Help -- I'm mechanically challenged
Thread Starter
Cruising
Joined: Apr 2007
Posts: 12
Likes: 0
From: St. Louis MO
Help -- thermostat cover problem
The short bolt attaching my thermostat cover to the intake manifold had been replaced with a stud and nut. I noticed a coolant leak around the stud. I tried to remove the nut to replace the gasket. The stud twisted off just below the nut leaving me about 3/8" of the stud above the intake manifold. I'm soaking what remains of the stud in penetrating oil.
Is there some way to continue working with what remains of the stud, or am I better off trying to grind it down to the surface of the intake manifold, then drill it out? Any advice will be greatly appreciated.
Is there some way to continue working with what remains of the stud, or am I better off trying to grind it down to the surface of the intake manifold, then drill it out? Any advice will be greatly appreciated.
Last edited by Ron K.; May 30, 2007 at 12:13 AM. Reason: change subject
Le Mans Master
Joined: Jan 2006
Posts: 5,921
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From: GA "When I grow up, I'm gonna get a Trans Am and run from the cops". Direct quote from my 4yo son.
If you don't have enough bolt to get on with a pair of vise grips you will need an "easy out" which is a screw/bolt extractor. You drill down the center of the bolt, then tap the extractor in the hole (with hammer) while holding with vise grips or the like, turn counter clockwise and bolt out. If you've never done it, find a friend to help you out!
Crackin' on...
Joined: Jun 2003
Posts: 9,450
Likes: 124
From: Somewhere in Tucson AZ
St. Jude Donor '09
Alternatively, Sears (Craftsman) makes a power extractor for use with cordless drill similar in action.
They ALSO (better alternative) make a stud/bolt extractor that maybe you can use with that much sticking out.
Good luck!
Thread Starter
Cruising
Joined: Apr 2007
Posts: 12
Likes: 0
From: St. Louis MO
One thought I had was to try to file off opposite sides of the stud, and use a crescent wrench to try to remove it. But the extractor sounds like a better way to go.
Would heating it up with a propane torch help?
Would heating it up with a propane torch help?
Team Owner
Joined: Jan 2006
Posts: 37,637
Likes: 3,118
From: Crossville TN
A torch might help...but it wouldn't be a good idea unless you do a number of things to avoid a fuel catastrophe. Soak the stud for a day in PB Blaster or other penetrant. Then use the vise grips to give it a good twist. If it doesn't break loose on the first try, rap the top of the stud with a hammer...it might help break the corrosion loose. Then try it again. Secondarily, if you have a welder, you could weld a length of pipe to the stud and use it as a breaker bar. [You'd need to take the same precautions as for the torch.]
Thread Starter
Cruising
Joined: Apr 2007
Posts: 12
Likes: 0
From: St. Louis MO
I added penetrating oil to the stud several times over the course of the day. Then I tried vice grips; they didn't work. 
Then I tried a Sears stud extractor, the kind you hammer down onto the stud with splines that dig into its threads, but when I put a wrench on it, the splines merely removed the remaining threads on the stud. I tried a small pipe wrench, and it actually grips the stud well, but I can't get enough leverage to budge it. I have an old piece of aluminum pipe that would fit over the pipe wrench to add the required leverage, but I'm afraid I could actually crack the intake manifold. (This thing is TIGHT!)
Do you think I could break somethin' if I put the "heavy" on the pipe wrench? Or should I surrender, grind the top of the stud flat then try to drill it out?
Any other ideas?
Then I tried a Sears stud extractor, the kind you hammer down onto the stud with splines that dig into its threads, but when I put a wrench on it, the splines merely removed the remaining threads on the stud. I tried a small pipe wrench, and it actually grips the stud well, but I can't get enough leverage to budge it. I have an old piece of aluminum pipe that would fit over the pipe wrench to add the required leverage, but I'm afraid I could actually crack the intake manifold. (This thing is TIGHT!)Do you think I could break somethin' if I put the "heavy" on the pipe wrench? Or should I surrender, grind the top of the stud flat then try to drill it out?
Any other ideas?
Melting Slicks
Joined: Apr 2004
Posts: 2,008
Likes: 38
From: Space Coast Gator Territory
Just a thought, the person who installed the stud must have had a reason. It might be that the threads were stripped and the stud was epoxied in place. Heat may be your friend in removing the stud if this is the case. In the end you may need a helicoil for the fix.
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