philly101

whats the best way to get a header bolts out of the eng block that broke in a s4 na with out take in out the eng out the car

SirCygnus

iTrader: (1)

they are not bolts. they are studs. undo the rest of the nuts that hold it on, and take the header off.

once it is off, just clamp some vice grips on there tighter than a nuns patootie, and just loosen that stud.

oakback

Before the vice grips part, douse with PB Blaster.

philly101

ok i tryed to it with the pb an vice grips but thats was a no go

SirCygnus

iTrader: (1)

be more specific as to what "no go" means.

when you clamp them down with vicegrips, i mean as tight as you can physically get it to clamp.

jjcobm

iTrader: (18)

You know..... they make tools called stud removers for a reason.

13bpower

Yes, you gotta pay to play. In this case you gotta buy the right tool for the job.

RotaryEvolution

iTrader: (30)

the studs are made of stainless steel, which has a tendency to fuse with aluminum. if the stud extractor doesn't work then your only option is to cut off the head and drill/tap out the hole. usually, once those studs are in there, they are in there for good.

EnjoiPugs

Yes, this problem sucks a lot. When it happened to me I had the engine out so I took it to a shop where they where they machine backed it out somehow. Please don't buy an easy out tool, that broke off inside my stud and actually made my problem worse. I make every effort to not let that happen again, big mistake for me.

AGreen

iTrader: (11)

Another possibility is to find a nut that will just slip over the stud, then weld it on to the stud. The heat usually breaks the bonds that are siezing it in there, and you can (while it's relatively hot) remove the broken stud with a wrench. It doesn't always work, but worth a shot.

oakback

If that's the case, and welding isn't an option, would it be beneficial to heat it up with a propane torch before trying to remove it another way? Like with vice grips or stud remover.

rotarygod

iTrader: (1)

I am having this exact problem right now. It happened with 2 of my studs. The other 2 were having issues but the nuts came off of them and they are still usable. I dread teh day I have to pull the nuts back off of those 2 again. One of the studs I had an issue with wouldn't come out. I did the double nut trick and it wouldn't turn. After blasting it with PD blaster and letting it soak, I used brute force to get it out. The problem was that while the stud came out, some of the aluminum housing threads came out with it as well!!! That is bad news. Fortunately about half of them remained. I was able to run a tap down that hole and salvage much it. A new stud coated in aluminum epoxy will have to hold it the rest of the way in. That is one that will probably never come off again. The other stud broke off with a bit of room to spare. I welded a nut onto the remaining stub and tried to remove it that way. The stud snapped flush with the housing. Not good. You need to go only a half inch with a drill to get all the way through the stud. I have been slowly drilling through it with a 1/8" drill bit. They dull very quickly so you need to keep them cool and lubricated. I am currently 1/4" into it which is halfway. I have gone through about 6 drill bits and a couple of Dremel grinding bits at this point. Slow is the key. I will not use an easy out at first. They tend to snap. I am drilling it out the total length with an 1/8" bit and will then slowly increase the hole size with larger and larger bits until what remains is very thin. I have been very careful to keep the drilled hole centered. Only then will I use the easy out as at that point it will probably just shatter the remaining thin stud sections. Once this is done, I will rethread the hole and install a new stud. The next time the header comes off will have to be when the engine gets replaced.

The car has been down since late April with this issue. If I had the money to spare, I'd have just replaced the engine rather than trying to fix this problem in the car. It would have been much faster.

lastphaseofthis

iTrader: (8)

Rotarygod, have you tried using a better drill bit? i used only one of these gold looking drill bits to drill out 8 studs for mounting rx-8 seats.. the studs were steel and very hard. but i can't remember exactly what they are called, i know they are gold in color and a 1/2 inch was 18 doller's at ace. pricey but they hold up really well. they are also stepped at the tip to start drilling a pilot whole before going up to the full size of the bit.. food for thought.

LunchboxCritter

iTrader: (9)

+1 on not using a frickin ease out. I've yet to have one work correctly and not just shatter to pieces and lodging itself inside the problem.

If all else fails and you have the hole all boogered up, check on a heli-coil kit to repair it.

gerald m

When ever I build up a high carbon shaft for machining or hole drilling I have a set of older bits that I have changed the angle of the cutting edge from a cutter to a scraper .. You back cut the cutting edge until the scraper edge is almost 90 degrees to the surface being cut .. If you get things right the bit will do a fair job in cutting harder surfaces.. The bit will wobble a bit so you can't use this method for drilling to make threads so keep you first hole about half the size or a little less of the broken bolt.. Take your time and get the thing started in the center with a good center punch ,, A tiny little spot to start with and then when you are satisfied that it is in the center of the broken stud make it a little deeper just so the bit won't walk away from center when you start to drill. use a cutting oil or go dry but NOT engine oil as it just lubricates the bit and keeps it from cutting..

The Wildchild

iTrader: (1)

drill a hole in the broken stud a tiny one a little smaller than a easy out drill bit, and easy out like 10 bucks at home depot and then you should be good IF NOT get some motor oil and a little tortch lighter (for cigs) and get the thing super hot like super hot almost red hot, then splash some motor oil on it and it will suck it in and then use the easy out will work 99% of the time.

datz

easy outs have never given me a problem, just get a good (expensive) one and hammer it i to the hole a little, but before you do that do the heat and motor oil thing ^, i dont know if that does anything to the chemical bonds between the housing and stud, but it always worked for me!

RotaryEvolution

iTrader: (30)

easy outs rarely work on these studs, in fact they rarely work at all unless the threads are already freed up. which isn't the case if vice grips have already failed. they only work in the instance that someone has overtightened a bolt and it sheared off, not when the stud portion has frozen to the point that the nut cannot remove the already frozen stud.

philly101

thxs for all the help im goin to give it one more try an if it dosent work i will talk it to the shop this is wha i get for a use na eng should of got a t2 lol

gerald m

Easy outs are great for a bolt that has been tightened to much and the thing twisted off but if the bolt twisted off because it was seized in the hole forget it.. The only guy that benefits from that is the guy that made the dam easy out and sold it ..