5.7) and just assumed it was 3/8-16. fyi-brand new 10mm is .384 dia and a 3/8 is .369 dia. (just measured) so just maybe with some new metric bolts and chase the threads in metric this might hold... doublt it...I ordered a complete set of helicoils metric and standard so should have that covered.

Just measured the original bolt towards the base of threads not f-ed up. they measure .367 dia on avg... wehhhhh.. it was not me. The van had a new starter. damm the mystery of this. maybe that dude put in 3/8 bolts. now i gotta try the metric route.

The guy was kind of a good hack cuz that fix is mig welded long time ago and has not cracked off. dont hold a bolt for sh?t though. lol

Omg I cant fing win... so I grabbed a new metric no 10 put it in first hole. ran right in no problem ( its solid no wobble).. thinking oh i got this. went to second hole ran the same bolt in a bit harder came out threads smooshed. well i will just clean the threads up with metric 10 tap to clean it up. thread shavings coming out ok. now the tap is stuck.....dammmmmmmmm. im going to try blowing some air in there to see if i can dislodge the shavings. unbelievable. so someone else used 3/8 bolts previously. ***-hat.

Got it out... Put a 10mm bolt right in. fits snug I have broken off taps before I was a panic for sure. Anyway the air trick worked.

Patience...

Thanks for your inadvertent help.

Will keep posting if i have to re-helicoil.

I can't believe it. using the right bolt makes all the difference in the world. Lol got some new 10mmx1.5x113 and its snug as a bug again.

Gumby22

Glad you got it fixed. Hopefully it holds over time.