HowTo: Removing a broken bolt.

[4age_fun]

Just need to add - this guide saved me on the weekend.

Saved me on the weekend too!! undoing the backing plate on a 4kc waterpump. was redoing the gasket and i stripped one of the taper headed phillips head screws. drilled the middle out and tapped a torx bit into it. spun it straight out!! yeahha

[hemi twofifteen turbo]

not a broken bolt one but when you have rounded bolt heads hammer the crap out of the top to peen over the head a little. The shock will loosen the thread a little and the socket will become a tight fit over the mushroomed head. Another way is using a cheaper style 12 point socket and hammer it over the damaged head.

[petergoudie]

Some of the problem starts by using a 12-point socket. Next time you see a cheap set of 6-point sockets buy them. Impact sockets are 6-point. On small diameter bolts a 12-point socket will often round the head.

[MR22ZZ]

not a broken bolt one but when you have rounded bolt heads hammer the crap out of the top to peen over the head a little. The shock will loosen the thread a little and the socket will become a tight fit over the mushroomed head. Another way is using a cheaper style 12 point socket and hammer it over the damaged head.

for rounded bolts, if you don't have an impact socket handy... these things are awesome there is a product from Irwin tools called 'Bolt-Grip' it a socket that tightens onto the nut as you turn it...

[petergoudie]

Note that the Irwin boltgrip is 3/8" square drive. If you are removing a nut from a long stud that has a diameter greater than 3/8" or 10mm the Irwin product won't slide down the stud.

There are some sets on ebay probably made in China or Taiwan but they seem OK. These sets are not a square drive but full hollow bore. You use a spanner or large socket over the top of them. The sets on ebay are identical from the Australian supplier and one on the U.K. ebay. However, the UK supplier is about $20 -$25 cheaper (including mailing to Australia) than the Australian supplier. My advice is to buy both Irwin and the ebay UK versions.

[Z2TT]

A++ will read again.

+rep

[TERRA Operative]

The thingo pictured above is magic.

Also, remember. If it's stainless, alloy or gets hot, nickel based anti seize is your friend. Buy some, use it and never have a stuck bolt or skun knuckles again. The stuff is an absolute god-send when used on an exhaust.
It will also stop stainless bolts galling when screwed into alloy, and to itself when it gets hot.

I go through the stuff like a hooker goes through crack. Never had a problem with a bolt or nut that has had the treatment.

[Cuzzo]

The bolts / nuts dont come loose due to this stuff terra?

[TERRA Operative]

Nope. Not at all. A properly torqued bolt won't come undone regardless of the lube. Vibration is another matter of course (hence loctite and spring washers etc)
Think of your head bolts. They're lubed and torqued and don't come undone.