Boeing 717

Hey guys i broke an exhaust stud taking off my headers. Funny it makes the same sound as a cash machine when it breaks. Needless to say i was scared s#$Tless when it broke. Everyone told me im screwed. But i managed to get it out and heres how I did it if you ever have to do this.
1) Spray with pb blaster for a few days.
2) Tap on it with a hammer.
3) Get yourself some of these stud removal sockets from O-reilly autoparts. It took the 8mm socket.
4) Buy a propane torch.
5) Heat the area around the stud and spray some more pb blaster in there. (wear eye protection )
6) Tap with hammer a few times. Repeat a couple of times.
7) Heat around area again dont use pb blaster the last time because i think it will cool the area.
8) Screw that stud remover socket on with ratchet. Then back it out.
Came out like butter!!!!!









JERRY

wsybert

Nice job Jerry, looks like your making progress. Mine is sloooow going. Headed out to Colorado tomorrow for 8 days.... if I could just stick around the house a while.

springer3

Jerry:

Nice going. I had a rash of those on an early 911, and the outcome was not as happy. Mine snapped below the deck level, and there was nothing to grap. I used a left-hand drill, but it ran off-center and tried to cut into the aluminum head. Fortunately there was plenty there for a helicoil, and those seem to hold up fine. At the time I had not discovered the magic of heat in these situations. Aluminum has twice the thermal expansion of steel, so just getting the head hot released a lot of pressure on the threads. I don't know what is in PB Blaster, but everyone swears by it, and I keep in around for any fastener work.

A big mistake is to screw in a hardened "stud extractor". Break one of those off, and you can't drill it out. Don't ask how I know.

Boeing 717

Hey Springer how have you been???? Yea i had some of those screw in kind and actually went as far as taking a punch to start a hole in the stud but it was pretty creepy thinkin how that was going to turn out. If you had a guide or somthing it may be ok. But as long as you have some stud sticking out this is the best method. I can think of.

JERRY

pete000

Oh what a feeling when that thing finally breaks free !

Duck

I had thrown in the towell and had mine towed to a shop. They just called today and said that they wanted to pull the engine and take the head off to send to another shop to get the studs out. Since none are broken off flush, I said no way. I cannot afford $2K (their estimate) right now so the vehicle is coming back home as is. I am going to be more persistant and follow Jerry's instructions and stay patient. Wish me luck.

Boeing 717

How many do you have to remove duck???? Good luck let us know if there is anything we can do!!!!

JERRY

Duck

Going to use AAA to get it towed back tomorrow. I am not sure how many are left. They were able to get most of them. I am hoping that I am down to 2. I will post some pictures after I see what they did.

springer3

Jerry's method should do the trick. Just go slow, and use lots of heat a PB Blaster. If you have a pretty good protrusion of the stud, think about touching it with an ice cube while the head is still hot - try to shrink the stud and hope to shear the rust bond.

Don't rush - you get just one chance, and if it breaks off flush the only way is to drill. It is possible to bolt a guide to the other stud and drill out the broken one. Use a left-hand drill - you run the drill motor in reverse, and with any luch the bit catches and spins the stud out. You can purchase step-studs or install helicoils if you ruin the original threads. Both are fine repairs, but it is best to keep the factory threads is possible.

Good luck

jgrosjean

The safest is to heat each nut red with a torch and then they all come off. If one gets starts getting difficult, stop and heat it up again. I broke one off flush once and managed to drill a small hole down the center and then progressively increase the drill size until I got the rest out, but it doesn't always work. A helicoil insert is then the only solution.

Duck

Thanks for all the advice and support. I will let you know how it goes once I get the car back home. I already have some helicoil inserts just in case. I just hope I will not have to use them.

Boeing 717

Duck if you look at that pic of my broken stud you can see that all the rust and corrosion is only on the first one or 2 threads that go into the base of the head the rest is clean if you can get that broken loose you should be ok.... it might not be a bad idea and take a really pointy knife edge and just scrape around the circumference of the stud at the base as well. Like springer said just take your time and dont rush it.

JERRY

Duck

Thanks Jerry and everyone. I appreciate all the help and will try what you have suggested. I am hoping to pick up the car today and get it back in the air. I will take pictures of my attempts. I do not know what I would do without this forum.

I am not sure what is wrong with my browser, however Jerry, I cannot seem to load the pictures you placed on your first post. I am on a Mac and use Safari. I did try Internet Explorer as well, but no luck.

Thanks.

MisterRisky

for some reason the pics are now gone.. they were there for a while, but I just looked and they are no longer there

Boeing 717

Oh crap i erased them from photobucket i didnt think it would get rid of them on here. Is there a way to do it where i dont have to keep them in my photobucket acount but they will stay here permanently???

JERRY