Snapped a head stud, am I screwed?

[Pauly1]

While putting the head back on my 94 Talon I was torquing all the studs down to the correct spec. For some reson the torque wrench did not click and I snapped one of the studs, the broken stud is just left of the number 3 cyl. All of the rest of the head studs are on fine and toqued down. The car starts and appears to idle fine, I have not compression checked it yet. Do you think missing one head studs is going to be a big problem. bear in mind the car is TOTALLY stock and I will not be modifying it. Any thoughts.

 

[Jimmy Jr.]

I did this on Saturday when I was replacing the exhaust manifold after installing my new 16g. Just call Napa, get a replacement, take the old one out with some big vice grips and install the new one.

 

[leet]

Pull it out and replace it. Is there enough to where you could get a grip on it, or are you goign to have to drill it out?

 

[Pauly1]

I haven't even pulled the head to look and see if there is enough to grip. Like I said, it started and idled fine, so if it checks out compression wise, i don;t want to have to get into replacing the broken stud. Just wanted some opinions.

 

[PieTSI]

Running your car with a broken off head stud will cause the headgasket to fail in no time. Replace the headstud, if your lucky you may be able to get it out without taking off the head.

 

[Pauly1]

Ok, assuming luck is on my side, how would I get the broken stud out of the block without taking off the head?

 

[canhsusername]

Drill out the stud if you can reach in there and use 'easy outs' to remove the stud. If you can't remove it that way, pull the head and remove it and put a new one in. Like PieTSI said, it'll cause your headgasket to fail in no time. So I guess if you can't drill it out, pull the head, buy a NEW headgasket and stud and do it again. DSM love baby...

 

[Defiant]

A stud or a bolt? Where did it break, at the top or at the bottom?

You can count on pulling the head again. It's not a job you can fake, unless you can get the old fastener out.

 

[leet]

Agreed, 99% chance you'll be pulling the head off again.

 

[98TsiAWD]

DONT drill into a headstud with the head on the car. Where do you think those metal shavings are gonna go? Into your crankcase.

Pull the head and get it out.

 

[Pauly1]

Ok then, looks like majority rules and i'm pullind the head, which means I have to reset the timing, which is going to suck. Thanks for your input guys.

 

[BitAddict]

Added thought: I had 2 broken bolts in my head after removing the exaust manifold a couple of months back. The broke bolts were inside the head and could not be gripped at all. I tried drilling them but normal easy outs would not work. As a last resort I used a "Screw Extracting Set" from sears that wasnt really worth a dime, but it worked really well!!! I suggest if you can get them with traditional easy outs try that too. Good Luck!!