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Broke a broken bolt extractor in a broken bolt...... twice

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iguanahotsauce

10+ Year Contributor
238
0
Dec 13, 2010
Vancouver, Washington
I have a 92 Talon TSi in my garage that I have been working on for quite a while now. It started as a free project car and needed a whole bunch of various work to get it up and running again. Eventually had it it running great for a few months, then it started having issues again. After doing quite a few different tests and checking various things it was determined that there was a bad head gasket that needed to be replaced. I proceeded to order a gasket replacement kit and tore down the engine so I could get the head off. It turned out that the issue was coming from 3 or the 4 bolts connecting the exhaust manifold to the turbo manifold were broken causing a massive air leak. Everything was fine and dandy, it was kind of a bummer that the head gasket was fine but at least I was able to go through and clean the engine and replace all the gaskets and various parts that I found out were in bad shape.
Flash forward to now. After a few months of not working on my car because I have been pretty busy with work I finally have some time to start working again. I purchased some tools to remove the broken bolts and attempted to remove the three broken bolts in the turbo manifold (there is also a broken bolt in the head where the intake manifold mounts to the head that I have not attempted to remove yet) So I drill a hole through the middle of the broken bolt and then tap in the extractor like the instructions tell me to. I then proceed to attempt to remove the bolt but it is not budging. So I hit it with some penetrating oil and let it sit overnight and I come back the next day and it still wont budge. After a while of trying to turn the extractor to remove it the thing snaps off and now I am left with a piece of a broken bolt extractor in the broken bolt I was trying to remove.
So I searched for quite a while and from what I read it said to get a torch and a cobalt drill bit and you should be able to remove it that way. I proceeded to heat up the bolt until it was very hot, let it cool down, and then tried to drill out the broken bolt extractor with the cobalt bit. The cobalt drill bit didn't even make a dent in the extractor so I decided I would figure out that one later and try working on removing one of the other stuck bolts. This time I heated the stuck bolt until it was very hot, let it cool, then drilled out the center of it. The first issue was that the cobalt drill bit did not drill through the bolt very easily, my cheap drill bit from harbor freight drilled through the other stuck bolt much easier. I eventually drilled out a hole in the bolt and was able to insert the new "stronger" extractor bit I purchased. This bolt I was working on was stuck just as bad as the other one and then after a while of truing to turn the extractor this one snapped off as well and I am now left with two broken bolts with broken extractor bits in the middle of them, one more broken bolt that I haven't touched in the turbo manifold, and one broken bolt in the head where the intake manifold connects to the head.
Any advice on what to do would be greatly appreciated. I am stuck here and have what to do now.
 
When you say turbo manifold, do you mean the hot side of the turbo? If that's the case drill the bolt completely out and use a bolt and washers and a nut. The extractor might be brittle enough to chip out with a sharp chisel. As for the head, if there's a part of the bolt sticking out, you can weld a nut to the exposed part and back it out that way.
 
I was going to suggest putting a nut "around" the broken bolts, have someone hold it in place with vice grips or pliers and weld the nut to the stud and then let it cool and remove the broken stuff. I had one break in a SBC head not long ago and that is how I was finally able to get the thing out. Extractor wouldn't budge it. The heat from welding then letting it cool good finally allowed me to pull the broken bolt out of its hole. This is only a suggestion if all else fails. As far as the head problem, I'd be a bit leary of trying to weld a nut on a stud/bolt without goofing up the aluminum surrounding it. A propane torch heating up the surrounding aluminum may get it to expand enough to remove it tho. See what others would do before deciding anything, it could be very tricky. Good luck, keep us posted.
 
I had read about welding a nut to the broken bolt to try and remove it but I don't have access to a welder. I have access to a pretty limited variety of tools that I can use. Would a propane torch be able to heat up another bolt enough to be able to melt the steel and "weld" it to the broken bolt?
 
Nope, but enough heat to expand aluminum without distorting it. I mig welded my LARGE nut to my broken stud (that was flush broken off) but it was in a cast iron SBC head. It was a simple 120V wire feed home type welder. I had to do it three different times, I think I just got into a hurry and didn't let the weld cool enough to get hard the first two times. I had a friend hold a nut then tried my best to weld the broken stud to the nut then filled the nut up with weld. We cooled it with water quickly so it wouldn't be soft then let it cool for another 15 mins or so (enough time for a beer) and it came out slick as a whistle. Aluminum worries me tho when it comes to welding so close to it. A good extractor and heat aroung the aluminum to expand it (the aluminum)then try to extract it, and cross your fingers for sure.
 
Would a propane torch be able to heat up another bolt enough to be able to melt the steel and "weld" it to the broken bolt?
Unfortunately no my friend. But you can use a left sided drill bit to try to remove it. It's a drill bit that spins counter clockwise and helps remove the bolt at the same time that makes a hole.
 
Another good idea. I have sometimes been lucky enough to reverse my drill when trying to extract and had it grip enough to start moving it out.....felt very lucky.
 
Well I removed the turbo manifold so that I could take it in to a friends machine shop and have them remove the bolts for me. I noticed what looks like several cracks in different places inside of the manifold and I don't think this is normal. Would it be a good idea to purchase a new one that doesn't have any cracks instead of trying to remove the broken bolts and reuse this one?

http://imgur.com/4Joucqp
http://imgur.com/GUcG9bo
http://imgur.com/1nKDt8d
 
Well I removed the turbo manifold so that I could take it in to a friends machine shop and have them remove the bolts for me. I noticed what looks like several cracks in different places inside of the manifold and I don't think this is normal. Would it be a good idea to purchase a new one that doesn't have any cracks instead of trying to remove the broken bolts and reuse this one?

http://imgur.com/4Joucqp
http://imgur.com/GUcG9bo
http://imgur.com/1nKDt8d

Yeah, that's pretty common for the stock manifolds to develop cracks. I would just try to source another one while you have it apart.
 
Edit... I just noticed that your pics are of the turbine housing. Yeah, better replace that. Those cracks around that wastegate hole are pretty bad.
 
Yeah I figured those cracks were not normal. Does anyone know where I could get a new one for relatively cheap? I am moving an about a month and a half and need to have her back up and running so I can take her with me but I have a very small budget to work with because all money is going towards the new house I just purchased.
 
Anyone know where I can buy a used one? Also what is the name of the part? I thought it was the turbo manifold but I cannot find anything on a turbo manifold when I search for parts
 
If your bolt extractor breaks there are 2 possible causes. Either it's too small for the bolt or the extractors are junk.

If you need to drill the bolt with the broken extractor use a double cut rotary ball file.

Heat works best on turbo bolts.
 
Last edited:
Always glad to help :thumb:
They stack 2 conical washers with the "cones" pointed OUT from each other so that they compress as the bolt is tightened, or that is how I do mine. Any one else do it different???
 
Given the cracks in that picture, I would just replace that turbine housing. A used one or a whole used turbo could probably be found cheap.

For the head, be careful removing that one. I broke an extractor in an exhaust stud on my head. I had to find a shop that did electrical discharge machining to remove it. If the head didn't already have a lot of port work and oversized valves it would have been cheaper to get another used head.
 
try penetrating oil again -EXCEPT make your own out of synthetic atf and acetone 50-50 mix-by far the best penetrating oil there is by a wide margin
the other have good ideas too as i have welded nuts to broken bolt and that work great too but i always use synthetic atf and acetone 50-50 and it works
 
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