Hey guys. I'm running into problem after problem with this jaguar engine replacement! After finally getting the balancer bolt off (two impact wrenches, a home made holder, and a six foot cheater bar later!) I broke off one of the puller bolts for the harmonic balancer in the balancer. Dumb me got in a hurry and thought I had enough threads into the hole but I guess not. So now the balancer is still installed and the bolt is broke off in it.

I have NEVER had any luck with any kind of bolt extractor/easy out, half the time the remover breaks off in the bolt for me! So, who has experience with one that actually works? Also, the bolt is only an 8mm so space is not that abundant! But it shouldn't be in there too tight.

Thanks in advance!

How much space are we talking about?:confused: Can you post a pic? That would help alot. Is it outside, flush, or recessed in the balancer. I'm not familiar with jaguar engines, but the fastest way for me would be to drop the cradle and have a direct line at the broken bolt. Then drill it out with left handed drill bits slowly.:yes: If the space is tight and the bolt is loose in there then try putting a sharp pick on the top of the broken fastener and winding it out.

Spray it and let it soak with PB Blaster then try again. It works on all rusty,crusty,stuck bolts. It's only $3 a can, what can you lose?

The engine is actually out of the car. I talked to a mechanic this morning and he loaned me a set of screw extractors he's used forever. I drilled the pilot hole, inserted the extractor, SLOWLY turned the extractar and it started to grab...and BROKE!!! WTH!? I have absolutely NO luck with these darn things!

Well, I have an extra balancer so I just drilled a new hole in the old one, tapped it and pulled it off. Luckily this is my engine and I had the spare because these things are a couple hundred dollars!

I like the Astro brand bolt extractors. They let you put the torque next to the broken bolt reducing the chance of breaking the extractor, but you'll need some room to drive the extractor in.

A good part of my job was removing broken off bolts. If the bolt is rusted in or bottomed hard, I never found that an extractor ever worked. I usually ended up drilling the bolt out to near tap drill size then using the extractor. If that doesn't work, drill close to tap drill size then hooking the remaining bits of threads out of the hole with a scriber. It is pretty difficult to tell when you are dead centre and usually you won't be. Bolt and tap extractors aren't very effective, even in trained hands especially the spiral, tapered ones which I never use.

I talked to a mechanic this morning and he loaned me a set of screw extractors he's used forever. I drilled the pilot hole, inserted the extractor, SLOWLY turned the extractar and it started to grab...and BROKE!!! WTH!? I have absolutely NO luck with these darn things!

I would really like to talk to the guy who named these things "Easy out", I don't think I have ever managed to use one without breaking it. If the bolt is stuck hard enough to break, the so-called "Easy out" will break too.

My favorite method is to MIG weld a nut to whatever is left of the bolt. It works like a charm if there's some of the bolt sticking out, but can be difficult to do if the bolt broke flush with the surface. I have also had good luck doing what Keith said, drilling an undersized pilot hole and slowly enlarging it with larger drill bits until it's the size of the bottom of the bolt threads. If you get close enough to the center, you'll end up with a neat little spiral of thread that can be poked out or removed with a tap.

come on guys ......... its the 21th century haven't you ever heard of an E.D.M. ??? its a tiny little electrode that burns the broken tap/easy out or bolt out .....used all the time in aircraft & aero-space... :thumbsup:

find yourself a GOOD machine shop they'll take care of the problem in less time then it took to drive it over there :D

I think that it is called an Easy-Out because once it breaks, what is left in your hand comes out easy. ;) They are pretty useless for the most part. If a piece of bolt isn't tight in the hole, you can use a little centre punch and small hammer and tap the piece around and some times get it backed out a little so that you can get hold of it. Worked for me lots of times. EDM definitely works, if you can find a shop that has one.

I have never been able to get anything out with an extractor. Method of choice is the mig welding a nut like mentioned above. If its below the surface a reverse drill bit usually does the trick.

-Richard

I have never had a problem removing bolts with either an extractor or the drill tap size meathod but then again I am a machinest.

I have never had luck with those extractors either and im a professional mechanic. I was thinking the idea the Olle suggested about mig welding a bolt but that usually much easier said then done for most of these situations.

I've never had one of these fail yet. If it strips, you tap the next larger size in, and try again. I went up 3 or 4 sizes on a bolt once until it finally came out. :thumbsup: I keep a set of left handed cobalt drill bits with it, sometimes they'll do the trick themselves.

http://buy1.snapon.com/catalog/item.asp?P65=&tool=all&item_ID=77948&group_ID=1262&store=snapon-store&dir=catalog

My favorite method is to MIG weld a nut to whatever is left of the bolt. It works like a charm if there's some of the bolt sticking out, but can be difficult to do if the bolt broke flush with the surface.

I've done this a couple of times myself,it usually works!!!

come on guys ......... its the 21th century haven't you ever heard of an E.D.M. ??? its a tiny little electrode that burns the broken tap/easy out or bolt out .....used all the time in aircraft & aero-space... :thumbsup:

find yourself a GOOD machine shop they'll take care of the problem in less time then it took to drive it over there :D

hmmm, i have been working on aircraft structural repair for 13 years now. never seen the E.D.M. at work yet? i have heard of it and do know what it is... sure would be nice to have. as far as easy outs go... we use them all the time. mostly for stuck screws up to .250" some times for bolts bigger, but you do have to be careful not to break them. if you do, you are in for some long tedious work with a pencil grinder and carbide dental burrs. those suckers are harder than the screw or bolt you are trying to remove for sure. sometimes you can get away with putting a socket slightly larger than the screw or bolt over the broken easy out and whacking it with a hammer or rivet gun to rattle it loose. doesn't usually work. i have found that you get a feeling for how much flex you can get away with on an easy out before it breaks. if all else fails drill up to size and remove debris and tap the hole. if you have E.D.M. available, that would be a pretty cool solution. either way, once that easy out is broken in there, you are pretty well in for some fun from my experience.

I bring them to my welding buddy who starts heliarcing a lump on the broken stud. Then he builds another lump on the first one and so on till he can clip a pair off vise grips on it and turns them right out. It's the heat that does it he tells me.

I bring them to my welding buddy who starts heliarcing a lump on the broken stud. Then he builds another lump on the first one and so on till he can clip a pair off vise grips on it and turns them right out. It's the heat that does it he tells me.

That's one of the reasons why the MIG method works so well. When you weld the nut to the broken bolt, you'll heat it up really good and that makes it easier to remove. You just have to wait a minute and let the weld cool off a bit, or else it will break when you turn the nut.

one of the hardest bolts to remove i ever ran into was a seat mounting bolt on my el camino. it was hard because the head was sort of rounded off, it had poor access because the bracket came up so close that it interfered with getting a wrench to really nest firm on it, and it was rusted into place. after hours of fighting with that thing i finally had a guy weld a nut onto the head and removed it in seconds. the EDM deal is also slick. they used to have a version called a "tap extractor" that was used for broken taps that used this method. we have them at work but i'm not sure how available they are to the typical garage mechanic like most of us on here. also getting access to a broken or stripped bolt is not always that easy with that type of equipment. so, IMHO the welded nut method is the most practical in most cases. so write it down, remember it, if you don't have a welder find or make a friend that does (that is a worthwile thing to do in any case because people who can weld are just cool people in general).

Everyone knows to drill ALL the way through the broken bolt when using an extractor, right? it makes a big difference. try to drill straight. start with a small bit and work your way up to the largest size you can use without cutting into the original threads. You don't want the extractor to engage the original threads or it won't turn.Then pound in the extractor. I prefer the spiral type extractor because you can get them back out if it feels like it's going to break.

Everyone knows to drill ALL the way through the broken bolt when using an extractor, right? it makes a big difference. try to drill straight. start with a small bit and work your way up to the largest size you can use without cutting into the original threads. You don't want the extractor to engage the original threads or it won't turn.Then pound in the extractor. I prefer the spiral type extractor because you can get them back out if it feels like it's going to break.

NEVER works!!!! EVER!!!

These work pretty darn well if you have anything sticking out...


http://www.viewpoints.com/Craftsman-00952162000-13-peice-bolt-out-set-craftsman-review-50d94

I have been a professional machinist for over 30 years, easy outs dont work well and are not used by professionals for a reason. I would recommend drilling the bolt out with the tap size drill, works evey time. If however you now have a broken easy out to deal with this is much worse than a broken bolt, its a lot harder and will not drill unless you us carbide. You may be able to get the easy out, out buy useing a punch and tapping it so it turns clockwise this should loosen it up. Good luck.

If its broken off flush or above mig a nut to it. If it breaks off recessed in the hole, sharp left hand drill bit on slow speed. Has worked every time for me.:thumbsup: