Rcrivolio

I'm in a bind here, I broke the two lower bolts of the power steering box on my 98 sport. Would it be a crazy idea to drill them out and replace with new bolts and nuts?

Grip

Use the box as a core at autozone towards a rebuilt box with a lifetime warranty for $130

Rcrivolio

I don't really have the scratch for that. I know that when I go to replace the box, I'll also have to replace the lines as they look about as rusted in as the bolts were. Theres nothing wrong with mine now, no leaks or other signs of issues, just two half stuck bolts!

Grip

Both lines are less than $30 for the pair.

Good luck getting the broken bolts out.

Rcrivolio

I guess I'll just try and drill them out and put new bolts and nuts in. If I can't drill then I'll have no choice to do a replacement. If I can get away with a $20 repair instead of a $160 repair thats what I'm going to try at least.

I guess my main concern was if anyone could see any major issues with this plan.

ehall

You should be able to turn the threads out the back, thats what I did

GreenManXJ

I would try ehall's suggestion. IIRC there should be enough bolt sticking out the back to get a pair of vice grips on. I would do that with a generous amount of heat on the flange around the bolt if safely possible. Good luck!

Rcrivolio

I tried heating and twisting it out all afternoon. I'll give it another shot in the morning. If that fails I'll try drilling. If that turns out ****ty I'll just have to replace it.

skife

what are you heating with?

the box itself needs to be hot, not the bolt.

really hot.

ehall

Worst case drill the center of the bolt and use a screw extractor / ez-out / left-hand drill bit to back it out

almido

Don't cut off your nose to spite your face.

I just got a Delco rebuilt box for $149. at a parts store near me. The core was $100.00 on this box. (has Delco phone tech-line service with it)

Be careful you don't destroy the box you'll need as a core. That would almost double the cost.

BTW, when I have enough bolt sticking out I put a nut on or against it and weld the center with a MIG welder. After it cools and I've treated it long enough with PB Blaster I use a wrench to unscrew it.

In some cases where the swing room is there I've used a short piece of 1/4" or 3/8" solid rod. I've welded it across the end of the bolt (a T handle) and used that to unscrew it instead of welding through and wasting a nut.

Best of luck with it.

Danno
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2001 unmolested (so far) XJ sport 240k miles

Rcrivolio

AutoZone out by me sells them for $128 w/ core or $143 w/o core. For those price differences its worth it to me to pay my rent this month and replace the whole unit next month.

I guess what i'm saying is I went and drilled them out. The 1/8 inch or so that was sticking out couldn't be grasped well enough by anything I had and with no welder in sight to weld a nut on and a need to have to go to work at some point this week, a slightly larger hole and a bolt was the way to go. Held up fine on the way home and seems like it will be fine for the next couple weeks or so.

Thanks for your responses, I'll be better prepared for these issues in the future. You live and learn I suppose.

ehall

If you drilled out the threads, you might could still save it with a helicoil repair

Rcrivolio

Thats probably true. Although, with it being a 17 year old unit with 194k miles, probably wouldn't hurt to swap it out. I have been noticing some play in the steering wheel that I can't seem to track down. Maybe its just time?

jtm01xj

Lots of heat and alot of pb blast they will come out and just go buy new bolts I've broken alot of jeep gearbox bolts and got them all out the same way. And I used a pipe wrench just heat up around the broken bolt.