I was removing my cam caps just now to install new valvetrain and one of the bolts snapped when I tried to remove it. Is there any hope of repair for this? I doubt I'll be able to extract a hardened bolt, especially one so far down in the head. Is this something a machine shop can fix or am I basically SOL and have to buy a new head?

 

one way you could fix it is by drilling:

first get a small drill bit and find an allen-key that is roughly the same size (must be slightly bigger than drill bit)

then drill vertically into the snapped bolt from top..... be vary careful( drill bit must be smaller than bolt), only need to drill about 1/8" deep

then take allen-key and tap it into the hole in the bolt

then carefully screw the bolt out

hope it help.... works for me

 

a machine shop should be able to take it out for you aswell...

 

Craftsman makes a drill extractor for this. Also you could use an easy-out. Torque wrenches are a good thing!

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by B18C2_sedan &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Craftsman makes a drill extractor for this. Also you could use an easy-out. Torque wrenches are a good thing!</TD></TR></TABLE>

Yeah the previous owner installed the cams and apparently didn't follow the torque requirements.. the shop manual says 7 ft/lb and I had to realy crank on some of these to get them out. Luckily I was able to get it out using a drill extractor just as you suggested.