Stop me before I kill (well, break something) again!

[Anonymous]

Being a ten-thumbed know-it-all, I tried to remove the rusty bolts holding the exhaust pipes to the engine on my 450, and one broke off.

Two questions:

1) What's the correct procedure for removing these when they're rusted?

2) How do I get what's left of the broken bolt out?

Dave

[Anonymous]

I don't know that there is a "correct procedure" for getting stuck exhaust bolts out. There are some chemicals like Liquid Wrench (and another that I can't remember the name of that supposed to be real good) that you can apply and hope for the best. You can search for other threads on this subject. There's a lot that's been said on this topic.

There's no real good way to get the broken bolt out, either. You can try an Easy-Out, but those can sometimes lead to more trouble. I think the best way is to take it to a bike shop or a machine shop and have the bolt drilled out. Then have something called a "heli-coil" installed. This basically is an insert that replaces the treads that were destroyed when the old bolt was drilled out.

My advice is to take it to a shop. Some will probably say differently and I admit that this is something that can be done at home. Still, a shop will do it right (and if they don't, you'll have someone besides yourself to blame) and you'll end up avoiding a lot of frustration or worse.

When you do put it back together, I also recommend anti-seize compound on the threads. This avoids having the problem again. I use one made by Permatex, but there are others on the market.

[Billy Ricks]

I broke one off once. I drilled through the center of the bolt then tapped it out the right thread size. You just have to be careful and drill through the center of the bolt. Be careful not to go too deep.

[Anonymous]

Yeah, it's the center of the bolt thing that has me cautious. My last attempt the drill wandered and it got a lot worse from there.

To keep from going too deep, use a good bolt next to the remains of the broken bolt to figure out how deep to go. Then put a piece of tape on your drill bit at that point to mark the depth.

[Anonymous]

Hi I would take it to a shop,Ispeak from my own experience.
I broke 2 bolts on my 750 and tried for several hrs myself.
I managed to drill the bolt in the center.
The bolt was so stuck that the square area for the wrench on the easyout started to get rounded.
After that I gave up and called my friend who is a machinist.
It took him roughly an hr to fix my problem.
To me it's well worth the $30.00 for each bolt a shop would charge and the fact that my knuckles aren't getting skinned LOL
Mikey

[Anonymous]

drill it out

Yeah just make sure you grind the bit your gonna drill out flat, then hole punch it then (most importantly) use a GOOD quality drill bit to drill out most of the bolt. Once most of the bolt has been drilled out, the rest can just be removed with a scriber and fluid. Make sure you use a good quality drill bit not some cheap rubbish one, then it will only be a real pain rather than impossible.
Good luck then!

[mpogue]

I've never had to take one out yet. I would probably run the engine to get the block warmed up. It should expand and hopefully give you a little more give in the bolts.
Anti-seize seems to be highly recommended from what I've been reading. The copper based kind.
Check out this discussion on the toughest bolts to remove. They have some tips.

http://www.thegsresources.com/_forum/viewtopic.php?t=21857

[Anonymous]

Just replaced all my exhuast bolts on my 450. One was broken off, the others looked like they were going to break off. I sprayed some PB Blaster on the bolts and they came out pretty easy.

For the broken bolt, I sprayed a bunch of the PB Blaster on the stub sticking out (about 1/4-1/2 piece) and let it sit about 45 secs. I then tapped the stub of the bolt with a hammer. I took some vice grips and locked on the end of the bolt real tight and just twisted it out. Came out rather easy. You can also use a torch to heat of the area, that will make it easier to remove. I didn't have to.

If there is enough of the bolt to grab ahold of then I'd save yourself some money and try something like this first.

[DMPLATT]

I work in a machine shop and while I haven't done this yet, I have a broken one also. I've never had luck with easy outs. Wouldn't even try it. We don't even have them in the shop anymore.
If drilling it your self, try to get cobalt drill bits. It's easy for me as I can sneak some home (shhhhh). :roll:
What I might try is to start with a small pilot hole in the center and then just work up to larger sizes. If you can check the minor diameter of the bolt, you can get a bit just a smidge smaller and will end up with just remenants of the threads from the bolts. Which, as stated above, you can just pick them out.

Now, I have done this on other projects and it's worked. I have not tryed it on my exhaust bolt, but in "Theory" it should work quite well.

Caution: Also as stated above, regular cheapo drill bits could end up being more of a problem than a good quality. Cobalt is much harder than the hardened steel of the bolt.....

Good Luck and let me know what you do and how it goes. May help me determine my course of action.

[Anonymous]

Impact impact

My exhaust bolts had not moved since 1981. I sheard off two and removed the rest with an impact screw diver. I was hitting the screw driver for about 10 minutes per bolt. But it didn't shear any off. It sure beats the drill and removing broken easy outs.

[Anonymous]

Re: Impact impact

My exhaust bolts had not moved since 1981. I sheard off two and removed the rest with an impact screw diver. I was hitting the screw driver for about 10 minutes per bolt. But it didn't shear any off. It sure beats the drill and removing broken easy outs.

Let me make sure I understand. You used an impact driver to remove your exhaust bolts without breaking any? That's interesting.

Did you use any penetrating oil or anything like that first? What were you using when you sheared off the other two?

Dave

[Dave_A]

Re: Stop me before I kill (well, break something) again!

Being a ten-thumbed know-it-all, I tried to remove the rusty bolts holding the exhaust pipes to the engine on my 450, and one broke off.

Two questions:

1) What's the correct procedure for removing these when they're rusted?

2) How do I get what's left of the broken bolt out?

Dave

The answer to (1) and (2) is the same:

Have a pro do it...

They'll use a welder to work the bolts out properly, and extract the one busticated one...

I actually broke all 4 off my 450, pulled the head and took it to the shop, but the bike was inop at the time (valve strike) so taking the whole bike wasn't an option...

[Anonymous]

impact

Let me make sure I understand. You used an impact driver to remove your exhaust bolts without breaking any? That's interesting.

Did you use any penetrating oil or anything like that first? What were you using when you sheared off the other two?

I put penetrating oil on the bolts before and gave them time to soak. I sheared the two off with a 3/8 drive. Then I ued the impact driver. It takes alot of patience And pounding but they sould come out eventually. I've used the same technique to get frozen studs (stubbs) out of cast hedders on cars. Don't apply very much torque or they will shear the shock breaks the bond that is freazeing the threads.

[Planecrazy]

The brand of penetrating oil you use is also very important. I had been using WD-40 for years with various degrees of success before I learned on this forum that it's considered one of the worst products you could choose as a penetrant.

A lot of people have highly recommended PB Blaster, which can be found at your local Walmart. I just bought some, but haven't had a need to put it to the test yet.

Good Luck!
Steve 8)