Can i tap a heli coil ? (canyon)

One of my son,s pivot bolts came loose on his canyon nerve am, we did not notice until we came back from afan ,now the thread is knackered,on the canyon download it show the thread as a m8 helicoil and i was wondering if i could buy a tap and try to re-thread it ? (no engineering back ground )you views would be appreciated .

It might be OK to re-tap it, just depends how badly damaged it is. If it’s the helicoil that’s knackered, you should be able to pull the old one out and insert a new one. Might be worth asking around any local engineering companies to see if they can help..

I’d just take it to a small engineering firm, too easy to screw up IMO.

As others said, if it’s a helicoil it will be able to be removed. Engineering firm is my best bet if you’re not really mechanically minded.

Thanks for replies off to find engineering company

you won’t be able to re-tap a helicoil as it’s basically a coil of wire (like a spring with no compression left).

Should be able to get it removed and replaced. Is the bolt okay? I would have thought the bolt would fair worse than the helicoil

It may just need cleaning up a bit though so worth running a tap through carefully as it may have bits of bolt stuck in it.

Andy the bolt is fine i can get it to go in a couple of turns then it stops

Could probably drill it O/S, tap it & make a threaded sleeve to go in to carry a thread.

takisawa2 can,t drill because the screw has to match the bearings thanks anyway

peasant – Member

Andy the bolt is fine i can get it to go in a couple of turns then it stops

It may be possible to reseat the helicoil if that is the case, I’ve done it hundreds of times, but either way you want someone with a bit of experience to do it as it is easy to butcher the threads if you’re not careful.

“bolts came loose”
“go in a couple of turns then it stops”
Sounds like what’s happened is that the bolt came loose until there were just a couple of turns left in, then it pulled the last couple of turns of helicoil out with it.

I wouldn’t try drilling it. Helicoils are very hard and you would still leave the outer part of it in the hole anyway.
Look closely down the hole. Hopefully you will see the end of the helicoil nearest you pulled away from the edge of the hole.
Get a pick or small screwdriver behind it if you have to, then grip it with long nosed pliers and pull gently as you unscrew it.
This is more or less the reverse of how they are put in, so should get it out.