I discovered today that one of my transmission bolts was missing... when I got a replacement and tried to thread it into this hole, it felt like there was no hole for it to go into. There is a "sleeve" that the bolt fits into (part of the transmission) before it gets to the engine block, and this sleeve is about 2" in length. After that is where the (suspected) bolt is broken off.

I can't even get my head level with the hole down there to look down and confirm that a bolt is actually broken off - I've been doing all of this by feel with a screwdriver. It doesn't feel like the bolt made a clean break; it feels somewhat sharp or jagged. It's the transmission bolt that is closest to the slave cylinder, towards the top.

I wanted to know how (if any) way I should approach this to be able to extract the bolt and not have to remove the transmission. So far, I am thinking I will have to invest in a 90 degree angle air drill just to get head-on with the hole.

I know I will only have one good shot at doing this right, so do you have any tips on getting a bolt out from such a tight, recessed space? I feel like it's pretty critical to have all transmission bolts nice and tight and functional..one missing could be the ***** in the armor that brings the whole thing down, so-to-speak.

Well, this is surely going to be a blast.

EDIT: Very critical question I just thought of. If I attempt to drill through the center of this bolt, and go too far, what will I be hitting on the other side? I've already been down this road with the engine mount bracket on the TB side, and hit a coolant jacket... =/

 

It honestly sounds like its not worth the trouble to do it in the car. Removing the engine isn't so bad. Personally I don't like the idea of running without all hardware in place but I think you might be able to get away without that specific one.

 

Well I had been tracking down a vibration issue for MONTHS and finally figured out that three of the bolts were incorrect..two of them were slightly backed out of the engine block (on the top of the transmission, connecting it to the engine) and the third one is just missing! As soon as I tightened the other two, the vibrations went away.

Wondering if I could get at it with a 90 degree drill? Pulling the transmission at this stage would just suck.. because then I'd convince myself to also replace the clutch / resurface the flywheel / rear main seal, and right now everything is fine (except for that one bolt).

 

I know it sucks...

I would pull the trans...... you might get lucky and be able to drill through the tranny gap andn get to the broken bolt to try and ez out, but then you might also slide sideways and drill the block.... The bolt is a lot harded that the block or tranny aluminum...

Good Luck !

 

if its only 1 bolt ... I think u will be ok without it until u pull the motor and want to do something with it then.. maybe by then it will be another motor and u wont have to worry about it

 

Instead of pulling the motor/tranny, have you thought about pulling all the components on that side of the tranny to get a better look and access? Not sure if that would help. There is the extraction method with the drill and ez out, or welding to the bolt and extracting.....

 

Maybe a pic?

 

I had the air box off and could kinda get down to it, but there's no way I'd be able to actually get my head level with it. I'd have to get like a dental mirror to be able to have the angle to see down the hole, then I'd need a light of some sort, and luckily I do have a 90 degree drill that could probably fit down there. Maybe if I really REALLY took my time and made sure to center punch it, I'd have a chance on getting it out without removing the transmission.

I will get a picture up tomorrow when it's light outside! Luckily it is driving well, now that I found that the other two top bolts on the transmission were either backed out a bit or loose... it's been like that since I got the car apparently (40k miles ago). I just hope I didn't put too much stress on the throwout bearing / input shaft / any other parts by having it loose like that. I'll see what I can do with this..didn't know if there'd be any tricks to getting this sucker out.

 

take the trans off, its not worth the risk or further damage in attempts to drill it out blind. The best you could do is make a bushing that would center your drill bit in the trans hole and guide you to the center of the broken bolt but even then you dont know what youre really getting into. Im willing to bet if you take the trans off you will have a much better chance at getting the bolt out

 

Chances are if you get the tranny off that you will have a piece of that bolt sticking out above the threads in the block and you can turn it out by hands. Aside from THAT, drilling it out or using a bolt extractor with the tranny OFF the car is your best bet. If you really wanna go through all the trouble of correcting an issue like this, do it the right way. Don't just start drilling at some **** sight unseen.

 

Sorry it took awhile, but here's a picture. I managed to get a 90 degree air drill in there, with a left-handed bit. Tried using a small bearing-like sleeve to guide the bit to the center, but as you can see it was more toward the side of the bit (the sleeve kept "walking" back out of the hole).







As you can see, I think it's not coming out. I accidently drilled a bit to the side with the guide bit..which was somewhat into the wall of the threads (or at least it looks like it in the pictures). I tried an extractor bit with no luck, but the drill kept loosening itself off of the extractor and I had to use vise grips just to get it out.

I then tried using progressively larger bits (left handed bits) trying to break it loose and back it out. No luck. Any other ideas? Or did I f&#* up the threads enough on the side, that it looks like it's never coming out?

Sorry it took so long to get these pictures - I had to gather all of my tools and equipment to attempt this. To get to the bolt, I had to take off the slave cylinder and put it to the side, and remove the airbox. Not too bad to get into it, but still kinda sucked.

 

Just saying.

Merry Christmas by the way.

 

If you're bound and determined to get it out, then pull the trans off. That said, I think it was worthwhile trying to do it with the trans on, but now that you know it can't be done, you know the next step.

But, tbh, it's a lot of work for very little reward. There are ... like 8-ish other bolts holding the trans on. Not having one won't be fatal.

 

I don't think it will affect anything. Just make sure you have the rest in place.
Looks like someone tightened the crap out of it and snapped the head off or it was cross threaded and snapped the head off too.
If it's cross threaded, idk if the screw extractor will work because the threaded are locked.

If you do try the 90 angle drill
Use it very carefully!!!
One I tried to remove a broke head stud. Drilled into the ******* head!
I would just leave it as is till I had a reason to pull the trans/engine & fix it when it's out.

 

Yes, this is actually better advice. Fix it if and when you have a reason to be pulling eng and/or trans stuff out for some other reason. Chances are that bolt is stuck in there somethin' fierce. Otherwise, just fuggedaboudit.

 

Thanks guys! I'm going to just not worry about it until the day comes that I have the transmission out, or am doing a clutch job, or something like that. I was hoping that my idea would work.. I guess since the other 2 bolts near it are on correctly, it won't make any big difference. Before, I did find out the source of my vibrations was those other two bolts being backed out about 1/16". I had replaced all motor mounts, shifter linkage bushings, both CV axles... just to find out it was two freaking bolts on wrong. Thanks again and Merry Christmas!

 

You're welcome
Merry Chris's and happy holidays to all! Have a blessed day