peacekeeper

Does anyone know how you would get a bolt out of the thermostat housing? Any easy out wont work I already tried that. Just so you a friend who is an "awsome mechanic" was going to put the thermostat back on for me while I was at school, the *** broke the bolt off and I can't get it out. please help if you can. Thanks.

Flobb

If you're saying the bolt is broke, and you have to get a new one anyway. Why don't you just drill it out?

ScrapFC

iTrader: (5)

You want to *carefully* drill out the center of the bolt and back it out with a screw extractor or "easy out". If that doesn't work, get a better extractor. Drilling a srew out is a big pain and usually involves thread replacement which sux in aluminum.

tesla042

same thing happened to me.. I had to drill it out (REAL pita.. don't let any shavings get in anything!!). I ended up deciding I could use a nut and bolt from home depot instead of replacing the stud.. cheap and easy, and no leaks! Just fed the bolt thru both holes, put the nut on, and tightened it down..

-Tesla

ralph f cooke

In what way didn't the easy-out work ? The stud is 8mm (5/16 approx). The safest way to extract this is, if possible, to first file or grind the end flat, then centre punch the remainder of the stud. Next, using a Dremel or similar drill a small hole down the centre of the stud, then using a power drill open up the hole in small increments, eg, 1/16 - 1/8 - 3/16 - 1/4. At this point you should be able to use an easy-out to remove the remainder of the stud. Make sure you drill deep enough so that the easy-out doesn't 'bottom out' in the hole, and use lots of WD-40 or similar, especially during the drilling. Finally - it is possible to heat up the end of the stud with a small blowtorch, but be careful not to get it too hot, it is in aluminum after all, and use WD-40 to cool it down. This will cause some of the WD-40 to be sucked into the thread as it cools, and in conjunction with the heat is often enough to 'unstick' the stud.

Good Luck

easy p-cheesy

I did the exact same thing. I tried all sorts of things like JB weld on the bolt so I could get more to hold on to. That probably would have worked but I only let it sit around an hour or so. I ended up drilling the bolt and using an EZ Out. good thing about these bolts is that they're big enough that you can drill the center out and use the EZ Out without having to rethread it. Just be very careful that you use the right size drill bit and the right size EZ Out. Be careful that you drill it straight. Even then it wasn't an easy job. once I got the EZ Out in, I couldn't get it out by myself. I had to have someone else help me (I had a Vice Grip wrench and he had a monkey wrench). I got the bolt and he got the EZ out and we both twisted it and it finally came out. what did I learn? 2 things. 1) Don't use a torque wrench. 2) WD40 EVERY bolt I ever am taking out (coat that sucker). or putting in for that matter. Just be careful and you should be able to get it fine. if you have 1 bolt still in tact take it to a hardware store with metric bolts and they should be able to get you 2 new ones (it'd be best to get both new). good luck.

peacekeeper

thanks guys