I don't have a lot to really add to this forum, as I am a new owner and many of y'all are veterans that have been there and done that a few rodeos ago.

But I did a search today after what I went through and didn't see much in the way of how to remove a rounded off or broken bolt (or stud), so thought it would be a good idea to throw up a post with some good pictures to help owners.

With the extensive use of aluminum under the hood coupled with steel fasteners that are now 30+ years old this is a probably "when it happens" rather than "if it happens" circumstance.

I don't care how seasoned you are and experienced, the most sinking feeling is a broken or rounded off bolt or fastener.

This particular method of extraction will not work in all cases but I've used it remove broken exhaust studs on my 930, suspension pieces and today on the coolant housing of my 951.

So I was removing the aluminum coolant housing and the allen key bolt as it is not very deep (with less contact area) rounded off in the middle as happens - argh!

Fortunately I was able to cleanly cut the head off with my Dremel and a metal cutting wheel, leaving essentially a "stud" as per the picture below:



I've had great success using these Irwin bolt extractors, which work like a chinese finger when in counter clockwise rotation:



The key with using these Irwin extractors is to hammer them as hard as possible on the broken fastener, the hammering action also goes a long way to "wake" up the threads too, assembled ready for extraction:



The second important point to make is to use an Impact Gun to remove the stud with the Irwin Extractor, the hammer action of the impact is important to free any rust and adhesion between the threads of the broken fastener and the aluminum housing (head in my case). An electric impact is plenty powerful in this case, a really powerful air might shear the stud, so you have to "regulate" the force on the fastener:



And its out!





Its huge sigh of relief (understatement) to see the damaged fastener back out and certainly beats having to remove the head!

Cheers and Happy Holidays Friends - Yasin

 

good write-up

 

Thanks for sharing. There are a bunch of extractors on the market, most are useless, it is good to know you found one that works.

 

Useful tool.

Other ways is flatting 2 sides to put a shifter on it or vice-grips. Or using 2 bolts and tightening them to eachother

 

Amen to that, there are bunch of garbage quality extractors out there for sure, ask me how I know! Including some EZ-Out copies etc.

Double nutting and using a wrench is typically asking for trouble as the stud or bolt will typically shear off flush with whatever its threaded into. The key here is the hammering action of the impact which applies even, consistent but hard kicks to the rusted threads to slowly break it loose.

 

Irwin extractors are the real deal, saved my *** lots of times when working with stripped allen head fasteners. They make a set you can pick up at Lowes for about $20, 3/8" drive, and impact rated.