damn...just when i thought that i was gonna be done with my motor build up...**** happens!! i was torqueing those little bolts that hold down the camshaft when all of a sudden...snap!! i broke the bolt inside the head...what do i do now?!!? anyone have any suggestions or now what to do? please help...

 

you're gonna have to drill that sumbitch out. start with a small bit, drill right in the center of it. then progressively use bigger bits until you get the smallest possible wall of the bolt remaining, this will take the stress off the bolt making it easy to get out. then get this tool called "ez out" it's like a weird looking drill bit. use that to get it out. btw: were you torquing this bolt down with a torque wrench?

 

yeah...but the torque wrench only could go down to 9 ft. lbs, and i think that i was suppose to only go to 7 ft. lbs max. damn...so i'll have to drill huh? that's just great! thanx...i guess i'll have to try doing that or try finding a new head.

 

7 lb/ft.?? that seems too low. are you talking about the cam cap bolts or the valve cover bolts?

 

the cam cap bolts. them little bolts...i used 9 ft-lbs and i broke the first one that tightend! it's either that or my torque wrench is hella messed up!! oh by the way...do you know how much they charge at shops to fix this kinda thing?

 

There aren't any torque wrenchs that can reliably torque under 10ft/lbs unless it is rated in INCH/LBS.

Your tourque wrench is no good.

 

a machine shop shouldn't charge much. i'd say if it's over $30 it's a rip.

 

thanks...but i called up my buddy and he has about 2 other heads that i can use. the only thing that sucks is that i have to distribute everything from my old head onto the new one. what a pain in the arsh!

 

you're gonna swap heads just because of a broken bolt? well, i guess you could fix it later and sell it. what kind of head is it? oh nevermind i guess it's an LS.


[Modified by Salvatore Leone, 1:08 PM 7/27/2002]

 

get an easy out kit, it will be a hell of alot easier & with it only being 9ft/lbs of torque, it shouldnt be hard. Torque wrenchs dont go down that low, only to 20ft/lbs(usually 1/2" drive). manuals should have it converted for inch/lbs(usually3/8" drive) also.

 

where can i buy this easy out kit?? i looked at walmart and some other places. do i have to buy it at a autoparts store? or a hardware store?? please help.

 

hardware store will have it.

 

im almost certain sears has gotem. good luck

 

cool, thanks. i'll probably try sears first since i'm in need of some new tabs and they have a DMV up in there. also, i've tried drilling it and it's almost impossible to drill. i've broken 2 drill bits already. is there another solution to this?

 

take the rest of the cam caps off. is there any part of the bolt above the head???? im assuming it must have just snapped off right flush with the head. i woudlnt try drilling straight down the center of that thing, its a small *** bolt. EZ out would b the way to go.

 

you shopuld beable to remove the cap byu the other bolts and turn the bolt out by hand. The torque comes fomr the pressure of the cap part of bolt against a surface.

 

you have to drill it to use ez out.

 

i duno if i would trust myself to drill that sob out, those bolts are pretty small, i would go to a machine shop, unless you got the cash for a spare head.

 

That happened to me once, I was looking at the torque specs and it had all of them in ft-lbs except for the cap ones which were in in-lbs and it said like 144 or something which was a number exactly divisible by 12 ...anyways I know know those things will not take 100+ ft-lbs of torqueing! Howd I fix it you ask? I let the dowel hold it in, It was on a stock engine so, with all the surface area of those 6 or so caps it wasn't a problem so far (~20K miles)


[Modified by Westrock2000, 11:38 AM 7/29/2002]