broken bolts in cylinder head.

[munge06]

Does anyone have any suggestions on how to get them out? Any tricks that have worked for you or that you know work. I'm replacing my exhaust and have to broken bolts that are holding me up.

[chef1366]

Are they sticking out at all where you can get vice grips on them?
Use heat!

[posplayr]

other than an easy out a left handed drill bit is supposed to work (spins opposite a normal drill, biting and helping to turn the stud)

[Nessism]

What ever you do do NOT use an EZ-out. They love to snap off and make bolt extraction even harder. Worst case is drill out the bolt - center punch the bolt first and use small bits and work upward.

[chef1366]

What ever you do do NOT use an EZ-out. They love to snap off and make bolt extraction even harder. Worst case is drill out the bolt - center punch the bolt first and use small bits and work upward.

I call them neverouts
The only thing they have worked for me on was stuck pilot jets.

[posplayr]

http://www.mytoolstore.com/hanson/hanson.html

Left Hand Heavy Duty, Surface Treated, Jobbers Length High Speed Steel Fractional Drill Bits

Tip: If you use a left-hand bit to drill the hole in a broken screw or bolt so you can extract it, the odds are good that the very act of drilling will remove the broken screw without ever needing to use the extractor. Your drill must be running in reverse when you use left-hand bits.

[posplayr]

The Art of Extraction

http://www.asashop.org/autoinc/may2003/techtotech.htm

Goggle is your obedient servant use it

[zathros]

If you center punch then drill out the stud (reverse drill) and it still doesn't come out. Measure the outside diameter of the thread (the stud that goes into the hole). Get a drill that is about .060" smaller than the thread diameter. MAKE SURE YOU ARE ON CENTER. When you are done drilling, use a fine, really good hardened punch and collapse what's left of the thread into the whole but hitting the outside end inward. I have used this technique on $60,000 dollar Helicopter Hubs assemblies (the part of the hub that holds the blade ). When you collapse enough you can usually pull in out with a good set of needle nose players.

If the engine is still in the motorcycle the job will become almost impossible unless it is an outer cylinder and nothing is in the way.

If you mess up a thread use a tap to clean it up before stripping the hole out.

[Nessism]

If you center punch then drill out the stud (reverse drill) and it still doesn't come out. Measure the outside diameter of the thread (the stud that goes into the hole). Get a drill that is about .060" smaller than the thread diameter. MAKE SURE YOU ARE ON CENTER. When you are done drilling, use a fine, really good hardened punch and collapse what's left of the thread into the whole but hitting the outside end inward. I have used this technique on $60,000 dollar Helicopter Hubs assemblies (the part of the hub that holds the blade ). When you collapse enough you can usually pull in out with a good set of needle nose players.

If the engine is still in the motorcycle the job will become almost impossible unless it is an outer cylinder and nothing is in the way.

If you mess up a thread use a tap to clean it up before stripping the whole out.

Good advice on the LH bits.

I strongly suggest starting with a small drill bit first to make a pilot hole. If this pilot is off center, you can horse around with the bit, dragging it sideways and such until you get the hole centered. Once you have a reasonably centered pilot hole, step up the next size bit and use that. Work up slowly on the size until you get where you need to be.

[munge06]

thanks for all the suggestions. ive tried the easy out before i started this thread and guess what its busted off in the remains of the bolt. had a good centered hole all the way through it and loaded it up with penetrating fluid. it really blows that the two that are still stuck are on the same cylinder otherwise i would try and rig something. Also i have tried welding a nut onto whats left of the broken bolt and that just broke them off farther, now they are slmost flush with the head. thanks for your suggestions.

[zathros]

Easy outd aare extremely brittlee, they break if there is any side tension applied. It is their weakness. To remove an easy out you need a REALLY high qualiry small .125" tip punch. You can shatter the easy out and remove it in pieces. I have done this before and it works. I used to work for a Helicopter manufacturer (Sikorsky) and there were many techniques used to salvage parts or fixtues for making the parts, which were more expensive than the eparts themselves.

The final method requires solid carbon rods,440V of electricity and a stream of dielectric oil. This will "burn" out the ofending materiala with electricity, it is called EDM. You can make a small portable unit, we did it all the time but you would have to remove the engine from the frame.

Here's a youtube link to the process. If you are this stuck. There is a TON of them, this one explains the process.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uUN4_-xp1Wc

[hikermikem]

thanks for all the suggestions. ive tried the easy out before i started this thread and guess what its busted off in the remains of the bolt.

I just a couple of weeks ago was in the exact same situation you're in... broken exhaust bolts, flush with the manifold, snapped screw extractor in it.

I bit the bullet & removed the head, brought it a welder & he tig welded a bolt on to the end of the snapped bolt using Hastalloy-W filler wire.

It took a couple of times because the bolt broke off once, taking the extractor piece out, before alowing a good solid weld to the broken bolt.

It worked amazingly well in the end however, and the aluminum wasn't damaged at all in the process.

I chased all the threads with a tap & used new SS bolts with antiseize to install the exhaust.

One more advice tip: replace the base gasket at the same time you're replacing the head gasket as long as you're there (actually, this is Nessism's advice).

I know, it really delays the project but in the long run you'll be glad you did it right.

Good luck

[jed.only]

im in the exact same situation, only with the intake part of the head. im taking the entire engine to a machine shop. i HATE having to let others do stuff for me, but i dont want to pull the head.

[zathros]

If you take the head off any self respecting machinist will get that stud off without welding. I would never weld a bolt to a broken one. I have a Tig and MIg welder. I also have a milling machine. We used to take out extractors by shatttering them ( Sikorsky Aircraft, 10 years). They are so hard that with a good punch it will shatter and many times loosen if you strike it in the loosening direction. The heat generated by Tig is too high and you could possible warp something.

If you get the extractor out, have the shop drill out what's rest of the stud and tell them to use a Heli-Coil insert. That is the proper procedure for that situation. I have never heard of anyone welding a stud to another stud, that's a hack job, no offense meant to anyone.

Some people weld car halves together, just because you can do it does not mean it is right.