Broken Stud Removal

1 Dollar · Feb 13, 2011

I've read the archives on broken stud removal and it seems the two best methods are drilling and welding on a nut.

In my situation it's an exhaust manifold stud on a Allis WD45. It's a friend's tractor, and it's about an hour from my shop/tools. I usually don't do mobile maintenance, I'm just helping him. His workspace is pretty primitive, so I'm trying to avoid any more extra work here.

This 3/8 stud is broken off clean with the head. I'm leaning towards drilling it/careful easy out right now because it is smaller, and with it being flush I think it will be hard to weld a nut to it. I'd have to use a small (low-quality) flux-core MIG welder to make the weld, since I'm mobile.

Whats your opinion in this situation?

Thanks

Anonymous-0 · Feb 13, 2011

bad BREAK /Bad Deal . I am a risk taker, BUT if ... If it were mine rather then risk wrecking the head ,,/ I would pull the head , Take it to Machine shop , have them lap the valves and , put on new seals after they got that stud out ...

bo · Feb 13, 2011

torch it out. Steel will pop out of there before you do damage to the threads. Or....get left hand drill bits and drill with them.

Wisconsin Cowman · Feb 13, 2011

I would weld a nut on there even if the stud is sitting below or flush.

Michael V (NM) · Feb 13, 2011

just for what its worth,these studs do go into the water jacket and are a very tight fit.prolly rusted where they extend into the coolant passage,careful drilling may be the best bet.new studs or bolts will prolly need some kind of sealant.I use permatex,the kind with a brush in the lid

Bob · Feb 13, 2011

Give me a smoke wrench and about 90 seconds and the broken stud will be history.

Even though I've removed quite a few broken bolts/studs in cast iron that way, I still tend to doubt how easy it is.

Recently, I had to remove a broken 3/8" stud from the exhaust manifold of a gas 4020. I put it off and obsessed over it and considered making myself angry by attempting to drill it out it for over a week and finally just grabbed the smoke wrench and made it go away.

NOT that tough!

bison · Feb 13, 2011

Cowman has the best solution.
Build the bolt up with the mig welder,rap it a hammer good and hard,weld a washer to the stump,then a nut to the washer,try to twist it back and forth a bit,if it does let it cool down soak it with W-40 and try again,making the back and forth strokes longer and longer till the stump gets loose.
If it breaks,try again.

Bob · Feb 13, 2011

That technique works for a lot of things, but for a REALLY stuck, rusted exhaust bolt, not so much.

BushogPapa · Feb 13, 2011

I vote for the Left-Handed drill bit..when you get into the stub, it likely will just screw out on the bit..

I use Grade 8 (Hard) bolts with Hardened washers when I replace my WD-45 manifold.. I use good Black Gasket-Maker on the threads and have not had any sign of a leak in many years..
Just get the correct length, plus enough to allow use of the hard washer..
I do suggest you use Hi-Temp Gasket-Maker to stick the white gaskets in the metal cups, and it will hold the cups/gaskets in place, when you slide the manifold back in place..
I think it helps the gaskets last longer too..

showcrop · Feb 14, 2011

I would, from what I can see, grind it flat, punch it, get the proper sized extractor, that's EXTRACTOR not EZ out, proper left handed drill for the extractor, then drill and extract.

Anonymous-0 · Feb 14, 2011

I've saved many hours of work taking broken bolts out of HUMMWV heads by 1st using a backwards sharpened drill bit. If the bit didn't screw it out, a torch would take it out in a couple seconds. Run a tap afterwards and keep going........

Dave

Anonymous-0 · Feb 14, 2011

My vote is for the left hand drill bit, after carefully center punching, in the middle of the bolt, start out with an 1/8" bit, then go to maybe 3/16. Stop there, and try a pipe plug style Easy out. (the set is like 26 pieces, I think labeled with letters, a-z). If you can't get it to move with these, then keep drilling bigger, with the lefties. When you see threads, in the drill hole, you might be able to take a puncture wound punch, and hammer on the debris a little, and rotate it a couple turns, to get a bite with a set of pliers, or vice grips. If I remember right, there is a coolant chamber behind that bolt, so don't be surprised, drain the coolant, at least enough to get it below the level of the bolt.

tomNE · Feb 14, 2011

welder is your friend. if your aren't sure how to do it find a pro. save yourself tons of work and worry. weld won't stick to cast, only the steel on the bolt plus it heats the bolt.
have done 1 zillion of these. it can be done with any welder.

M w J · Feb 14, 2011

On bolt that are broke level or below the head I have good luck welding a flat washer to the bolt then a nut to the washer you can get a little weld that way.

guido · Feb 14, 2011

Hello M w J,
If the hole goes through the water jacket, you should drill it all the way through first.
This will take some of the stress off the bolt.
Tnen use a left hand drill bit.
If you catch it right, it will screw itself right off.
Guido.

ncpapaul · Feb 14, 2011

Take a mig and dot-dot-dot-build up a small tip weld in the center of the stud, build it up taller than the surface, tap-tap-tap it with a hammer, then put on a black/plain steel flat washer and weld it to the tip, tap with hammer some more, then weld a nut to the flat washer, tap some more and take an air impact on low and slowly start back and forth, out first direction and then back in a bit and back and forth, going a bit more out than in, let the impact rattle or vibrate it, and usually I screw them out like that. Sometimes it takes several washer/nut weld-ons but it always beats an off center broken screw extractor in my book. Paul in Mississippi

Dick L · Feb 14, 2011

On a 3/8" stud I'd have it drilled out to the tap drill on center and retaped while your fooling around with welders. easy breakable outs and such.
I never have understood all the fuss about not wanting to drill out the broken bolts.

Easy, fast and on to other things.

Measure to find center. Small punch dint. use a small drill to walk the shallow dint to the exact measured center. drill straight in with the tap drill. Probly should use a small pilot drill bit if your tap drill has been resharpened. A resharpened drill sometimes will tend to lead off center. You can feel when you get thru the stud but mark the drill bit for the depth. tap with less than 1/4 turn and back out before going in deeper. Some times you can pick the threads out of the hole or pull then out in a spiral with needle nose pliers. Most of the time you will have to chip them out with a tap.

teddy52food · Feb 14, 2011

Leave the easy-outs at home. They only work if it will come out easy. If it twisted off trying to remove it, it won't come out easy. Welding a washer & nut or drilling is the way to go. After drilling a small pilot hole, get your favorite bug juice in there to soak from the back side for a while. Comtinue with the left hand bits.

trucker 40 · Feb 14, 2011

The way to get that out is to drill a 3/16ths hole in there right in the center all the way through the piece of bolt.Then bigger,and bigger until you get a 5/16ths hole,or whatever you can get in it without getting into the threads.Then go to an auto parts place and get one of those extractors for whatever size bit you got in it and beat it in and try to take it out after squirting a bunch of penetrating oil on it and letting it soak a while.If that doesnt work,use a MIG and weld down inside of the hole as far as you can and build it out of the hole,weld a washer on to that and weld a nut to the washer.Then try that.If that doesnt work,torch,but you have to know what you are doing.
The trick with an extractor or easy out is to get as big of a hole in the broke off piece that you can,without getting into the threads.The only easy out that will probably work is one of those real hard ones like a Lisle or Snap On and then you will have to have a hole right in the center all the way through as big as possible and not in the threads.
Left handed drill bits usually work better on stuck bolts than an easy out.

bison · Feb 14, 2011

you bet it does,but there's allways the exeption.

37 chief · Feb 14, 2011

I'm with you on this one. a torch is fast and easy. If you would drill a hole first this may help the cutting. Stan

bison · Feb 14, 2011

People that have the notion that one can get a good and stuck broke bolt out with an easyout or lefthand drill bit have obviously never tried it themselves.It might work fine on a bolt that's loose in the treads,but if the bolt was twisted off to start with there is no way.
In the latter case welding a nut to it or drilling it out are the only viable options.
Drilling gets the hole out of center more often than not unless a precision drill guide is bolted over the broke stump and a milling bit is used cause the broke bolt surface is seldom flat and a drillbit tends to wander to the low spot and one ends up with a hole that thatches tread on one side and leaves half the bolt intact,then what?.
I prefer to try the welding first.

I been doing this sh"t for 40 yrs.

Anonymous-0 · Feb 14, 2011

I don't understand how any kind of penetrating oil is going to help when it's sprayed into a hole in the center of a bolt. Does it magically penetrate through the bolt to get to the threads? That's as bad as the guy that sprayed penterating oil on a super tight drain plug on my truck. If the drain plug is tight and it's overhead, what is the pentrating oil going to do other than drip down in your face? If a bolt is partially out and you can see the threads, then penetrating oil could work or if the broken bolt could be put so it's flat, then penetrating oil could possibly soak into the threads. On a vertical surface or overhead, forget it. Heat works in any position though. Dave

Crem · Feb 14, 2011

I have also used a plasma cutter aimed right at the stud and given it a few blasts.

teddy52food · Feb 14, 2011

I don't know the position it is in, but it can't hurt. I was thinking of a blind horizontal hole.

teddy52food · Feb 14, 2011

The hole has to be all the way through for the oil to work from both sides.

Broken Stud Removal

Member

Well-known Member

Well-known Member

Member

Member

Well-known Member

Well-known Member

Well-known Member

Well-known Member

Well-known Member

Well-known Member

Well-known Member

Member

Member

Well-known Member

Member

Well-known Member

Well-known Member

Member

Well-known Member

Well-known Member

Well-known Member

Well-known Member

Member

Well-known Member

Well-known Member

Similar threads