Broken Header Bolt

[Guest]

Well I done did it now.

The PO left 3 broken header bolts in my 550L. I soaked the bolts in liqui wrench and then got to work with my EZ out extractor.

The extractor broke in the bolt. Does anyone have any tricks on how to remove these? Luckily, there is still some thread sticking out for me to grab on to.

IMG-1107.jpg

[Nessism]

Sorry for the trouble. And no disrespect, but there is tons of info here on how to avoid breaking those bolts and what to do when they do break. Now that you got an ez-out busted that limits your options to EDM or trying to weld something onto the nub. Good luck

[Burque73]

Maybe, just maybe you could use a dremel to carefully cut the bolt away from the easy out. This would probably leave the remaining bolt cut flush with the head though. At least you could possibly grab the easy out with vice grips and wiggle it out. Then your only option to deal with the bolt would be to drill and tap it out. To drill straight and perfectly centered then becomes the challenge, and your tap may damage some aluminum. A jig or guide of some sort to prevent the bit from going off center would help.

I managed to drill one and tap it out, weld a nut on another and unscrew it, and cut a slot in the last one and back it out. Three broken bolts and three removed in different ways. Unfortunately, the spark plug repair on that head was botched before I got it making it useless. Had I realized that to begin with I wouldn't have wasted so much time on three broken bolts.

[posplayr]

A cheap welder like this can solve a lot of problems.

It is best to practice up and get some quality wire helps.

IIRC I also cut down the welding cable to reduce friction for the "wire pusher".

https://www.harborfreight.com/90-amp-flux-welder-61849.html

[hillsy]

+1 for the welder. Place a nut over the stub and weld it to the inside of the nut.

As well as the nut giving you something to wrench on, the heat from the welding helps to free up the stuck thread.

[jboge123]

Thanks for all the advice! I will post when I get the chance to work on it again.

I've spent the past week fixing up a Cub Cadet, not quite as fun as a motorcycle :/

[Mr.humbucker]

Had the same problem, same bike (1982) last month only I broke two of them. I took a dremel, finished off the end real flat and clean, tapped the center of the stud with a regular punch to mark the center and drilled it out with an electric hand drill using a small, then medium and then near full size of the diameter of the stud keeping the drill centered as I progressed. Once I got that far I took a tap from my Harbor Freight cheapy set and worked a new set of threads into the hole. I had to continuously back the tap out and clean and oil it but it worked great. No need to weld anything if you so not have access to a welder. Just take your time, it is easier than I had thought it would be. I had an easyout stuck and broken off too ... it popped out once I started to drill. They're useless for studs I found.