So the thermostat housing on my 350 has been slightly leaking so I decided today was the day I would replace the gasket to fix. When I was removing one of the bolts, it broke off right into the intake manifold without anything to grab on to

So went to local parts store for an extraction kit, everything seemed to be going well until the tip of the extractor broke off into the broken bolt wtf.

so now im stuck drill bits wont even begin to put dent in extraction kit piece thats stuck square in middle.

Anyone have any ideas?

Almost ready to pull entire intake manifold and take to a shop as much as I would like to do it myself. Or I have been looking into a performer RPM ....

 

hmmm, any chance you can weld to what's left? maybe you could attach another bolt to it, heat it up and back it out that way? just an idea

 

The bolt hole should be open to the coolant passage underneath (which is why the tip of the bolt is rusted). Can you remove the t-stat and turn the bolt into the manifold, until it falls out the bottom? You aren't going to be able to drill into the easy-out. The best you might be able to do is drill a couple of small holes on either side of the easy-out and use a punch to turn the bolt.

 

A dremel with a small cutoff wheel might be able to cut a slot in the bolt and ~maybe~ the easyout so you can turn the broken part with a screwdriver.

 

Good call Rob! I don't know why I didn't think of that. I can't tell you how many times my Dremel has saved me! If you cut a decent enough groove, soak it with some PB Blaster, you may just get lucky with a screwdriver.

This happened to me years ago on one of my old Accords. I wasn't as creative back then and I ended up having the car towed to a shop. Since then I always use new bolts when replacing a thermostat....anti-sieze is probably a good idea too.

 

That trick has saved me and my neighbors some frustrating times... My dremel is corless, too, so it goes whereever I need it. Just do not buy the cheap harbor freight bit sets, unless you like the wobble action...

Grade 5 minimum should ensure they will not break as easy.

 

HEAT.

Lots of heat.

Not enough to soften the aluminum (be careful), but aluminum should expand more than steel.
Drain the water (which absorbs heat).
Make a groove with the grinding wheel, then
heat it up with a small oxy/acet flame, then
try removing it hot and again as it cools.

- Eric

 

bolt extraction tool from Snap On (Mat Co) is your bestest friend in cases like these.

practice on a stock piece first, as it does take some skill

 

thanks for the help guys, finally got it out but caused a bit of damage to the intake. Took it to my local machine shop for quick repair. Just need to clean off surfaces and hook everything up. If everthing goes as planned be good to go by this afternoon.