Broke tip of screw extractor inside hole -- NOW WHAT???

[t3rmin]

ARgghhh. I'm having a seriously hard time today!

I finally got my tach seals and half-moon seals in the mail today and went about removing the valve cover so I could install them and the silicone Real Gasket I've been hanging on to (wanted to install them all at the same time).

So I go to pull the valve cover bolts out and two of them snapped. Then the screw holding the tach gear retainer snapped, leaving me with 2 rusted stuck screw shafts in the head and 1 in the valve cover. So off to the hardware store I go to get screw extractors.

When I get back I break the tip off an extractor in the valve cover. The extractor, of course, is super hard metal and I can't seem to drill through it. Is there a special kind of bit or something that'll cut through that thing??? Since that screw had obviously become thoroughly "one" with the valve cover I figure I might be able to just drill it out and tap the hole. But I have to be able to drill it first...

What's more, the extractors did NOT work in the head either so I've still got those stuck. And of course I also broke the tip off a punch I was pounding in one of the holes out of desperation. It's also super-hard metal. Again, these bolts have melded with the engine head so I figure I might be able to drill 'em out and tap 'em. It's just the valve cover, after all, so if I can manage some threads that'll hold enough torque to keep the gasket sealed, I'll be fine.

Please. Help. Me. I need some brilliant advice before I go insane!

[luc8421]

unless you have some carbide bits and a huge drill press that your engine will fit under, (you won't be able to keep the bit from walking off the tip of the EZ-out with a handheld drill) you're probably going to need to bring it into a shop and have them remove it. EDM if you can find a shop with the capabilities.

the other possibility is to remove the rest of the bolts and take the valve cover off over the broken screws. then use vise grips on the remaining stubs? I don't know if they're long enough to do so though.

For future reference, EZ outs aren't the god send some people might make them out to be. use them as a last desperate measure. Although very strong, they're also very brittle. and if they break, you'll realize just how hard they are.

[bradleymaynar]

Heat! Try heating it with a heat gun. Also, try tightening it first, then trying to back it out. If nothing is working, put your tools away and let it got for the night. Impatience can cause you to break more. And, not that you didn't know this, Easy-outs crank screws out as you tighten them. If they've broken, than you need to try loosen them.

Brad tt

[bwringer]

Easy-outs never seem to work. I hate those things.

And EDM machining is the only way to remove them -- they are too hard to be drilled.

As for the valve cover, you'll want to use a Dremel tool to remove the rest of the bolt heads, and then you'll have a goodly length of the bolt exposed to work with. You'll have to be extra careful with the valvetrain exposed, of course.

Gently applied heat and paraffin (get the bolt threads hot, apply candle wax) is a method that can work miracles.

[t3rmin]

Well it's a bit late now unfortunately. I had the valve cover off yesterday before I started this thread. I even had a decent amount of one bolt exposed still. But, having heard great things about screw extractors on this forum, I just tried that first and have by this time destroyed what exposed bolt I had left. (You know that tip about taking a break before you mess things up worse? Well...)

I actually had thought of the dremel grinding thing for the valve cover hole. I figure even the screw extractor can be ground on. Then tap it or helicoil it or even get a longer bolt and put a nut on it (there seems to be enough clearance for a nut and the hole goes all the way through already...).

As for the peice of punch that's stuck in the head hole, I think I might actually be able to keep driving it into the aluminum until it's not obstructing the hole. Then I can either drill it out, get longer bolts and just put a nut on the end, or try to tap or helicoil 'em. Whaddya think?

I've managed to keep the open cam area mostly free of metal shavings with a cloth draped over it. I'm hoping to pick up the few bits which have made it in there with a magnet (assuming it's not aluminum shavings).

I am in *such* a sour mood today! So far with this bike it's like one step forward, two steps back!

[Plasterdog]

Maybe we could start our own little club. I too know the power of "I can do this...now!" and it ain't good.

Good luck.

[t3rmin]

Yeah I keep thinking if only I'd used a shorter socket wrench, had more patience, and soaked those suckers in the penetrating oil BEFORE I snapped them off. Of course those valve cover bolts seem too long to be that thin and snapped real easy, almost before I knew they weren't turning right.

[Streblerm]

If you have access to a mig welder, you can try welding a nut to whatever is left of the bolt. If there's nothing sticking out, I have been successful welding a little tit on the broken end of the bolt and grabbing it or welding a nut to it.

I have done this to countless broken bolts and plugs. The welding heats everything up nicely and tends to break the corrosion. Bonus with aluminum is the welds wont stick

[t3rmin]

Nope, no welding equipment unfortunately.

Here's an update:

I drilled out one of the holes in the head after I was able to drive the broken tip of the punch out. I went just big enough to where I started seeing threads. I think there may still be enough meat left to tap threads into. The second stuck bolt in the head still had a *little* bit above ground, so I drilled a hole in the middle, put a nut on it (only like .25 turns available) and JB welded the nut to the stud (with the hope that the JB will go down the hole a bit and grip better).

The stuck screw/broken extractor in the valve cover is awaiting grinding out via Dremel (need to borrow one from a friend).

*EDIT* Dremel didn't work at all so I bought a carbide bit and that worked. I was even able to tap some decent threads into the valve cover. I drilled too big in the head, though, so I couldn't make threads; I'll just put a nut on it. Still waiting for the JB Weld to dry and crossing my fingers for the last remaining bolt. *EDIT*

So that's progress I suppose.

[Clone]

We seriously need to get a sticky up at the top of the tech section
[SIZE="6"]CAUTION EAZYOUTS DO NOT WORK, GO STRAIGHT TO A MACHINE SHOP TO SAVE COUNTLESS HOURS OF FRUSTRATION
[wHAT DO YOU THINK WOULD fRANK PUT ONE OF THOSE UP?/SIZE]

[t3rmin]

Well this is probably my first and last experience with them.

I had the reverse-spiral type, though. I've heard it said the square edge type work better. Is there any truth to that?

[t3rmin]

UPDATE: Got the third and last bolt out. I ended up having to file it down part of the way by hand with a needle file (grrrr). But eventually I got a good bead down the center with the drill (frame was in the way so my first hole was off-center). For whatever reason the drill would NOT punch through the last little bit (I think maybe I dulled the bit). There was such a little bit of material left I was able to just run a tap down there and clean it out. Got some decent threads, too!

So, to recap: two out of three stuck holes now have threads and one I drilled too big so I'll just put a nut on it. Overall, it could have been worse and I'm just glad I'm done.

Now on to the task of picking every little tiny metal shaving out of the valvetrain. I covered it, of course, but couldn't keep it 100% clean, especially when the drill grabbed hold of the cloth a few times and yanked it off...