Adrian, were you successful with the easy-outs? It looks like I can
get a drill in there if I remove the coolant pipe that crosses right
in front of the studs. I think that the driver's side of the pipe
(that goes to the thermostat housing) is only in there with an o-ring
and the other side has a flange with 2 bolts. I think I can remove it
by removing the 2 bolts and pulling it out of the housing. I s I
should replace the gasket and o-ring after removing it.

I guess the things to not do are:
1) drill into the engine block...stay straight into the bolt
2) break off the easy out (as it's hard to get/drill out)

I'm hoping that liberal soaking with penetrating oil for  a few days
and perhaps some heat will help it to come out easily. It looks and
sounds like there is enough room for a drill to get in there. I just
have to remove that cooling pipe.

Thanks for the hints...more are welcome. I'll let you all know how it
goes.

- Aaron

On Feb 7, 2006, at 5:38 PM, Adrian Bertarelli wrote:

> This happened to me and it is an easy fix.  Just takes time.  What you
> need to do is get the bracket and peripheral stuff out of the way.
> You also need to loose the engine tins on the back side of the van.
> That will allow you enough room to get a drill in there.  I was able
> to get my dewalt 18 volt in there no problem.  If you are worried
> about space go get a 90 degree drill and you will have no issue.  If
> the studs are just broken you are in great shape.    Take a nail punch
> and lightly tap an indent in the broken part of the stud.  Drill in
> thier with a small drill bit.  Then use an easy out.  This will go
> into your drilled hole and catch it and spin it out.  If it is
> stripped or isnt going to come out then you have to drill it, and tap
> it, or use a helicoil.  Either method will give you the same result.
> I think drilling and tapping is always the best because coils
> sometimes wear out.  This repair can be done no problem with the
> engine in the car and some time spent on the issue.  Don't be afraid
> and dam it drill straight and in the center of those bolts or you are
> going to cause yourself a mess.  Also you might want to figure out why
> they are broken.  Mine was due to a vibration that ended up with me
> rebuilding my drive shaft, and tranny.  I was loosing bolts and
> brackets for years before my tranny went and after i rebuilt it never
> had an issue with this type of thing ever again.  Thank god because
> although it is not a hard fix it is a bit stressful.
> Adrian
>
> On 2/7/06, Roger Sisler <rogersisler2000@yahoo.com> wrote:
>> If you remove/loosen up some perferal appendages around the engine
>> compartment,and remove the 4 bolts that hold the engine carrier to
>> the
>> frame,can you drop the engine/trans assembely a few inches to get
>> clearence
>> to use a drill? May have to take the exhaust off at the j pipe to
>> the tail
>> pipe in one section. Just wondering, as I thought of doing this to
>> replace
>> a main seal without removing the engine.Could stick in a new oil
>> pump at
>> the same time, I think.Good luck.Sorry to hear about the bracket
>> snafu.It
>> seems marginal in stregnth to begin with.
>>