Bolt broken into manifold

[veltboy618]

I went to change the donut gasket today & I broke one bolt off into the manifold & the other one was rounded off from the previous owner. What can i do here?

[Eric Anderson]

First you will want to cuss a little, or did you take care of that already
You can try the usual stuff, drill it and try an easy out after soaking the part with pb blaster, it might help to heat the manifold also. However I will say almost every manifold bolt I have broken I eventually had to drill the bolt out and use a tap clean the threads up. If you do this be sure to drill straight through so you don't screw the threads up. The one that is rounded off you may have better luck with an easy out as you will be able to use a little larger one. If you can't get to the rounded one with anything you may just have to grind the head of the bolt off so you can get the manifold off to work on it.

[2blu442]

Or if you break the drill bit off inside the broken bolt.... like I did last weekend you can look for another manifold! That is if this is one of the more common ones. If this is an S, W,X,Y,Z then you might want to spend a little more time on it! It's a pain as these exhaust bolts have been heated so many times it seems to makes them brittle. Is it still in the car? With the rounded bolt head I bought a little box of tools from Sears that you can put over a rounded bolt head and it will bite into it as you go to remove the bolt. You put a socket over this tool and rotate it with your ratchet. I've used them at least a dozen times and it worked on every one. They came in a little red plastic box and have maybe 5 or 6 sized. That may also break this bolt off if it's as brittle as the other, but at least you'd get it off the car and can try the things Eric suggested. Take an extra dose of patience before you start in on it again!!! John

[veltboy618]

Originally Posted by Eric Anderson

First you will want to cuss a little, or did you take care of that already
You can try the usual stuff, drill it and try an easy out after soaking the part with pb blaster, it might help to heat the manifold also. However I will say almost every manifold bolt I have broken I eventually had to drill the bolt out and use a tap clean the threads up. If you do this be sure to drill straight through so you don't screw the threads up. The one that is rounded off you may have better luck with an easy out as you will be able to use a little larger one. If you can't get to the rounded one with anything you may just have to grind the head of the bolt off so you can get the manifold off to work on it.

Yeah, i already got the cussing out of the way. I figured I would have wo drill it out. The only problem with the bolt thats rounded off is it's not enough room to get up in there & cut the head off.

[Eric Anderson]

If you break the drill bit off in the bolt you can drill it from the other side and it will push the broken bit back out (unless that one breaks also)

[2blu442]

I was on the side under the manifold where I couldn't even get a set of vice grips on the other end! But its a number 1, something Oldsmobile used for several years so I dug through my spare parts and came up with another one. John

[Eric Anderson]

Originally Posted by veltboy618

Yeah, i already got the cussing out of the way. I figured I would have wo drill it out. The only problem with the bolt thats rounded off is it's not enough room to get up in there & cut the head off.

You could try the tool John described I've been intending on buying a set myself. If you can't find them or if it doesn't work out I have taken a dremmel with a carbide cutter head on it and sunk that straight in the bolt head until I got through the head of the bolt and it will come right off.

Originally Posted by 2blu442

With the rounded bolt head I bought a little box of tools from Sears that you can put over a rounded bolt head and it will bite into it as you go to remove the bolt. You put a socket over this tool and rotate it with your ratchet. I've used them at least a dozen times and it worked on every one. They came in a little red plastic box and have maybe 5 or 6 sized. John

[Eric Anderson]

Originally Posted by 2blu442

I was on the side under the manifold where I couldn't even get a set of vice grips on the other end! But its a number 1, something Oldsmobile used for several years so I dug through my spare parts and came up with another one. John

According to the law some Murphy guy wrote it's always on the side you can't get to.

[70_CS]

heat always works wonders

[J-(Chicago)]

I answered this on oldspower.

[Wasted]

I had this happen before. I think 2 broke off on 1 side an 1 on the other. I ended up messing them up, and buying a set off ebay for around $30. I think it was actually a guy from this site that sold them.

[Olds64]

I hae this problem as well. I tried an EZ out and it just broke off. I suggest taking the manifolds off of the car and using a drill to drill throught the bolts.

[My442]

Take the manifold off, and have the broken bolt taken out by a shop that has EDM (electro discharge machining).

[Bluevista]

Exhaust donuts? was it a cop car?
I would have just just smeared some muffler sealer on it.

I've drilled them out and and tapped them on the engine. Used an extension and a 1/2" right angle drill, sharp/new bits, low speed. A lubricant like liquid wrench helps to keep it cutting, clear the cuttings regularly or it will just spin. No big deal if you can get to it.
Good chance of breaking the bit the way I did it but I have a lot of experience fixing screw-ups as fast and as primitive as possible.
I know why you don't change spark plugs with a 1/2" impact wrench...now.

Don't you still have to get the one bolt out or cut to drop the exhaust if you want to pull the manifold to drill it?

[veltboy618]

Early yesterday i was about to get started on it when i thought if I wanted to deal with the headache. I didn't so took the car to Meineke and they took care of it for $40. The rounded off bolt wasn't coming out so he cut both bolts out of the manifold from the side & replaced then with another bolt with a nut on the end. The way he did it was fine with me because if they even need to be replaced again it will not be so hard.

[Olds64]

I don't really understand what Meineke did. Maybe you could take some pics.

I had a machine shop "repair" some W/Z manifolds for me and they really screwed up. I told them I wanted the manifold welded, drilled, and tapped for new bolts. What the guy did was welded a nut onto the back of the manifold. Talk about redneck jury rigging! Oh well, I will just have to take the manfiolds to a real welding shop to be fixed. I guess there are too many hill billys in Lawton, OK.

[71rocket]

Originally Posted by Olds64

I guess there are too many hill billys in Lawton, OK.

Surely not.......LOL