Exhaust bolt extraction

[cowb0y]

Which cylinders are they broken on and are they sticking out at all? Can you get a drill in to them? You'll need some strong bits to drill out that never out.

I have two in the #3 and one in #4. One of the ones in #3 has the broken "never-outs" in it and yes it will suck to weld around the engine case, but I am goin to try it first because I have never been that deep in the engine before and am a little intimidated. I have looked into carbide high speed bits to get the "easy-out" extracted and then get the bolt out. But I dont think I can get a straight shot at the center of that bolt, so may have to go to head replacement if the welding doesnt work.

I have heard heat the block and cool the broken bolt, since heat expands and cold restricts, therefore creating a gap in the threads to break the corrosion between the steel bolt and aluminum head. What do you guys think??

[duaneage]

What do you guys think??

Don't waste any more time or risk ruining the head. Pull it and do it right.

[Nessism]

I have two in the #3 and one in #4. One of the ones in #3 has the broken "never-outs" in it and yes it will suck to weld around the engine case, but I am goin to try it first because I have never been that deep in the engine before and am a little intimidated. I have looked into carbide high speed bits to get the "easy-out" extracted and then get the bolt out. But I dont think I can get a straight shot at the center of that bolt, so may have to go to head replacement if the welding doesnt work.

I have heard heat the block and cool the broken bolt, since heat expands and cold restricts, therefore creating a gap in the threads to break the corrosion between the steel bolt and aluminum head. What do you guys think??

Just heat the bolt red hot and let it cool. It's the chemical bond that is holding the parts together and heat breaks it up.

[cowb0y]

I will try the heating bolt idea this weekend and let yall know how it goes. If it fails, I will pull the head. I am just afraid of breaking more bolts on the head removal.

[1948man]

Start spraying an occasional dose of PB Blaster on any bolts you think you might have to deal with a few days ahead of time. If you don't have to remove them nothing is hurt.

[mpls-ugly]

This post probably doesn't need another comment but I have been threw it myself in a bad way. I broke two easy outs off in an exhaust bolt. Thats a tough material but you can get threw it with a good carbide bit. Heating bolts will make the brittle and you cant really heat the whole bolt from the top so its a no no IMO. Remember that the materials are different so the bit will want to drift of that harder material and go off center. You can also try to take very small bits and go around the easy out then pick it out. You need to relive the pressure one way or another and this helps. Be patient and get good bits. You should also have a good old fashioned magnified glass to check what slow progress you are making. A good view will give you hope. Good luck.

[Steve314159]

I just went through this on my 550. I'd have to vote with taking the head off. I drilled mine out (no ezouts thanks to advice here) and tapped new threads but really didn't get a good straight on-center hole. It worked but I'm not taking the other bolts out unless I have to.

That being said, I just bought a Jeep Wrangler with one of the eight exhaust manifold studs broken off. It's not really hurting anything except the exhaust makes a little bit of ticking noise by it, but I can't decide whether to try to drill it out, take the whole thing apart, or just wait.

[chuck hahn]

take the jeep to a muffler shop or auto repair shop.. they are very versed in dealing with them..

[gggGary]

Those 12" long "installers" drill bits are very useful in these places they let you hold the bit to guide it, even curve it into a slight arc if clearance requires it. having the drill further back allows you to see what the drill tip is doing. I drilled, tapped, and replaced a manifold to exhaust bolt in place from the bottom on a 4X4 S 10 using these long bits

[cyclefvr2]

my experiences with aluminum / broken studs / there not rusted in there, there seized, so heat is usually what it takes, if all else fails, drill ,have the hole welded with aluminum and re drill and tapp, use studs, so if you take it off, your chances are better on removing the nut in stead of taking the bolt out of the head and ruing the threads that you fixed, if ppl ever need it off again
use anti seize, a lot of it, and torq to specs,use high temp grease on the stud that is exposed,so it will not rust
maybe there are coated studs out now that will help resist weather, you could use