Rennen

There isn't a whole lot to grab onto there and it seems to be pretty tight in the housing. All I can think of is applying a little heat to get things loostened up and use a pair of vice grips to twist that sucker out. Do I have other options?

Sorry to be such a noob at this job. I haven't dealt with this particular problem before. TIA.

Marc Shaw

Weld a nut on to help twist or grind a groove in the end to get a screwdriver tip in??

Marc

Smokin

It depends on how much is sticking out. If you have an ample amount... I'd use vise-grips to lock on and twist it out. If it is still sticking out but not enough to get a grip on.. I'd do as Marc suggested and grind a groove or slot in the end with a Dremel tool... Then back it out with a screwdriver. If it is lower than that you have no choice but to carefully drill a hole in the exact center of the stud, then use an "easy out" or screw extractor to back the stud out. You can't touch the threads though when drilling this or you'll mess things up. If for some reason the threads do get mangled... You could drill it out and use a helicoil to return the threads... Though that would be a last resort.

Good luck and please post back how you deal with it!

springer3

Red:

You can do this, but be careful and go slow. Goal #1 is not to break it while there is still a prayer of getting it out whole. Don't start with a bad plan thinking that you will get a 2 nd chance if it does not work. Find a time when you can be patient and calm. Rushing this sort of job increases the risk of a bad outcome. Go slow, and be prepared for a long battle. You will probably be pleasantly surprised when it comes right out. If you expect an easy time, you will get frustrated and risk using too much violence too early.

You will, of course, need to get the valve cover back off, and protect the openings to the engine. Stuffing clean rags around will keep debris and dropped tools out of the engine. Just be sure you get all the rags back out again.

Visit a tool place, and get the best stud remover that fits in the space you have available. Most have some sort of cam action. The better ones grip a long piece of the stud. Vice grips work OK if you have good ones, the jaws are sharp, and you can get a good grip with room to swing. Get vice grips on so tight you know they will break the stud before they slip.

Aluminum has twice the thermal expansion of steel, so yes, heat does help. The problem with heat is collateral damage to any exposed plastic or rubber parts. Direct a heat lamp at the bottom of the engine, and put a blanket over the top. Leaving it overnight will raise the engine temperature a few degrees. Every bit helps. Use a heat gun on the aluminum around the stud for 15 minutes or so before you start. If you can get the aluminum just a little too hot to touch, that is about right.

Spray penetrating oil at the base of the stud. There is a thread locker on the stud securing it to the threaded hole. That will keep the oil from penetrating at first, but it will help once you start to loosen the stud.

Apply torque smoothly - no jerks. Be careful not to apply bending action on the stud. You need all its strength to transmit torque. Any bending will cause the stud to break at a lower torque value. Don't rush it. Work it - increase and degrease the torque over a range you are sure will not cause the stud to break. Elastic winding and unwinding will loosen the first locked threads near the top of the hole. Once the top breaks loose, the lower threads start to see the elastic effects of the torque cycles. Break threads loose a little at at time. Go for broke too early, and you will break the stud and need to fetch the drill (about 10 X the time, and more potential for disaster).

Cycle back to more heat and penetrating oil if things don't start loosening up. Try tapping the end of the stud with a hammer while at maximum safe torque. The shock waves can help break the bond between the stud and the cam housing.

Obviously you can't go on forever if nothing happens. Gradually increase the maximum torque, but keep up the cycles of torque, oil, heat, and impact. It will either come out or eventually break off. If it does break, it may be time to find a professional to drill out the nub. Hopefully it will be much easier than you expect, but it is best to expect a very tough time and be pleasantly surprised.

If you do break the stud, it is no big deal. Helicoil repairs are actually better than the original tapped hole. It will be a lot of extra work, but as I said at the start, you can do this. Good luck!

Rennen

Oh man, sounds like I'm in for a little project with this one. I will definitely take my time and try to do it right. Another quick question. I obviously need an inch/lb torque wrench to do this job. Are inch/lbs just a factor of 1/12 of a ft/lb or is there some other conversion factor?

Marc Shaw

1 lb.in = 0.083333 lb.ft

or

1 lb.ft = 12 lb.in

Marc

p.s. lb.in = in.lb and lb.ft = ft.lb

Dave R.

After you heat the cam housing (and the stud) with a heat gun, you can then selectively cool the stud, e.g. with an ice cube, to further increase the size difference between the stud and the hole.

springer3

Great suggestion. If you really want to go overboard, get some dry ice (-110 F), or liquid nitrogen (-320 F). Watch out for the freeze burn.

Rennen

So, I'm trying to figure out if a particular stud remover will work. According to the part diagram, the stud is specified as 6x25 which I assume is 6mm diameter. If that's the case, will the 6mm stud remover in this kit work?

4pc 1/2" Stud Puller Sockets (6,8,10,12mm) $19.85


The stud puller they sell at Sears only goes down to 5/16" which is not small enough. If anyone has any better suggestions for a place to find the tool I need, please post.

Rennen

I'm an idiot....and an evil genius...all at the same time!!! I think I just figured out how to get the stud off without a remover! I can die the remaining shaft enough to get two nuts on the sucker, tighten the two nuts together low on the shaft, and turn the lower nut to unscrew the stud! That'll work, yes/no?

warmfuzzies

You might want to try and tighten the stud first, as bizzare as this sounds it's and old trick we used to use for removing stubborn nuts/bolts/studs etc, but you only want to turn it a very very small amount.

kevin.

Smokin

It's worth a shot if you have the room!

springer3

If you have enough threads for two nuts, is the stud really stripped? You can get a die, and cut more threads of the same threads on the unthreaded portion. I don't think you will be able to cut the next size down without weakening the stud. Why would the larger threads in the cam cover surrender to the smaller threads? The two nut trick holds about as well as a good stud puller if you can get enough threads for two full nuts.

Warmfuzzies idea to go positive first is a variation on my suggestion to cycle the torque. The idea is to work the threads near the top first, and try to break just a fraction of an inch loose using the elastic range of the stud. If you can get just a bit of thread to break loose at the top, the nexl section below that sees all your efforts. If you go for it all at once, all the threads are holding, and it usually breaks off at a very bad place - near or below the cam housing deck.Divide and conqueor.

Rennen

I tried the two nut deal and it didn't work. The second nut just stripped around and made a ring. I tried a bunch of stuff tonight and the remaining stud is about half the length it was when I started. I'm waiting for the cam style stud remover to arrive before I try it again. Worst case, I'll hire a specialist to come remove this sucker before I get down to the housing.

JasonAndreas

The el'cheapo stud remover you posted above won't be much better than the double nut method, without a thread to grab onto it will just click. (I have the stupidly expensive Facom version that was probably made in the same factory). The valve cover studs are made of a special german play-doh, they are extremely soft. The snap-on stud removers are worth their weight in gold but unfortunately cost almost as much. If your purpose built stud remover won't work then drill out the center with a tiny drill bit and try using a screw extractor. Fortunately there are about 4 sizes of increasingly larger and generally available left-handed screw extractors that will work on a M6 stud. You could still try a 15/64 die and some tapping fluid and try to cut a smaller non-metric thread into the part you've already stripped, at $4 for a die its worth trying.