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#1
Stuck connecting rod bolts
SE Level Member
11-20-2022
New to the forum, figured I'd post here and see if anyone had ideas/dealt with this before.
04 GTP, has had a slow oil leak for a long time, keep oil in it, no big deal. Kid has been driving it and not checking the fluids and wrecked a rod bearing. I can not get either bolt loose from the rod cap. Have tried a breaker bar, then an impact, impact started to round them off, used a bolt extractor socket and the extractor immediately rounded off, I've stopped fighting it at this point before I do any more damage, these things are TIGHT. Afraid the next step is drilling them out, or maybe grind them down to a smaller size but i dont really want to grind up in there. Either way ive already ordered new bolts, just not 100% sure of the best way of getting them out. The bolts on the other 5 rods broke free without any fuss (might as well replace all the bearings after going through the hell of getting to them), just this one that actually has (noticeable)bearing damage will not budge. Afraid maybe the kid driving it with it banging around maybe impacted the threads? I've replaced bearings in several different kinds of cars, a couple REALLY bad and never ran into this. Any ideas would be appreciated
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#2
Re: Stuck connecting rod bolts
GTX Level Member
11-21-2022
So the engine was run without oil, or low oil causing internal damage? The least expensive, and most reliable route to remedy this would be to change the engine with a known good used engine in proper working
condition, or a good used short block and install the supercharger specific heads and components onto it.
And for the rod bolt that wont come out, I would say that the rod bolt is probably bent, thats why it cant be turned/loosened. This would negate any continued use of the connecting rod without resizing, and new bolts.
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#3
Re: Stuck connecting rod bolts
11-23-2022
Time to find a JY engine and move on. You cannot just swap rod/main bearings in a 3800. Just save yourself the $$$ and find either a complete engine or a longblock and do NOT touch the bottom end at all. These aren't you're typical 350's that you can just throw bearing into and have it live another 100K.
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#4
Re: Stuck connecting rod bolts
SE Level Member
03-22-2024