Broke bolt

[Limited Ex]

I was putting my lower intake manifold back on, and managed to break one of the bolts in the process of tightening them. If you are looking straight at the engine, its the closest bolt to the front, on the right side. I have soaked it with PB Blaster, and tried to fit some locking needle nose pliers on it, but there is not quite enough room to turn the pliers. So, I need HELP! Any ideas other than taking the head off?

 

[RiverRat]

You could try one of those reverse drill bits. They have gotten me out of trouble more than a few times. Instead of a regular bit they "drill" in reverse. As you drill into the bolt it catches and the bolt comes out. It might work for you.l

 

[Limited Ex]

I borrowed one of those from a friend of mine, but cannot get it to bite. I may try drilling a small pilot hole and seeing if it would work then...

 

[Brian1]

You also need the other portion to those reversing drills. You drill the center of the bolt in reverse with the special drill bit then insert a bolt extractor in the hole. Tap it in there with a hammer and then put a wrench on it to try and back it out. They look like this: http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/Displayitem.taf?itemnumber=40349

Good luck and I hope you can get it out.

 

[FLYIN 5.0]

IT'S CALLED AN EASY OUT.

 

[FLYIN 5.0]

You can buy one at most auto part stores or Sears. they work great.

 

[Limited Ex]

I went to Home Depot and bought one of those bolt removers. I had the hole drilled and was screwing the remover in, and the end of the remover snapped So, what I am going to try and do tomorrow is get a chisel and try and put a big enough groove in the top of the bolt and try and back it out with a flat head screw driver. And if that does not work, then I am going to have to trailer the Ex some place and have them remove the head and get the bolt out. There is NO way I am going to attempt removing the head on my own! That and I figure since I have everything already apart, and since I already have two head gaskets, it should not be that expensive for them to take off the head and remove the bolt. Either way, this really sucks!

 

[taylormanson]

If worse comes to worse, you might also be able to try this if the bolt sticks out. Find a junk socket that fits snugly over the exposed bolt Put some JB-Weld compound on the insides of the socket (that is some strong stuff!). Let the socket set overnight and seal up, then back it out with a socket like you would if it still had the head of the bolt on it. Like I said, this is a decent amount of work, but may save you if worse comes to worse.

I have used this technique on similar situations, but never on an engine. I am also not sure of how hard those bolts are supposed to be torqued down. If anyone else wants to chime in with a yay or nay to this suggestion before he does this, please go ahead.

 

[Nate1]

You could also seriously wear down a dremel ceramic cutting blade and cut a small notch in it with that instead of a chisel.
Good luck

 

[SteveVB]

An easy out breaking off in a bolt- who would guess

If you broke an extracter on the bolt then I think the only thing is to pull the head and take it to a shop where they can work on it.

Why would you load it on a trailer? You have done most of the work. Remove the 6 exhaust bolts and anything left on the front, and remove the head bolts and you are done(drain some coolant so it dosent get in the bores).

How did it break- those bolts arent that tight - they are fairly small. If it cross threaded you probably want to chase the rest of the holes before you continue.

Good Luck

 

[Limited Ex]

Taylor, I had actually considered doing exactly the same thing! The only thing was, I did not have any JB weld, and did not feel like running back into town. But that is still an idea if I can find some place open on Mothers Day that sells it.

Nweibly, I have done that in the past, and would love to be able to do it now, but I do not think that I could fit my Dremel in there even with a worn down blade. I will check and make sure that idea is a no-go however, before I take a chisel to it.

Steve, I would remove the head myself, but I have never done that before, and really do not feel comfortable doing it. After breaking one important bolt, I would be seriously afraid of breaking another important one. That I would also be worried that I did not get the head tightened down enough and end up blowing a gasket, which would most likely be much worse than this bolt.....I ended up snapping the bolt by applying too much torque, wayy too much torque. Me and my awesome ability to read missed the fact that the torque specifications on the bolts called for 36 to 72 lbs per inch, and I was using lbs per foot Big whoops!

 

[Nate1]

Limited, I dont know if they are for high revs (you may not want them anyways, a slower approach may be better) but I think they have snake tools and 90 degree adapters for the dremel if you need some change.
Also, before you do it if you do it, I would put some oily paper towels down all around it to collect the ceramic dust so its not all down in there, then make sure to get up most of the metal shavings.
Good luck man!
-----Nate

 

[Limited Ex]

I have one of those snake tools, it came with the the set , but there is not enough room for it to fit down in there. But my uncle came by today and took a look at it and messed around with it for a little while, but in the end it was no go. I am going to have to take the head off tomorrow, and my uncle is going to come back by tomorrow and try again at getting the bolt out. Ah well, little more learning experience for me......

 

[taylormanson]

LimitedEx: I have seen it at almost all chain Auto parts stores and Wal Mart. If you have one of those around you, it should be a safe bet they'll have some.

 

[Limited Ex]

Yay woo hoo!

Its out its out!
My friend the diesel mechanic came by this morning around 10, and had the bolt out by 10:10. He brought some reverse drill bits that took it right out of the hole, I was so incredibly happy I think I may have to invest in a set of those if I get the extra cash. His particular set was made by Hanson and had around 5 bits, which ran around $25. Which is well worth it since it prevented me from having to remove the head. Anyhow, now I can put my engine together, this tale has a happy ending

 

[roadkill]

FYI

In the future, I recommend a technique that's worked great for me:

A) Instead of an easyout, I drill the bolt as big as possible without hitting the threads
B) take an ALLEN wrench, the 90Degree type, and tap it in good into the drilled hole, at least one idameter in depth
C) back the screw out!

I have done this numerous times with much better success than an easyout. The taper on easyouts don't allow them to bite as good as you would like, and you have to turn them very straight in relation to the thread.

The allen wrench will bite with all 6 corners, and they have a good 90 degree handle to turn. They are also tempered to resisit snapping. Glad to see you got it out!
Wil

 

[Limited Ex]

Yes, I am glad its out too
That is not a bad idea at all, but my biggest deal was getting a good hole drilled. After my uncle took a chisel to it, he managed to make a pretty good valley that offered a decent spot to drill a hole. I am hoping that I will not have to remember any of this, because I certainly do not plan on doing it again!
The only other thing that was disappointing was that I could not find another manifold bolt today I checked the dealer and three junkyards. One of the junkyards had two Explorers, but the engines were out of them. So I ended up just ordering through the dealer and paid the extra couple dollars to have them overnighted, so today was another unproductive day even with the bolt out. However, tomorrow should be the start of re-construction

 

[roadkill]

grade 8 bolt from hardware store...

.......I could not find another manifold bolt today .....

Limited Ex,

You should be able to go to a good hardware store [not home depot] and get a grade 8 bolt with the same dimensions as the head bolt.

Let us know how you do!

Good Luck

 

[mikeh]

Limited Ex,

I'm very happy you were able to get it out. I did the same kind of thing while changing some brake pads for a friend. We ended up having to replace a weird bracket which was cheap but we had to go to a junk yard to find it. Quite a hassle for me and my freind. On the plus side he never asked me to work on his car again.

I broke the easy out off just like you did when I tried to remove my bolt. Please explain the tool your mechanic friend used to remove the bolt. Also exactly how he did it would be quite helpful. I have a feeling I just wasn't experienced enough using easyouts on my job. A link to the tool would be great too.

Thanks,
Mike H.

 

[Limited Ex]

Roadkill, I just ordered it through Ford. I paid an extra couple of dollars to have it overnighted, so I was able to pick it up this morning and get the majority of my engine back together today.

Mikeh, what he used were drill bits, but instead of drilling like a normal bit, it drilled backwards. In other words, you put the drill in reverse, and that is the direction the bits drill. So that way as the bit bites, it forces the bolt out of the hole, in a sense unscrewing it. All he did was start with a very small bit and drilled down into the bolt, only about a 1/4". Then he put on a little bigger bit and started drilling, then the bolt just backed right out of the hole! I was amazed he made it look so easy. But I guess it also helped that my uncle had chiseled the top of the bolt, because it was mch flatter than when it had originally snapped off.
This is the best link that I could find to what he used. You can see how the bit is made to go counter-clockwise. And I am like you mike, I am positive that I was not skilled enough to use the tools either, no experience with them because this has never happened before