How do I remove a melted plastic bypass outlet from my engine block?

Question

1995 Pontiac Transport 3.8L - the factory original water bypass outlet is plastic and broke at the engine block. I have the metal replacement, but cant get the old plastic out of the threads in the engine block. No room for extractor, tried 1/2" PVC extractor and just chewed it up. Do I just have to pick it out - plastic is rather hard.

The dealer said to use a tap and it is an odd size. One tap and die dealer quoted me $54 - still much cheaper than towing it to a dealer. Still checking and looking for options.

I know I have to flush the system fully, not sure how to do a "power flush"

Answer 1

Snap a hack saw blade and gently saw through the bit left in the block , when its ALMOST through stop sawing and find an implement to twist in the slot with a view to snapping the remaining part and the freeing the siezed plastic part.If it doesnt work i hope it gives you some more ideas .

Answer 2

You will need to be careful to minimize the plastic pieces that fall inside the opening. It sounds like picking it out is the only option at this point. Be sure to get the threads clean, and be careful not to damage the threads. After you've successfully extracted it and replaced the part, drain and power flush the coolant to get rid of any little fragments that might have gotten inside the block. Then refill.

Hope this helped.