I'm in the process of doing a head gasket replacement and for the life of me I cannot get the head bolts out. Specifically the first one in the sequence. Any suggestions? I've broken ratchets, tried cheater bars, breaker bars, etc. it won't budge. Help!

 

a shallow 6 point 5/8 inch impact socket with a 4 inch extension and a 25 inch breaker bar should do it. of course it helps if your more then 90 pound also . if need be you could put a cheater bar on the breaker bar but it should not be needed. Ratches are not made to that that much toqure and will usually breaker. the hole setup will cost like $30.00 at habor freight or $100.00 at sears.

 

Well, it appears that particular bolt was rounded off. Or, if it wasn't, it is now. Any suggestions on how to get that bolt out now?

 

drive a 6 point metric impact socket onto it, if your using 12 points you are just going to continue rounding it

 

Go to Sears and buy one of the bolt remover kits designed to remove rounded bolts.

 

when at sears make sure you have room to use it, a 5/8 head that has been rounded is probably going to need a good 1 inch or better of clearance around it to get the bolt extractor over it.

 

Worse case if you can't get it out... At the dealership when we round off a head bolt we use a air powered angle grinder with a carbide or some type of bur bit and just grind the head off the bolt. You can remove the rest after the head comes off. Just be sure to cover the engine and use a lot of rags to catch metal debris. If you don't have a source of air to run an angle grinder you can probably use a dremel tool. Either way grind the head off. No biggy.

 

Thanks for all the suggestions, guys. I'll try these and let you know what I come up with.

 

is this the first bolt or do you have every other bolt out but this one?