anybody ever broken an exhaust manifold bolt?
 

i broke my bottom rear exhaust manifold stud tonight tightening down my HKS turbo manifold... so we got the turbo back off and not much to my surprise, the stud has broken off nearly flush (maybe an 8th of an inch sticking out, not enough to grab onto) right at the rear rotor housing...

we were planning on drilling the bolt and using an easyout, but due to there being limited space down there with the subframe and the framerails and stuff, it makes it almost impossible to drill through the stud...

how the hell should i go about fixing this?

http://gallery.502streetscene.net/da...um/broken3.JPG

http://gallery.502streetscene.net/da...um/broken2.JPG

http://gallery.502streetscene.net/da...um/broken1.JPG

Oh damn.. that sucks.

I would drill and retap, but the space issue is a problem.

Gonna have to weld another bolt to it....and out with it that way.

Napa should sell metric studs to replace it.

James

you also could try reverse drillbits

that is what i did to remove a broken stud in a friends car, it was a lower front stud and once the new bolt was welded on it came out easy enough, his was broken off about 6mm recessed and i was skeptical that it would work as it was in there...

hopefully you can get your hands on a welder. put something in the exhaust port to keep slag out if you do this method.

that front lower stud looks fubared too...

I'd use a nut and washer combo and weld it onto the snapped stud. Just make sure the inner diameter of the hole in the washer is smaller than the diameter of the stud or fits very snugly around the stud.

yeah i had to cut off the effed threads on that lower front stud. that one is all taken care of.

as for the welding of another bolt onto the broken stud... i was under the impression that its difficult to get the weld to stick when you try to weld two strong bolts together. also, can you mig it or do we have to tig it or what? we have both welders, but i figured the mig wouldnt stick and the tig would be too hot and hurt my housing

Do you have a trashed housing you can practice on? See if the tig welding would hurt it?

James

yeah i do, but the welders are at my buddies shop. we'd probably have to mig it since you can really move the tig welder to get it down there and weld in the bottom of the engine bay..

anybody else ever done this? i guess i gotta wait for karack to reply :)

*cough* reverse drillbits */cough*

I don't understand...did you not read the thread? He said he can't get a drill in there?

Maybe if he used a 90 degree attachment for his drill?

But seriously I recomond bablefish if the english is not what your used to ;)

James

Borrow or rent an electricians right angle drill and get a short drill bit. That should get you in there to drill a hole and then use an easy out.

mig weld it, it will be easier than tig in this situation.

i agree. i'll post up with the results.

I've welded with success in the same situation, just make sure your bolt is the perfect size.