I broke a bolt off while removing the head from my T. Any suggestion on how to extract it before I attempt to use a drill and easy-out?

prayer

If you are a good welder, put a big nut on top of the stud. Then stick weld the center of the nut shut (starting in the center on the broken stud), wait a little for the red to go away but not so long for it to cool and back it out with a socket. Don't panic--its happened many times.

Tim

If it broke off flush with, or slightly above the block, you might try this. Set a nut on top of the broken bolt and weld it to the bolt, with a wire feed or stick welder. Then, while it's still hot, turn it out with the newly attached nut. The heat from the welding, might help unstick the broken bolt. I've used this technique sucessfully many times.

PeeWee's Portable Welding. He will build a "tower" of welding material on top of the broken, recessed headbolt. The tower is built up , somehow without damaging the threads, high enough to grip the top of the tower with vicegrips. The combination of the vicegrips and the heat always frees up the broken bolt. Quite an amazing feat. Reasonable price, too. One hours labor. PeeWee makes his living moving his rig from one car dealership to another removing broken headbolts.

Wow, We're all thinking the same thing at the same time!

I guess my fingers were just a little faster tonight. I believe the heat generated expands the cast block faster than the stud. Or the expansion just moves the stuck threads a little to let it loose. Regardless, it seems to work. Too bad though, that "ping" isn't a sound we like to hear. But it is better than the big clunk when the crank breaks!
Tim

Jeff if the bolt has sheared off even with the block you can drill a small hole into the center of the broken stud. You must not go all the way through since you run the risk of drilling through the water jacket of the block. Use the step up method of getting bigger with the hole until you get a hole big enough to use an ease-out. I would first soak it in some good penetrating oil and even apply some heat. I have gotten them out that way. Take your time. If you ruin the hole you will have to insert a Heli-coil and you will be better off if you do not have to go that route.

I can tell you one of the worst sounds you will hear besides a rod burning out and knocking is a head bolt snapping! Been there done that. Good luck, Ken Swan

Well, I would do the welder thing but in the absence of a wire feed welder available, here is how I used to do it.
Drill two small holes down through the bolt. You will be able to tell when you are through the bolt. Blow air down through one hole to get all the gunk out you can. Go in the house or to the store and get a bottle of Coke. Pour it down the holes in the bolt and if you really want to make it work, make a little dam around the bolt with Play doh. Fill the dam with Coke. Go work on something else until the next morning. Then, stick two nails in the holes and grab them with vise grips and turn the bolt out. It that doesn't work you can take it someplace and have the welding deal done, but this works most of the time.

Jeff, I took out two manafold bolts yesterday that were broke off flush with the block. I welded a flat washer over the broken bolt then turned them out with a pair of channel locks. It's easear to weld a wasjer then down inside a nut. Guess I'm to old and shakey.
Marvin

That sort of thing has happened to me many times. Your and Mr. Swan's ideas have worked best for me. Almost always a little of the bolt will be projecting from the surface, but not enough to get a grip on. When there is a little projection like that, I grind the rough broken end to a flat surface [stay away from the top of the engine block, though, so as not to scratch it] and then scribe a couple of lines across the flat surface to make sure you have the exact center. Then using a spring loaded punch, mark the exact center point. Hit it again several times to enlarge it so your drill bit tip will not slip out. Then I use increasingly large drill bits. Before drilling, determine the length of the bolt stuck in the hole by comparing the broken bolt with a whole one. Wrap a short piece of masking tape around the upper part of the drill bit leaving it bare exactly the length of the broken bolt in the engine block, so you can stop drilling when you reach the tape. Then use an easy-out with a reversible drill. If you can attach an air wrench to your easy out, it can be more effective. The easy out bit will be the weak link in the chain. If it fails, you can keep drilling the hole wider until there is little left in the hole but the threads. If you have been careful to drill in the exact center, you can then use a tap and retap the whole if all sizes of easy outs have failed to remove the remaining metal. In any case, stop drilling before you hit any part of the walls of the bolt hole so that you don't damage the threads.
Another thing you can try before resorting to the easy out if you have, say, a quarter of an inch projecting from the bolt hole, even if it is rounded like a dome, you can cut a slot across the middle and insert a screwdriver blade with the same width as the bolt diameter - but again, be careful not to scratch the engine block surface. But drilling has always worked for me if anything has. And if you use left hand drill bits, you may not even have to use the easy out.
Yet another technique I use which has surprised me with its effectiveness is to get a sharp punch and hammer and set the punch near the edge of the broken bolt top at a part where the jagged edge rises so the punch won't slip, on the right side of the bolt, hold the punch at a 45 degree angle from the block surface and give it a sharp rap with the hammer. Note with a pencil the position of the bolt relative to the engine block before striking it so you can tell whether it has moved. If it moves ever so slightly, you can continue this until you drive it up and out enough to finish the job with a vise grip.
What has always worked for me for freeing metal to metal contact frozen by rust is diesel oil. If you have the time, before doing any of these techniques you might want to make some kind of little retaining wall around the bolt hole with modeling clay or glazier's putty and fill it with diesel oil and let it sit overnight. Another simple way to apply the diesel oil is to take a baby food jar, fill it with diesel oil, hold an index card over it and turn it over the hole, then quickly withdraw the index card. The diesel oil will stay in place until it soaks between the threads and loosens your bolt. If you feel diffident about getting the bolt out, you could leave this little jar of diesel oil in place for several days before attempting to extract the broken end of the bolt.

This works 100% of the time for me: Center punch and drill for an Ezy-out or equivalent extractor, insert the tool, grip it with a 6" Crescent or other wrench and with a backing-out motion force the teeth of the tool to grip the sides of the drilled hole. Now heat the area around the bolt with a propane torch just to about 200 degrees or so, not enough to damage anything, then take a small piece of beeswax and touch it to the bolt so that it instantly melts and penetrates the threaded area. Immediately put pressure on the Crescent wrench and the bolt will pop loose and smoothly back right out. No damage to block threads.

If you are going to use an extractor, I recommend the square sided kind. You drill the correct size hole in the remaining shank and drive the four sided extractor in with a hammer. The easy-outs that are pointed, cone shaped, and spiraled tend to break sooner and they tend to expand the shank of the bolt if you use a large one. Good luck, Hap

What I did when I popped the one under the dashboard (and I didn't want to take the car apart or pull the motor!!!) ... Take off the head and gasket, and apply liberal amounts of penetrating oil (not WD40 - I use Kroil, but Liquid Wrench is probably just as good)to the break with an eyedropper or small syringe - you don't want to get too much of that stuff elsewhere - tap the top of the bolt shank a few times (to help the oil go down) and let it soak for an hour or two. Overnight if time is *not* of the essence. Then go back and re-apply, let that soak in. The important thing is to make sure there's oil between the threads. Then take a *narrow* chisel (I ground one down for just this, think cabinet flathead screwdriver), and tap - ***GENTLY*** - the broken top of the shank of the bolt in the direction you want the bolt to go. Now's not the time to show your strength and power, so DON'T hit it hard, because you want to just grip the edge, and jar it loose - **NOT** cut it. Tappa Tappa Tappa until it budges (I now have a 6 oz ball peen just for this). Anyway, once you get it to move - at all - you've won. Use the chisel to turn the shank until you have enough exposed to cut a slot in it for a screwdriver, or to turn it out with your fingertips.

BTW, I don't use EZ outs of *any* kind unless I have to, and then only if the tappa tappa method fails... and if the chisel method fails, you got one tight bolt!! Machinists really like to take out e-z outs that are broken - pays their kid's college tuition.

Just make sure you have oil on it - you want that thing as slippery as possible! Even if you're on tour, or out in the middle of nowhere, as long as you have oil *in* the threads, and take your time, it will work 95% of the time.

Sue is right, a broken headbolt is bad but a broken EZ-out is a nightmare.

I've never broken an Ezy-Out using the method I outlined above. Not once. Nor have I ever failed to remove the bolt, or damaged the threads in the block. It just works.

drilling headbolts put the cyl head back on with enough bolts to center it and use a drill the same size the hole in the head to spot the center of the broken bolt. remove the head and proceed to do whatever you prefer to drill a perfectly centered bolt.

Although I've never needed to do it, you could also make or buy a drill jig bushing to accomodate the bolt hole and a center punch or transfer punch. If the broken section's above the block, it should be filed flat to make the punching easier and more accurate.

The Results .... Bolt Extracted .... No Damage!

Thanks for all the input. I decided to start with penetrating oil for several days and then start with the least intrusive and see what happens. With a punch and hammer I was able to get it moving and back it out!

Thanks for all the input.