broken eze-out in header bolt

Doug Domm · 07-29-2009, 05:24 PM

My son has a broken eze-out in a header bolt on his motorhome. Any suggestions?
I've tried to drill them out before with little success as they are so D---- hard of a material. Fortunately it is a front bolt and gives a little more access but still not a friendly place. Thanks Doug

BillK · 07-29-2009, 05:52 PM

Doug,
EZ outs are very hard and almost impossibe to drill.
Depending on how the access is and if the bolt is broken off flush or not ...... what I have been doing lately at the shop is taking a nut and holding it in place on top of the broken off bolt, then Mig welding it right through the center of the nut to the broken bolt or stud. The combination of the heat from welding and the fact that you now have a nut to put a wrench on usually gets the bolt out very easily.

It will be a little harder on the engine, but if you can get someone to hold the nut in place with a pair of pliers, and you can get a welder in there, i bet it will work.

One note of caution, disconnect the battery first to keep any stray electrons from ruining electronics.

gmonde · 07-29-2009, 06:39 PM

bill your on the right track but use a bolt instead of a nut (with the manifold off) wire wheel the broken stud ,take your mig and turn up the amps ,line up the wire with the center of the broken bolt and perform a stitch action on the broken bolt ,watching the red hot just start to cool,keep it pink ,,,once you have a build up exposed ,take a 1 inch 3/8 bolt weld it to the builtup material top side and bottom side,,with a little heat on the exhaust port and a 9/16 socket on a 3/8 breaker bar gently rock the bar back and forth until you see some move ment ,,,be patient it will come out,you might have to re weld the bolt a few times but its worth the effort ,,,no miss drilled holes and no messed up threads

worked at a midas in my early days and worked on commission gmonde

Doug Domm · 07-29-2009, 09:13 PM

Those sure sound like some good tips!!!!! When you are hot and sweaty and things aren't going as smooth as you would like at those moments sometimes you just don't think of some of the things suggested here. Often times I say just walk away and look at it again later. Well that is just what he did, booked a flight and off to visit family. I will pass this on and I'm sure he will try it on return. Thanks Doug

Doug Domm · 07-29-2009, 09:24 PM

Update! Flight cancelled family coming home instead. Maybe he will get a chance to try that. I'll let you know how it works out.

BillK · 07-30-2009, 06:41 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by gmonde

bill your on the right track but use a bolt instead of a nut

G,
I have never had a problem using a nut. Works great on getting broken studs out of aluminum heads etc. Seems like a lot more work to build up the stud, then weld a bolt to it ? But .... whatever works for you is what is important. Anything is better than pulling the head off to have it edm blasted out

gmonde · 07-30-2009, 07:08 PM

bill the nut deal works good ,,but on those real tough ones that are broke below the face (in the hole) building up and welding a bolt to it will give you more material to weld ,some times welding a nut and filling the nut dosent always give you the most penetration on to the broken stud or bolt ,,,had one of my employees break a bolt on a 460 ford in a E350 cutaway van 3rd bolt from the back 80 degree day 110% humidty,,,,,man it looked like pulling the head was in the mans future,,,but we got lucky and was able to work a small miracle with that trick and to aid it we heated the head and spayed cold water on the welded portion (spray bottle) it was tight but it came out,,,,,,they called me the pope after that one ,,,,now if i could only be looked apon like that in my house hold

"G"monde

Ken Haase · 07-30-2009, 11:50 PM

There's nothing 'easy' about eze-outs. I quit using them a long time ago. And since you have to drill the bolt anyway to use the so-called eze-out, why not just keep increasing the bit size until the 'wall' of the bolt is thin enough to where it can be picked out, or backed out, with the aid of some penetrating oil? And, IMHO, there is an even better method. Buy a few left-handed drill bits and use plenty of penetrating oil and stubborn bolts will usually back right out.

Of course all this assumes that you're real good at drilling right in the center of the broken fastener.

My .02 Deutsche Marks ( guess it's Euro's now)

07-29-2009, 05:24 PM	#1
Doug Domm Member Join Date: Apr 2006 Location: canada Posts: 247 Likes: 27 Liked 83 Times in 20 Posts	broken eze-out in header bolt My son has a broken eze-out in a header bolt on his motorhome. Any suggestions? I've tried to drill them out before with little success as they are so D---- hard of a material. Fortunately it is a front bolt and gives a little more access but still not a friendly place. Thanks Doug

07-29-2009, 05:52 PM	#2
BillK Member Join Date: Nov 2005 Location: Waldorf Md Posts: 225 Likes: 10 Liked 29 Times in 16 Posts	Re: broken eze-out in header bolt Doug, EZ outs are very hard and almost impossibe to drill. Depending on how the access is and if the bolt is broken off flush or not ...... what I have been doing lately at the shop is taking a nut and holding it in place on top of the broken off bolt, then Mig welding it right through the center of the nut to the broken bolt or stud. The combination of the heat from welding and the fact that you now have a nut to put a wrench on usually gets the bolt out very easily. It will be a little harder on the engine, but if you can get someone to hold the nut in place with a pair of pliers, and you can get a welder in there, i bet it will work. One note of caution, disconnect the battery first to keep any stray electrons from ruining electronics. __________________ Bill Koustenis

07-29-2009, 06:39 PM	#3
gmonde Senior Member Join Date: Nov 2007 Posts: 615 Likes: 56 Liked 166 Times in 59 Posts	Re: broken eze-out in header bolt bill your on the right track but use a bolt instead of a nut (with the manifold off) wire wheel the broken stud ,take your mig and turn up the amps ,line up the wire with the center of the broken bolt and perform a stitch action on the broken bolt ,watching the red hot just start to cool,keep it pink ,,,once you have a build up exposed ,take a 1 inch 3/8 bolt weld it to the builtup material top side and bottom side,,with a little heat on the exhaust port and a 9/16 socket on a 3/8 breaker bar gently rock the bar back and forth until you see some move ment ,,,be patient it will come out,you might have to re weld the bolt a few times but its worth the effort ,,,no miss drilled holes and no messed up threads worked at a midas in my early days and worked on commission gmonde

07-29-2009, 09:13 PM	#4
Doug Domm Member Join Date: Apr 2006 Location: canada Posts: 247 Likes: 27 Liked 83 Times in 20 Posts	Re: broken eze-out in header bolt Those sure sound like some good tips!!!!! When you are hot and sweaty and things aren't going as smooth as you would like at those moments sometimes you just don't think of some of the things suggested here. Often times I say just walk away and look at it again later. Well that is just what he did, booked a flight and off to visit family. I will pass this on and I'm sure he will try it on return. Thanks Doug

07-29-2009, 09:24 PM	#5
Doug Domm Member Join Date: Apr 2006 Location: canada Posts: 247 Likes: 27 Liked 83 Times in 20 Posts	Re: broken eze-out in header bolt Update! Flight cancelled family coming home instead. Maybe he will get a chance to try that. I'll let you know how it works out.

07-30-2009, 07:08 PM	#7
gmonde Senior Member Join Date: Nov 2007 Posts: 615 Likes: 56 Liked 166 Times in 59 Posts	Re: broken eze-out in header bolt bill the nut deal works good ,,but on those real tough ones that are broke below the face (in the hole) building up and welding a bolt to it will give you more material to weld ,some times welding a nut and filling the nut dosent always give you the most penetration on to the broken stud or bolt ,,,had one of my employees break a bolt on a 460 ford in a E350 cutaway van 3rd bolt from the back 80 degree day 110% humidty,,,,,man it looked like pulling the head was in the mans future,,,but we got lucky and was able to work a small miracle with that trick and to aid it we heated the head and spayed cold water on the welded portion (spray bottle) it was tight but it came out,,,,,,they called me the pope after that one ,,,,now if i could only be looked apon like that in my house hold "G"monde

07-30-2009, 11:50 PM	#8
Ken Haase Member Join Date: Mar 2007 Posts: 233 Likes: 0 Liked 1 Time in 1 Post	Re: broken eze-out in header bolt There's nothing 'easy' about eze-outs. I quit using them a long time ago. And since you have to drill the bolt anyway to use the so-called eze-out, why not just keep increasing the bit size until the 'wall' of the bolt is thin enough to where it can be picked out, or backed out, with the aid of some penetrating oil? And, IMHO, there is an even better method. Buy a few left-handed drill bits and use plenty of penetrating oil and stubborn bolts will usually back right out. Of course all this assumes that you're real good at drilling right in the center of the broken fastener. My .02 Deutsche Marks ( guess it's Euro's now)