Broken Bolt Extraction

[Twister]

I am working on my 302 swap and i needed to replace the timing cover gasket, well one of the water pump bolts on the engine is broken, and looks like the previous owner just put a crap ton of rtv over it and said it was good. I have looked up various ways of getting them out, most people say to stay away from EZ-outs. Has anyone on here used a left hand drill bit to remove a broken bolt? What other ways do you guys suggest to get it out? I also don't own a welder, the only kind i would be able to borrow from someone would be a flux core one.

 

[dancron]

EZ-outs work like a dream. I cant tell you how many times I had to use mine. Might want to soak that bad boy with some penetrating oil too, looks a tab bit rusted in there.

 

[kunar]

ez-outs work well if you know how to use them. the biggest thing you gotta remember is that if you are too hard on them they will break. then youre stuck with hardened steel inside the bolt youre trying to remove. i would start with some pb blaster, a good torch and a punch and hammer. if that doesnt work, drill it with a left hand drill bit. make sure you center punch the bolt so your drill stays on center. more heat, more pb blaster, try the punch and hammer again. if thats still not working, try an ez-out, just dont crank on it too hard. worst case, drill it the rest of the way out and use a heli coil.

 

[Hagan]

Why don't you just drill it out and tap it and you are done.

 

[85_Ranger4x4]

if that doesnt work, drill it with a left hand drill bit. make sure you center punch the bolt so your drill stays on center. more heat, more pb blaster, try the punch and hammer again. if thats still not working, try an ez-out, just dont crank on it too hard. worst case, drill it the rest of the way out and use a heli coil.

That is the route I would take.

Don't forget to put thread sealer on those four bolts around the coolant ports, they are open to coolant on the back side which is what causes this problem.

 

[Explorin94]

Heat it up and hit it with a punch smaller than 5/16. Reheat again and put some candle wax on it. Find a left handed drill bit and becareful.

 

[alwaysFlOoReD]

I've broken my share of easy outs, and then it's not so easy! I like the idea of left handed drill bits - if the broke piece comes out....great. If it doesn't, I'm half way done for heli-coil. The last two times this has happened to me, I bought a thread insert "kit" [same thing as "heli-coil"] because I got 5 different sizes of threads for approximately twice the price of a single thread size. The first time was in metric for ~$125.00, the second time was in standard for ~$135.00. I bought the Pro-point brand from PA [HF] and they seem to be good quality.
The reason for buying the kits is I finally got tired of fighting with broken bolts, the time wasted, and the aggravation. Now I just drill, tap, and insert and I'm done in about 10 minutes and I don't worry about how I'm going to remove the broken easy out.
My $.02

Richard

 

[Andy D]

Sheared my share of bolts. I take a slow approach. I center punch best as I can. I start with a 1/8 bit. Then I work up the drill index by 1/8s until a 32nd under. I use lotsa oil and sharp bits to let the drill work easy. I use a pick to clean the remains off the threads. If I have the right tap , I will chase them. If not I will use the right sized bolt to chase I picked up a set of wrong way bits from Harbor Freight, but havent needed them yet.

 

[Twister]

Yeah I tried heating it and hitting with pb before I started, but I didn't get it out

I also broke one if the left hand drill bits , that sucker is in there good

Sent from my SPH-L900 using Tapatalk 2

 

[newbronco2]

I own 2 automotive repair centers and have been fixing car for 15 years professionally, having said all that your screwed You need a good torch, not a plumbing torch, those things are a waste of time, it won't do you anything but give you false hope and piss you off. You need to get the metal around the bolt good and hot, that lets the hole expand and the bolt should come out rather easily.

Is the engine out? If it is your lucky, grab the best tools you have, the yellow pages and your check book, call a machine shop, I used to screw around with broken bolts at work all of the time then, I found a local machine shop that gets the most stubborn of broken bolts out and they don't hardly charge anything to do it. This is your best option.

Good luck.
Tim A.