Snapped bolt - help please

[Jehanzeb]

Good evening everyone,

Hope you had a fantastic Christmas & a new year, mine spent on trying to get a tensioner pulley snapped boot out of my car without success.

I was changing the water pump, thermostat and also three pulleys, two idler and one tensioner pulley along with the serpentine belt. Everything came off nicely but while I was tightening the tensioner pulley (step 1 of putting things back on) I tighten the bolt with a little bit more force using a torque wrench and one of the bolts snapped. Half of the bolt is in the engine and some of it is outside.

Things I have tried
1. Tried to put the socket to see if I could unscrew it but it didn’t work
2. Used pliers and tried to turn it but it didn’t do anything apart from rounding the bolt
3. Used filter and filed some part of the bolt and used 5 spanner to turn it around but it too didn’t work

I cannot use drilling as there is not such space to drill and I certainly don’t know how to weld the nut to the bolt to take the darn thing out.

I have looked on eBay for bolt remover tools and some socket friendly options appear but their diameter starts from 9mm whereas I need something between 4mm-6mm which I cannot find yet. Someone suggested to take the part out of the car but it isn’t possible as it would mean taking the manifold out and all the other parts.

What do I do apart from throwing the car away please? I have attached a photo to put a picture to my text.

Kindest regards

J.

 

[Ted]

If there is enough room to get a small pair of stillsons on it I would be trying that. The harder it is to loosen the bolt the tighter they will grip.
Edit: if it snapped whilst tightening, the remains should be pretty loose.
Unless it was cross threaded...

 

[toolman1954]

You really need a friend / neighbour with an Arc Welder. A nut slid right over the remains of the bolt, a blast of weld, welding the nut onto the remains of the bolt and undo it while it is all still warm as the heat will loosen it. Failing that, heat up the remains of the bolt, using a small propane torch, then clamp on some really good quality mole /vise grips, not cheap crap that will slip, and while the remains is still hot, it should undo.
Excellent montage of helpful photos btw.

Steve.

 

[gaz_l]

Did you put the old bolt back or was it a new one? I ask as if it's a new bolt, and maybe longer than the old one, it may have bottomed out. That will make it a bitch to get out.

If it's the old bolt, then it may be corrosion in the threads that has caused the problem. Potentially, easier to solve.

Firstly you need to find a way of turning the broken bit. Can you use a hacksaw to cut a slot in the broken head, and maybe get a screwdriver in there to turn it? Otherwise, you will have to use mole grips or some other sort of pliers to get hold of the broken head.

Nest, you'll need to get some sort of lubricant in the thread to ease it. I see you have WD-40 - that's not that good at the job. See if you get hold of a can of this, it's expensive but good:

500ml & 200ml | Tri-Flow - high performance penetrating lubricant

Then it's down to wiggling it and brute force, I'm afraid.

Good luck!

Gaz

 

[french]

See if you can put 2 nuts on & tighten them together, then undo the lower nut...good Luck.

 

[Wolfie1]

3/8" DRIVE IMPACT STUD EXTRACTOR REMOVAL for 6mm to 13mm BOLTS / STUDS - NEW you need somthing like this

 

[Deleted member 126969]

Access looks pretty bad for getting Stilsons etc on there with any real hope of them gripping properly. Even if it was pristine, not enough thread was left after the original snap to double-nut it, sadly. IF you can get clear. straight, direct access from the front, you might get lucky with a stud remover but overall, as Toolman has said, I think welding a nut onto what's left with MIG or TIG would be your best chance of getting it out without having to remove that front cover and doing it on the bench. There must be someone who can help you out with welding a nut on it for you.

10.9 grade bolts are very strong, but they are also very brittle. Usually, a new bolt is a safe bet and quite often, on cambelt kits at least, you get new bolts supplied.