Trying to remove precat to install a DP and the first stud came out. It wasn't too difficult but I got surprised by its size... please tell me it didn't break!!!!

 

Everytime I had removed my stock DP the stud is the part that I end up with, not the nut. It just more difficult to get the DP back on because you have a really difficult time securing the metal gasket. I would say it took me two hours just to get the four bolts retightened.

 

I'm referring to the lenght... it's way longer in the nut size and looks too short in the manifold side, like it broke inside.

 

That's the proper length. Nothing is screwed there dude.

 

It didn't break (or at least, doesn't appear like it). The threads on the engine side are always pretty short compared to the DP side.

 

I can breathe now... phew thanks! It came out easily and after reading here how difficult they are to get out I thought I broke it

 

Yeah its fine, dont worry about it.

 

yeah its fine .. thats how it is .. make sure you put anti-seize on before putting it back in

 

well, the precat is out but one stud broke. How do I remove it? It broke in the nut side so I can still screw another nut in there or grab it with pliers... any suggestions? right now I'm just spraying it with penetrant lubricant to try and get it to loosen up...

 

Keep dousing it with penetrant (recommend: PBblaster). If you have enough room to grab it, then try vice grips. You could also try heating with a torch, if the penetrant doesn't work(this is what I had to do).

 

wont the penetrant catch on fire?

 

1) good idea, let the penetrant soak.
2) get two jam nuts, high quality, and crank out using the bottom one. If it's too short for two nuts, try cleaning it good with solvent, then gluing a single one with loctite red (but don't let it get on the manifold!!).
3) Finally, I got one stud out by dremel grinding two flats on it until it fit a 3/8 or 5/16 wrench just perfectly and torquing on the wrench. This works better than the vise-grips method, but try the vise-grips first.

4) pull the turbos and use an extractor. Repeat for all turbo studs that break in the same way. :o(

I personally believe it's wise to spend $8 for an M10x1.5 tap and clean out the threads before you put in new ones. Just a slightly damaged thread can gall and continue to cause problems, even with anti-seize in there.

Penetrant will smoke a good bit when you first fire up the car. I usually let it run with the hood up for 5" and by then it clears. Just to be worrisome I keep an extinguisher nearby.

Dave

 

One of my manifold studs ended up seizing in the bore, threads and all. I worked on that SOB for a week, before I finally got one of these



Now, if I have something that I simply cannot get out (I had completely rounded the stud with grinding, drilling, vice grips, penetrant, torches, mapp gas, you name it), I can grab it with that extractor and it will come right out. Just in case you get stuck - after I got it clamped down it took about 5 minutes to spin it out with a 1/2" breaker (it took the threads with it; I had to re-tap the hole).

 

^^^^^ where do I buy it?

 

http://www.mytoolstore.com/kd/kdspec06.html

 

http://www.thetoolwarehouse.net/shop/OTC-6987.html This is a better stud extractor

 

do yourself and anyone else working on it a favor and put some anti seize on the threads

 

I finally got it out!! wohoo!! What a difference when you have the right tools...

I tried tightening the nut back and forth to see if it came loose, didn't work. Then I tried channel locks, stripped and rounded the few threads left... and even worse was my wrestling with it! I feel sore like I went to the gym! I then tried the first stud remover recommended in previous posts, the cam type, and it didn't work either, it grabbed the stud and then went all the way around, it was too big for the stud.

So I looked for the socket type stud remover but didn't want to pay or wait for shipping so I went back to Sears and returned the cam type remover and got a set of Craftsman Bolt Out. They told me it's for rounded hex head bolts and nuts and it wouldn't work for the stud but I bought it anyway to try. I figured a rounded hex bolt is not very much hex anymore, right?

On the first try after selecting the right size that biatch bit the stud so hard and didn't let go until it came out!! And then I really had to wrestle with it to get it out of the stud! I highly recommed them!

Added a pic of the aftermath...

 

Congrats! Did you check to make sure that the threads on the turbo housing are still okay? You may need to retap it before you install a new stud.

 

Here's a much better pic (still not used to my new camera)

I haven't checked the housing threads, how can I? A mirror? I will buy a tap (10x1.50 right??) and clean the threads, I'll also apply anti-seize.

One question that has me puzzled, what are they made of?? The studs and nuts won't stick to my magnet pick up... I thought SS as all steels were magnetic.

 

That's interesting - steels in general are magnetic, but I'm not sure how fancy the alloy has to be to become non-magnetic. I'll go look that up, thanks. Stainless steels can be magnetic, it depends on the grain structure.

Dave

 

dude you freaking raped that bitch!

 

Some stainless is magnetic, some is not. Just a little tid-bit of useless knowledge:

Most stainless that you find in your kitchen (ie: forks, knives, etc) is made from 400 series stainless. This is a "lesser" grade stainless and usually exibits magnetic properties. The "automotive" grade stainless is usually made out of 300 series. The 300-series is nominally austenitic (non-magnetic), but it can become magnetic after cold-working.


With that said, I'm not sure what the studs are made of. Although, before you mentioned that they are non-magnetic, I would not have guessed stainless.

 

I looked up some stuff, the stock studs could be Monel, Inconel, or A-286. Based on my experience with A-286 (aerospace std) fasteners, the studs look/feel like Monel.

Dave

 

They're stainless and so are the nuts, hence their tendency to gall and ruin the threads or take the stud with them. I replaced them all because two studs broke even though my car only had ~3,500 miles on it when we did my non-sequential conversion.

The nuts are the crush locking (oblong center hole) one-use-only type and should be replaced if they come off without destroying the stud.