Problem #37, E-Manifold bolt broke in head

[Clyde65]

the bolt broke flush, I drilled it , pretty straight too, but when I was using the easy out, the easy out broke, now what? Can you all help?

[pl4yboy]

Vice grips, tack weld another bolt to it and back it out?

[Clyde65]

Well, if I had a welder.......I thought of that too, but I dont have and dont know anyone who does have one close. Are 4.8 and 5.3 heads the same?

[RedHeartbeat]

solid carbide drill bit or a tap burner. Slow rpm drilling on that tool steel or you'll burn the carbide drill up. You can dremel it out with a stone, I suppose.

[molitor]

1/4'' shank/ 1/4'' ''double cut'' carbide burr and a right angle die grinder, keep your rpms low on the die grinder and center it on the bolt shaft that you can see, if you drilled it pretty straight, this should be easy. lighty push the carbide burr into the bolt and let it chew its way through and be very careful to keep it in the center. keep some WD-40 or other light viscosity oil around and keep the carbid burr lubricated so it doesn't load up with chips. grind all the way down through the bolt until it falls on through, you should have a hollow cylinder left in there with threads on the outside, now grind out as much as you can without getting into the alumin threads, after that get a sharp center punch and try to fold the threads in on themselves, it should all come out in pieces like half circles. keep at it and grind out some more steel when necessary. if your careful you will have perfectly good threads left in there

[molitor]

i'm a machinist and i have literally done over 200 bolts this exact same way in this year alone. it works awesome though it is a little time consuming it beats the hell out of paying for the helicoil kit if you just drill the threads out. i make alot of money off of people that break taps, drills, and ease-outs. so do it right, be patient and just be careful, you'll be amazed at how easy it is once you get started. you can buy the burr at most equipment shops, a stone and a dremel wont last long

[RedHeartbeat]

So true about the dremel stone.

Sometimes you can take a pick or sharp punch and hit the edges of the easy out and knock the taper loose. It's best to just go ahead and pull the head and work on it on a bench or table once you've gotten yourself into this predicament, that or just live with a leak.

[DamnYankee]

For what it's worth...you never mentioned if you had a leak or not...? If you don't - just run it how it is. I had the exact same problem in my old truck and never had it leak.