Exhaust bolt extraction

[Ponderosa]

Just finnished

Just finnished

If you have any bolt left extruding from the head and a wire feed welder. Weld a nut on the stud, get a can of penetrant, DO NOT just throw a lot of torque to it, one hand, choked up on the wratchet, get it to move a little, soak it with penetrant, tighten back, loosen again a little more, soak and repeat. Slow is the trick, pulled four of them day before yesterday in this manner, one of them had a easy out broke in it... Had to drill two of them out and retap.. Probably could have saved a lot of hassle if I didn't let the kid take off the exhaust that had been on there since 82...

 

[doctorgonzo]

If you have any bolt left extruding from the head and a wire feed welder. Weld a nut on the stud, get a can of penetrant, DO NOT just throw a lot of torque to it, one hand, choked up on the wratchet, get it to move a little, soak it with penetrant, tighten back, loosen again a little more, soak and repeat. Slow is the trick, pulled four of them day before yesterday in this manner, one of them had a easy out broke in it... Had to drill two of them out and retap.. Probably could have saved a lot of hassle if I didn't let the kid take off the exhaust that had been on there since 82...

Yeah, if you've got any bolt sticking out this is the method for sure. It's when they're broken off down in there and you're trying to drill out that heat hardened steel to use an easy out that it gets ugly.

 

[Ponderosa]

Oh yea...

Oh yea...

Yeah, if you've got any bolt sticking out this is the method for sure. It's when they're broken off down in there and you're trying to drill out that heat hardened steel to use an easy out that it gets ugly.

Oh yea, that is too much fun... I rigged a small grinding bit on a die grinder to remove one from a new chain saw case once, figured if I could grind the hardened easyout in the middle of the bolt down I could then drill it without going to either side. Needless to say ended up drilling through the case, brand new chain saw, shot... Thats what you get for lending it to one of the boys...

If you can use a small drill bit and work around the broken EO, sometimes you can get it out. Then just use a left handed bit and drill out the stud..

 

[Rob81]

OEM header bolt size?

OEM header bolt size?

Im not too sure if this question was answered or not, or maybe answered 20 different ways:

What is the OEM measurement of the header bolts? I need to pick up some a the shop.

 

[salty_monk]

8mm standard thread. About 65mm long from memory (please check that bit).

Dan

 

[Rob81]

8mm standard thread. About 65mm long from memory (please check that bit).

Dan

My uncle checked it out and gave me these numbers:

It is standard metric grade 8.8, 8mm, 35mm long.
Hardware grade stainless is suitable.
Metric grades are different from SAE grades. 8.8 is similar to SAE grade5

Sound about right?

 

[cowb0y]

I too have stupidly attempted to remove my exhaust bolt and broke three off of the eight (1100L-16valve). So, I attempted to soak and use an extractor, which promptly broke off in the broken bolt after an hour of messing with it. I think I might be at the stage of removing the head and taking it to a machine shop, but dont really want to do that since I have never gotten that deep into my engine. Whats your thots on it? Is it tuff to remove and are there other methods to attempt a broken extractor in the broken bolt removal??

 

[cyclefvr2]

if you have a cheap lil wire welder , you can weld a nut to a broken stud then it should come out real easy! i have done this it works great

 

[Guest]

I too have stupidly attempted to remove my exhaust bolt and broke three off of the eight (1100L-16valve). So, I attempted to soak and use an extractor, which promptly broke off in the broken bolt after an hour of messing with it. I think I might be at the stage of removing the head and taking it to a machine shop, but dont really want to do that since I have never gotten that deep into my engine. Whats your thots on it? Is it tuff to remove and are there other methods to attempt a broken extractor in the broken bolt removal??

Ahh the legendary never outs. Next time if you do use them use heat. Use heat on the bolts first before breaking them.
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.

 

[duaneage]

For three bolts I would remove the head because it's going to be a lot of work with it on the engine still. A drill press would be a good thing to have so you could bore down the bolt and remove it properly.

EDM runs about 50 dollars a bolt generally and that makes it 150 dollars in shop fees. Some of the exhaust bolts are tapped all the way through and you can get behind them with chemicals from the other side. But these are probably not coming ouot with a little oil, it's going to take drilling and maybe retapping the holes.

I vote for removing the head and then doing it. At least you will get a new headgasket on there. Use studs instead of bolts and this will not happen again. I got a set of studs for 12.99 from Napa for mine.

 

[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