Yummybud924

I'm installing my new tranny, ad while tightening the coupler bolt on the tranny side the hex socket head of the bolt stripped before my torque wrench clicked. now I can't get it loose or tight.


should I risk driving it home from university like this? i'm pretty sure it's fairly tight but don't know if it got to 58 foot pounds.

also will a mechanic shop be able to get it out without dropping the dranny again??


it's the bolt on the tranny side where you can access it from the bigger opening in the tranny bottom.

what are the options to get it out grind off the head? weld a socket to it?


help i'm freaking out lol.

thirdgenbird

If you are lucky, an easy out may bite into it and pull it right out. You may also be able to weld to it and turn it out. If these methods don't work, I would move to grinding the head off. Worst case, this would let you remove the trans and start over. If you are good with a drill, it may also be possible to drill the bolt out in the car. With as easy as is to remove the trans, I wouldn't get too discouraged.

Oh, and I'm not sure i would risk driving it.

Darwantae951

Pound a torx bit into it.

thirdgenbird

Yes, I've done this too. Not in this location, but same concept.

nofalls

Deep breath. It will come back out. Just hold your tounge in the right way after pounding in a torx bit and only trying to turn it out. Take the now mangled screw to the hardware store and find a matching socket head cap screw. It will be fine.

Thirdgenbird - is that a tuning hammer in your avatar? The handle looks about right. Did some piano tuning at one time.

thirdgenbird

Negative.

It is a winged bicycle wheel and quick release lever. It is the emblem for Campagnolo, a component manufacturer that invented the quick release cam used on most bikes since.

nofalls

Ah ha. I know campi but never put it together. Go figure.

Yummybud924

well I don't have power tools here....and i want to drive home which is a 500km drive.....

I'm pretty sure it is fairly tight might even be tighter than the 58 ft lbs required. I was using a large torque wrench and extension to reach the bolt and as I was torqueing it just stripped.

i will risk and drive it home....... if I make it I will take it to a shop to have them try and take it out...... i'm just hoping they can take it out without dropping the tranny again.

i know if that bolt comes out it will strip the teeth on the tranny end and i will need a new tranny again.

this happened to me once on the torque tube end and destroyed the torque tube. I think it's because a bolt came loose.

Arominus

Be nice when shifting and hopefully it will hold.

f1rocks

You will likely not be able to just drill it out, they are 12.9 bolts and harder than my mom's biscuits. Had one strip when we were going to drop a tranny at the race track. Ended up using a sawzall and cutting the couplling in half. I have a few spare couplings if you can't back the bolt out and end up cutting it. (It takes about 15 minutes with a long sawzall blade)

Also the bolt heads are shorter which means if you put on in you bought at Fastenal, it will not be able to rotate. Make sure to buy OEM specified bolts.

If you have both bolts torqued down, I don't think you should have trouble making the trip home. You say it is torqued to 58+ correct?

thirdgenbird

A cobalt drill bit should get through it without much issue, but as stated above, using an easy out or torx would be my first approach.

chrenan

Timstar, we just went through this with JustinL's race car on the weekend. We put a 16mm 12-point socket on an extension and hammered it onto the outside of the bolt. Slowly applying torque with the ratchet and a few rounds of re-hammering the socket onto the bolt and we had it off. Good luck.

JustinL

And make sure when you replace the bolt, you use the right one. For you to lose the coupler, both bolts would have to come right out before it could slide around. The reason they need to be tight is not because they are holding anything together, but because they are spinning and the inertia/vibration wants to make them back out.

67King

You've got two bolts, and the only purpose of either is to keep the coupler from slipping. I've run with only one bolt for many track miles, never to have an issue. I wouldn't sweat it.

Oddjob

Trans cannot be removed w/ the coupler in place, unless you cut out the spare tire well. Agree w/ others, you can drive w/ one bolt installed.

Cant just drill the head off, you would need to drill it out all the way past the slot in the shaft, so all the way down to the thread engagement on the opposite side of the coupler - which you risk damaging the shaft. Also, he said this is on the trans side, so you have to access it thru the large opening in the bell on the torque tube, which is not directly in line w/ the bolt and also about 3-4" away from the shaft which makes access difficult. Certainly no way to weld to it, and I don't have a grinder that would fit in there.

I suppose if you drill the head off and release tension on the clamp, you could then drill a pilot hole in the bolt and try grabing it w/ an ez-out, it might just screw right out then.

Those 12.9 bolts are pretty damn hard. Im impressed you guys were able to drive a triple square or torx bit into the head - must have been a snap-on tool, the bolt would coin a chinese made tool. Also even more amazed Brent, that you were able to slide the trans back far enough to cut the coupler w/ a saws-all, do you have a youtube video of that? Thats one heck of a cut to make w/o hitting the trans shaft.

I just ordered two new bolts from a dealer. Cant find the right head or shoulder/thread length anywhere else. Porsche is pretty proud of these little suckers, so expect to pay about $9 each.