exhaust bolts...

I seem to have a problem!!!! I started taking off my exhaust to start some mods..#2 was rotted right out of the collector box and I have some Vance Hines pipes off a Harley I would LOVE to cut up and put on my Yami BUT now that same #2 pipe both studs snapped off while turning the nut and one other stud broke also...I'm gonna guess many of you guys have had this happen? What to do now?

 

Time to break out the reverse drill bits and bolt extactors dude. A blow torch when trying to remove the broken stud will go along way. Take a pointed punch and dimple that thing in the dead center, dont be afraid to give it a couple of good wacks to help break it loose. Drill your hole and straight and slow using WD-40 or cutting oil to help out. It is really important to stay dead center while doing this. stick you bolt remover in the new hole, setting in tight in the with a few tap of the hammer. Apply heat on the aluminum caseing around it. Let that this warm up good and keep good steady preasure counter clock wise on you extractor and when the heat reaches that magic point it sure let loose with crack. Just "DONT snap" the extractor off i've you do you are into a whole new problem.
Good Luck

 

STOP.

If the studs are broken off flush, you can either pull the head and have a machine shop EDM-burn them out, or you can actually dissolve them: http://www.chemical-supermarket.com/pro ... ductid=574

If there's enough sticking out to get ahold of, then invest $12 in some Kroil: http://www.kanolabs.com/google/ and unscrew the remains.

I DO NOT recommend trying to drill into them by hand; they're not all that large in diameter, the aluminum is MUCH softer than the steel stud, and you can quickly ruin the head if your drill strays off course.

You're right about it being a common occurrence; just as common are the horror stories when it goes terribly wrong.

 

Ya they are broken off flush...They all "snapped" when they broke loose and when I got to the #2 I figured the "snap" was the same well not the case the snap was a snap. I'm not so sure about the drilling by hand ....doesn't feel like a great idea for me, I would like to do it all with the motor in the bike and theres not a whole lot of room to be precise with a drill for me to be comfortable, but it sounds like the motor will have to come out anyways no?

 

Another trick I learned while working in a exhaust shop is to weld a nut onto the broken stud,while it is still hot touch any kind of wax to it. The heat draws the wax down the threats. Most of the time it works good. You can also just use wax with a easy-out. The plus about this is it does not take a whole lot of heat to draw the wax down the threads.

 

skram. Its not hard. I've pull 4 broken exhaust bolts out this year alone. 2 on the same bike! Fitz is right though If EDMing them out is the safest way, but ya gotta pull the motor. The trick here is you just gotta be smarter then the tools and machine you r working with. Any way u go bro, Good Luck.

 

No, all you have to pull is the head and you can do that with the motor in place.

 

opps my bad, I was thinking head but typed motor. Thank you for the Prompt correction Fitz.

Of course I wouldn't recomed takeing the heads and andf cutting a link out of the cham chain. not to mention I would check the availabilty in your area to a EDM Macine before I went though that much work. There is one here in town but it's on the base and not avaiable to the gernal public. The closest shop you could take it to around here is about two hours away and they carge you out the ass by the millimeter.

Personally I'd try options that dont involved ripping your freaking bike apart first.

 

I'm in the same boat with two broken studs. I'll be pulling the head, having the shop remove all the studs, and replace them all with brand new studs. It'd be nice if head gaskets didn't cost a fortune. I actually found an ebay UK dealer, selling them for $50 shipped (based on current conversion rates).

 

i don't cut the cam chain, i just brake the cams in half

 

If your going to try it. I would because its a pita to pull the head. center punch it measure a hole where the bolt goes. Set the depth on your drill bit with a piece of tape start out with a small bit and work your way up in size. you want to get the hole big as possible but not to big where the easy out will expand the bolt when screwing in lots of penetrent some heat. Should come out just don't brake the easy out off. The most important thing Put a bolt in the other hole so you can see the exact angle to drill. Get the best bits and the best easy out you can buy. And be patient if it doesn't budge right away soak it with more penetrent and go back at it later. your best off soaking it for several days before. A hint that works make a cup out of good tape around the broken stud to the cooling fins and head u shaped fill it with penetrant to the top of the broken bolt if possible and let it sit it will work itself thru the rust and crud quicker. just take your time it will come out. I have removed a lot of broken bolts in exhaust in heads on cars and bikes. Good luck in which ever way you go

 

Yes, don't get an extractor stuck in there like me. I've found it is impossible for me and my lack of knowledge to un-FUBAR the project. I bought another head for a small fortune to replace while I get this one worked over.

 

yea if you get an extractor to brake off your in big trouble

 

has anyone ever used a handheld impact wrench to get broken off studs out? like use a extractor bit in the wrench? looks like mine was broken off and a PO tried to get it out by drilling a hole in right next to it

I'm willing to bet that if i can put a marker in the center and line up properly to get a good whack it'll move, not before using some penetrating oil or something first.

PS: ooohh, i'm 5th gear!

 

I think I posted this before... not sure. When I broke mine off I just scored the remaining part of the stud with a thin cut off wheel on the dremel. It doesn't have to be deep. Just enough to get a small screwdriver on it and twist it out. It shouldn't be that tight now.

It's worth a shot?

 

Men:

RULE NUMBER ONE, ... is in effect!

"Do ... Not ... Turn ... A ... Bad ... Situation ... Into ... Something ... Worse!!!"

Bad Situation! ✖ ☚ ⬅ ⌫ (You are here!)

 

Rule #2:
If you didn't get it out the first time....
Find a bigger hammer!

 

rule #3 .. IF at 1st you don't succeed,try something easier,sorry couldnt help myself.

 

Don't let the 5th gear go to your head lol.

Inpact wrench is the best way to remove rusty bolts the hammer effect breaks rust without braking the bolt.

jmemmer usually they brake off flush i have no reason why. The screw driver trick usually doesn't work on exhaust studs. You have 2 different metals and the heat makes the bolt rust

 

Rick, a mentor told me once "Mechanic's oath: Do no harm... Anything else is fair game"

 

I'm just saying, I easily removed 2 broken studs from my bike with the method I mentioned. They were both broken off flush, maybe even a thread or so inside the head.
In 15 years of wrenching on Jeeps, I've removed a few exhaust manifold/header bolts this way too. Sometimes a squirt of PB Blaster was needed to get things started.

 

once they break they are good to go. You were lucky on the bike I can see it on the jeeps cast and steel usually get along pretty good. But steel and aluminum usually do not get along unless they were never seized its always worth a try doesn't take much to hack a screw head into it. I have herd so many horror stories about people braking easy outs off they are so tight

 

So Skram whats the verdict? Did you get it out? or are you still looking for a shop in your area to get it out for you?

Not the end of the world. We broke and extractor off about a 1/4 inside the "Naked Boy". 8O
We ended up taking a carbide metal removing bit (looks like a little round ball on the end of a shaft. yeah yeah ) and cut the center right out of it.

Then guess what we did?

We stuck another extractor in the little hole and pulled the stud out. 8)

 

Guess he did not have any good luck maybe in a few days he will reply with good news

 

im neck deep in the same problemo right now,3 studs in the head flush...all thanks to my brother,just had to yank on that exhaust..lol..well i started my pilot hole on the first bolt put the extractor in and its really hanging in there,blowtorch and all....next option is taking it to the machine shop,i really dont want to break my extractor as well.

 

one last this you could try to that I had to resort to. (this is not for the faint of heart) Take a small drill bit and drill at the top of the bolt hole about a 2 mm below the head and the bolt and drill a hole about 1/2 inch deep with a 1/16 inch drill bit. the idea here is to drill a hole in the side of the threads so that (like another guy suggested) you can build a little cup damn and squirt some PB blaster into and allow to soak over night. the hole allows it to get into and along the threads better allowing the stud to break loose.