Spun Head off Bolt, need HELP!!!

Hey all,

Replacing the starter on my 94 F150 and to my utter disappointment I spun the head off one of the two bolts that hold it on. It's in a tight space so I couldnt get a drill in there to try and use an extractor. I've sprayed it down with Liquid Wrench for 2 days straight now and have been trying desperately to get it off with mini vice grips but that is not working. I do not have a welder.

Any help would be more than appreciated.

Does this mean you snapped the head off, but most of the bolt shaft is still there?
It sounds as if you were able to slide the starter off the remaining bolt?
Consider yourself lucky. These things usually snap off flush with the engine block.
Sears and other places sell a socket (stud extractor) that is intended to remove broken studs. This fits over the broken bolt and you turn it with a 3/8 or half inch drive ratchet. As you increase the twisting force, these little teeth grip the broken bolt more.
You could try larger vice grips, but they are not as effective.
Otherwise, have a service garage weld a nut on to the remains of the bolt and remove it that way.

Funny, I dont feel all that lucky :banghead:

Yeah, the head come off and there is a stud there - sticking out about 1/2". I can't seem to fit a larger pair of Vise Grips on there good enough to get a good turn with it. I will check into Sears right away for that, much appreciated.

If there's 1/2" sticking out and you can't turn it with vise grips, you aren't gonna get it out with a shitty stud exctractor.

If there's 1/2" sticking out and you can't turn it with vise grips, you aren't gonna get it out with a shitty stud exctractor.

I would tend to agree, but I would try. Sometimes I use a Dremel to make a flat spot on two opposite sides so I can get a open end wrench on there, then heat it up with a propane torch ($11 at walmart) and many times this will do it. After heating, put on the wrench and turn. If this don't work and you have the room, you can drill it down through the middle and try an "easy out" This AIN'T easy, they dont work well on stuck bolts. I am sure some of the others here will have some more great ideas. Good Luck

If there's 1/2" sticking out and you can't turn it with vise grips, you aren't gonna get it out with a shitty stud exctractor.
Nonsense.
Good stud extractors are MUCH more effective than vice grips, and 1/2 inch is plenty of stud left. But public has a good suggestion with the heat. So long as the fuel line and other flammible bits are not too close, heat the whiz out of it first.

yeah bolt extractors are alot more effective than vice grips.

Yes, I forgot to say that Really Good Vise Grips=Still Suck! But I do have a couple of pair, just in case.

I dunno, you could try taking two nuts and put the first one on all the way, then the second one and tighten that one as much as you can, then go to the first one you put on there and loosen it with a wrench, since you have two nuts the first one will not turn the second one, that might work, otherwise the other ideas will work just as well...

If you have room, hit it with a hammer or use an automatic center punch to break the rust and corrosion loose from the bolt. Also heat is a good idea.

Funny, went to Sears (and many other stores) and nobody seems to have a stud extractor. This is turning into a pain! I may have to order one online, but I will try the idea that public mentioned first, as well as ghostguy's but I cant fit a nut on there due to me screwing up the threads with Vice Grips.

Thanks guys. Any online ordering place that has a stud extractor would help!

http://www.sears.com/sr/javasr/product.do?BV_UseBVCookie=Yes&vertical=TOOL&pid=00904458000
I just got this for xmas, it might work:
http://www.sears.com/sr/javasr/product.do?BV_UseBVCookie=Yes&vertical=TOOL&pid=00952165000

Awesome, thanks!
I got an idea tonight and am going to try it also. I drilled out and tapped a 3/8" nut through the side and am going to drill the bolt from the side. Then I will thread on the nut so the holes line up, and insert a socket set screw that I have which will hopefully hold the nut on so I can get the bolt off with a socket. I guess we'll see - have to warm it up good first before I try, wish me luck!

Well.....
My idea looked like it was going to work, and I got a really good leverage on the stud, but to my dismay the rest of the stud snapped off flush. I thought I was in trouble before, now I'm really p'd. Looks like I am going to have to drill it out and figure out some way of bolting this thing down...

For sale: 1994 F-150 XLT, needs starter (comes with starter!)

Try drilling into it with a good left-handed drill bit, if you're lucky it will get a good bite and spin the stud out the rest of the way. Trying to drill straight, and in the perfect center of the stud will probably be a challenge though.

Well.....
My idea looked like it was going to work, and I got a really good leverage on the stud, but to my dismay the rest of the stud snapped off flush. I thought I was in trouble before, now I'm really p'd. Looks like I am going to have to drill it out and figure out some way of bolting this thing down...

For sale: 1994 F-150 XLT, needs starter (comes with starter!)
First of all, we have all been there. Snapping off hardware is a hazard of the job.
My suggestion is to take it to a professional. Chances are, if you start drilling, you can screw up the threads in the block or get a drill bit broken off in the bolt. and this will make it MUCH harder to remove.

A good professional can drill out the center of the bolt and use an oxy - acetylene torch to really heat up the area.....and the broken bolt will come out with an extractor. Trust me, without serious heat and a skilled hand you will not fix this on your own.

If you need to get more room to get a drill in there, try unbolting the passenger side motor mount(take out the one bolt that holds the lower mount to the upper mount). Also unbolt the transmission! Can't forget that... Put a jack under the oilpan of the motor with a nice thick piece of soft wood to soften the impact, and jack up the motor. It'll rotate around the bolt on the driver's side motor mount, tilting the motor to one side. I've used this method for working on my power steering and trying to get my headers on/off.
Its a lot of work, but it beats pulling the motor or trans... unless you have a lift, then dropping the trans will take 30 minutes and be the method of choice!

If you've broken off the rest of the bolt, you have reached the limit of what you can do on your own. Listen to MagicRat and take it to a professional, you could make it so much worse on your own. Don't feel bad, I once broke a rocker assembly bolt, that was one of 8 in the head, mounting the assembly. Sometimes the bolt is fatigued, rusted, or sometimes you just makes mistakes, it happens to the best of us. But you aren't equipped to deal with it yourself.

I got a right angle drill from my work and gunna try drilling it out. I can put a bolt in from the backside and nut on the front with some lock washers so lets see if that works.

get an automatic center punch and strike the head of the bolt a few times, sometimes it doesnt take much of a striking force to break the rust loose. Make sure you use the punch on the center of the bolt because it will make it harder to drill later if your off center. Drill the hole. Heat up the bolt as much as you can. Use an extractor like this http://buy1.snapon.com/catalog/OBJECTS/20700/20643.JPG , If that doesnt work reheat the bolt and spray with cold water, try to get the water on the bolt only so it contracts but the surrounding metal is expanded. If that doesnt work go to a shop.

You will need to drill it out. Use a center punch to make sure that you go in straight. Then just drill it out larger and larger until you are ready to use an extractor or tap it. You can get an extractor at most parts stores. It looks like a tapered, left handed drill bit.

The "skin" of the old bolt will probably come out once you have drilled most of the meat out of the center of the old bolt. if so just spray some wd-40 or such in the hole and run a bolt in and out a couple of times to clean out any rust and dust in there. Good Luck.

Hey all, just letting you know the good news! :grinyes:

Well, after almost 5 days of aggonizing pain and suffering the starter is finally on!!!! OMG!!

I ended up just drilling it out as you suggested starting small and working my way up to larger sizes until I reached 11/32" drill size, then I finished the rest of the hole with a dremel tool, with patience and alot of effort (most of the day!) After this, I didnt want to push my luck by tapping the hole -- scared the tap would break in the hole -- so I just put a grade 8 bolt right through to the other side and placed a nut/lock washer on there instead of it threading into the casting. The bottom bolt just threaded into the casting like normal. It's amazing, I figured that with all the pressure applied, even with the larger drill bits that eventually the old bolt would just come out but the damn bugger just wouldnt budge.

Anyways, I wanted to take this opportunity to personally thank each and every one of you that helped me along my troubles and I couldn't have done it without you!

As this was my first, and quite possibly last starter that I put on I was just curious. I am noticing quite a different differnt sound starting my truck, quite a deeper almost groaning noise as it starts - Is this normal, or with my fiddling around is the starter off and causing this noise (hopefully it is just my paranoid mind acting up). The truck starts normal and there isn't anything abnormal other than this. Following this, I dont plan on keeping this truck too terribly long as I hope to get a new vehicle towards the fall so if it is off alignment what is the worst that can happen and should I worry? If so, I can take it in but I'd rather not as I am financially limited.

Once again, thank you!! I'd buy you all a round of beer if you were local!

FYI: For a followup, I have sucessfully started my truck 8 times with no problems. It starts within 1 second

Worth possable thing that could happen... You could loose controle due to bad alignment and veer across the median striking a tanker full of gasoline, it explodes. The vibrations in the ground cause disturbances in a local nucular power plant sever enough to cuase a melt down, this starts a chain reaction though power plants across the world, ultimatly causing death for all man kind and everything living except cock roaches.