Broken Shifter Bolts on Transmission - IDEAS?
 

Hi everyone and Happy New Year!

Here is my situation, a few years ago I swapped my stock shifter for a Miata short throw, everything was going great. After the shifter had "broken in" (a few months later) I wanted to tighten it up again, so I began tightening one of the three bolts that hold the shifter in place. I ended up breaking two of the three bolts off inside their holes. Neither of them were sticking up high enough to extract with pliers, etc.

So, I tightened the last remaining bolt down and that lasted until just a few days ago. I was driving on the highway when I noticed that my shifter was really loose. Scary loose. So I made it to my destination and pulled over and sure enough, that final bolt had broken off deep inside the hold.

So, here's my situation: all three bolts are broken off inside the holes. There isn't enough sticking out to extract them that way.

I tried extracting them using a drill and an extractor bit on a little T" handle but now I'm really in over my head because the extractor bits have broken off inside two of the three holes. (The extractor bits are much tougher than the bolts themselves, which means I'll need something a lot stronger than what I currently own as far as tools go to continue trying to extract them that way.

What do you recommend?

My idea is to re-drill and tap three entirely new holes by rotating the "design" several degrees. (Hopefully my picture will explain that better.) What do you think of that idea?

Should I take the car somewhere? Where to? How much?

Any and all help is appreciated! This is my daily driver, I'm borrowing my sister's car right now just to get around. :( So I need an economical and yet effective solution.

Cheers,
Cody

rill and re thread, there is really nothing left of those bolts to play with.

ever heard of the phrase " if it ain't broken Don't fix it"?
should of leave them alone

Stuff a rag in the shifter hole so metal debris doesn't get in there and wear shit out.


Drill and retap. Use helicoils as "prevenative maint" and if you can, go to the hardware store and get grade 8 or better hardware. If your setup allows, use studs instead of bolts. Dont gorilla your shifter on next time.

dude wtf? were u using an impact wrench?

If its an N/A, get a different trans because its cheap enough.

If its a Turbo then look for someone who has a bad trans and get their tailstock and switch it out.

just use a screwdriver to shift LOL j/k

first and foremost you got all kinds of metal flake in your tranny, that is not good, I would take farberio's idea and get a new tranny or tailstock...

shifting the pattern will not work, do you notice the area around the bolts is larger than the rest, so you if drill a hole it will just be sticking out the side of the mount.

Drill and re tap. Use studs if possible. Getting a new trans is IMO overkill for such a simple fix. BTW farberio that was a xmas gift so I dont need it anymore, but some bdays are coming up soon.

:sorry for the thread jack:

Depending on what removal bits he used, the OP may need a carbide bit to drill. And it would be painfully slow to do. Plus there will be mega amount of crap falling into his trans. If anything the tailstock should come off just to clean up whats already there.

MR.FC3s, just lemme know...you have my number.

Firstly, I don't think I'll be buying another transmission. That seems like overkill as someone already stated.

Secondly, there really aren't that many metal flakes in the shifter hole, it's just gunk and grime mostly, take your shifter off and it probably looks the same way. Its a stink hole of tranny fluid and grease.

Thirdly, as someone else pointed out and as I stated in my first post, I broke two bolt extractor bits off in the broken bolts, which means I'm no longer dealing with a mushy metal but a combination of mushy and really hard.

I'm thinking a carbide drill bit would get 'er done? I think someone already mentioned that... what do you think? Carbide drill it out and then retap FTW?

Thanks,
Cody

carbide would most likely do it, but if you are affraid of breaking things again perhaps you should remove the tail stock and take it somewhere with a drill press so that nothing can flex and you can be sure when you drill and tap that it is nice and straight, most likely you are going to have to go with a larger dia bolt so you will have to drill out shifter as well, unless you do a stud i have seen studs with different sizes on each end, may have to custom order something the right size though, just another thought.. good luck

IMO i would still remove the tailstock to be sure that the metal is out of there, i still think it could cause problems...

also be sure to use lots of lubricant and go really really slow with the drill, the key to cutting metal is to go slow and keep it cool or else you will end up breaking another bit or just burning the tip, just because carbide is heavy duty doesn't mean its indistructable

as long as the Shifter gets to sit on the Pin so that it will move freely back and forth in the gears(lost the word for that.).
I am trying to figure out HOW you broke the damn Bolts off!..BUT,that is over and done with.
I take it you don't want to get into Dropping the tail stock ..SO...
If you can,Get a Dental Mirror,and look at the area where you want to Redrill.As long as you can get three good "Runs" at the Side of the Shifter opening with the Drill and not Drill into anything,I don't see Why you couldn't put New Holes(tap and die) into another Triangular pattern.

C4:suspect:

Firstly, you are seriously over estimating the amount of work and cost it will take to swap the transmissions or tailstock.

Secondly, any metal flakes is a bad thing, and you will get more in there when you drill out the old threads and tap.

Thirdly, drilling all of this out will probably take you an equal, if not greater time then just busting out the trans and swapping.

after much thought about this i was thinking that you should just take out the tailstock and take it to a machine shop.

yes sir!
 

i just had a similar problem, i broke a bolt on my lower intake manifold, then broke a snap on extractor in there as well, and nothing would even scratch the surface
of the area. nothing but a carbine bit.

Invest in a carbine bit, i got a set from a snap on truck for 120 bucks
but you can buy a single one for about 25 bucks.
oh and u need a high speed grinder.

This is the grinder n bit i used:


<a href="http://s28.photobucket.com/albums/c228/EvilAle9/rx7/?action=view&current=CIMG4219.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i28.photobucket.com/albums/c228/EvilAle9/rx7/CIMG4219.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket"></a>




<a href="http://s28.photobucket.com/albums/c228/EvilAle9/rx7/?action=view&current=CIMG4220.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i28.photobucket.com/albums/c228/EvilAle9/rx7/CIMG4220.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket"></a>

good luck.

Hah yeah I swapped tranny's to solve this problem... of course that wasn't the only reason for swapping it.