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Removing a destroyed head bolt -- any suggestions?
1999 D2, but that's largely irrelevant.
The flats on one of my head bolts have rounded off, so it's at full torque and I can't loosen it. Of course it's one of the bolts at the bottom of a valley, so I can't get a grinder or Dremel down there. I have the other bolts still torqued down to try and reduce the tension on it, but I'm not having any luck getting it to move.
I have drilled into the center of the bolt but I don't want to run the risk of going astray and damaging the head. I don't have any faith that an E-Z Out will be able to handle the necessary torque. Does anyone have any suggestions?
1999 D2, but that's largely irrelevant.
The flats on one of my head bolts have rounded off, so it's at full torque and I can't loosen it. Of course it's one of the bolts at the bottom of a valley, so I can't get a grinder or Dremel down there. I have the other bolts still torqued down to try and reduce the tension on it, but I'm not having any luck getting it to move.
I have drilled into the center of the bolt but I don't want to run the risk of going astray and damaging the head. I don't have any faith that an E-Z Out will be able to handle the necessary torque. Does anyone have any suggestions?
Of course. Two different ones. And a 12-point 16mm socket along with a regular 6-point. Two of them split. And there's not enough head left to be able to get a socket onto it any more.
Craftsman makes a damages bolt/nut remover. You hammer it on the bolt head. It will cut into the damaged head, and continue to dig in as you apply torque.
Hmmm. I'll take a look at those. There's almost nothing left of the head though. I'm at the point where I think I'll just have to use a pinpoint grinder on my Dremel to chew away enough of the head that it collapses.
Well, I managed to get the bolt out, after much careful grinding and drilling and aiming with a narrow cold chisel.
The two sockets in the background are the ones that split when I was first trying to remove it, when the bolt was still mostly intact.
Damage to the head itself is minimal, thankfully.