Broken Studs, Broken Bolts!

[littletoes]

Had to remove several very frozen 3/4" studs from a square-to-round flange off a cast iron section boiler. What a motha'! The first that would come, we used some Rust Buster, and this stud extractor. Had to move it back and forth quite a it, but we did get a couple out. Broke off some others....

http://www.grainger.com/Grainger/PROTO-Stud-Extractor-1UDW4?Pid=search

When we have to drill, these seem to work much better than the "spiraled" types. Those "spiraled" ones seem to break more often than not...

http://www.grainger.com/Grainger/PROTO-Screw-Extractor-Set-3R995?Pid=search

I've had limited use with these, but they do indeed seem to work. Time will tell...
http://www.grainger.com/Grainger/PROTO-BoltStudScrew-Extractor-Set-2TJ52?Pid=search

When all else fails, we turn to the hot-wrench.
Yep, I've welded nuts on some studs, and the heat helps break it loose, even to the point of slapping a drenched cotton rag onto the area to kind of shock the threads. But at times, when all else fails, you have to use the cutting torch and blow the stud out as slag, then run a tap into the threads to clean things out.

Tell me what you've done in similar situations.

Very limited experience with aluminium for me, maybe one or two.

 

[littletoes]

I should mention, broke the cheap version of a 24" Proto breaker bar working on those studs. The "square" broke off at the little ball. Surprised me, I would have thought the stud puller would have gone first, but luckily, the whole-sale house replaced the breaker bar with a full Warranted Proto.

Didn't use and kind of cheater bar.....but I was standing on it.

 

[May Pop]

Torch before they break off. If its looks bad heat it. Penetrating oil after its loose to help save the threads and make removal easier.

 

[DrkMtnDew]

^^^ This is a good method. when i was working in a machine shop, people were alway bringing us broken bolts to extract. heat and penetrants will work 9 times outta 10.

 

[tatra]

if a nut can be welded on, i go that route first........8 outta 10 times winds up quicker cleaner and easier the more there are to do...........

 

[sselander]

CRC Freeze-off is the first thing I try now.
Have had good luck with it.

 

[cglasgow]

Haven't tried the Freeze-off yet but want to. Usually I heat the stud 'til it's dull red then melt candle wax on it as it cools down. The wax wicks in and helps the stud come out. If several cycles of that doesn't work, I heat the part with a torch 'til it's good & hot (so that I get good penetration when I weld), MIG weld a nut to the stud, then it comes right out.

Not something I do every day, but I haven't had to drill anything in a while....

 

[AJ.]

Searched around and this old thread was the closest I could find.

I am rebuilding a Landcruiser Ute.

A problem I have encountered a number of times with the tear down is rusted bolts that have snapped despite trying my best to get them out in one piece, there is a relatively easy fix for this and I took some pictures of one on a cross member that was easy to photograph.

******, another snapped bolt!
https://postimage.org/

If there was more thread sticking out a nut would be great for this job, but with it flat, a piece of flat bar worked better. This was a scrap piece I had from an old chair and the bends were already in it making it just about perfect, just needed to drill the appropriate sized hole in it.
https://postimage.org/

Then weld it on, use lots of heat if you can, the heat is really the secret to this working, so crank the MIG flat out and go for it.
https://postimage.org/

Then just unscrew, a bit of back and forth and some WD40 helps as well.
https://postimage.org/

Run a tap through and all is as it should be
https://postimage.org/

Cheers Andrew

 

[rockwithjason]

that is genius

 

[AJ.]

that is genius

Not genius, just experience

Cheers Andrew

 

[jerseykat1]

acetylene torches are your friend. heat it up before you break it.

you can also use an air hammer with a pointed bit on the bolts head, in the center, some times this helps to free up siezed bolts that run through rubber bushings. the kind of bolts that you dont want to heat up because the bushings will catch fire and smoke up the whole shop.

 

[littletoes]

We've welded nuts on them, where we can.

 

[Know Wosad]

Nice to see some real welders here Thats how its done

 

[IndyGarage]

welded nuts.

It only takes 5 minutes or so to grind the top of the broken stud or bolt clean, then MIG weld a nut onto it. Just find any nut that will fit over the stud, hold it in place with a pair of pliers and use a MIG to fill the inside of the nut, welding it to the broken bolt.

The heat from the weld will break the corrosion loose, and the nut can be used to turn the stud out. Works nearly every time.

 

[Olafur]

Some people can draw nice pictures, their handwriting is beautiful and everything they do with their hands looks good. They have no problem drilling out broken bolts without making a mess and for them it's no big deal! I am not one of them!!

Therefore I use welder to get out broken bolts - it's not difficult and gets easier with practice. Mig welders are fine and with Tig welder and strong rod (stainless) you can get out the hopelessly stuck fasteners you thought were impossible to remove.

I haven't drilled out a broken bolt in years and my set of Koken extractors sits quietly in the drawer - never used. Penetration oil!?

 

[Professur]

There's several rods for stick welding designed to go after bolts that are broken off well below surface. The flux gets into the threads to protect them, and an hot fat arc gets the stub plenty hot. Fill the hole and a washer and nut on top and out she comes.

 

[JoeMA]

Thanks for sharing AJ. Seems like every sheared bolt presents a different challenge so good to have different ways to approach it.

To echo jerseykat, when dealing with a bolt that may be problematic, I use a Bolt Buster to heat it up before trying to remove it. Recently redid the front end on a 15 year old car with a well rusted undercarriage. I hit almost every bolt with the Bolt Buster and penetrant beforehand and got through without a busted bolt. The extra time to heat up the bolts was less than dealing with a single busted bolt.

Good luck with your landcruiser.

 

[AJ.]

Thanks for sharing AJ. Seems like every sheared bolt presents a different challenge so good to have different ways to approach it.

To echo jerseykat, when dealing with a bolt that may be problematic, I use a Bolt Buster to heat it up before trying to remove it. Recently redid the front end on a 15 year old car with a well rusted undercarriage. I hit almost every bolt with the Bolt Buster and penetrant beforehand and got through without a busted bolt. The extra time to heat up the bolts was less than dealing with a single busted bolt.

Good luck with your landcruiser.

Yes always best to avoid the problem, but in my case I don't have anything to pre heat them. Add to that, the bolt pictured was holding a piece of plastic to the crossmember so pre heat wasn't an option anyway.

As you say every broken bolt poses its own challenge, find the right answer for each situation, fix it and move to the next challenge.

Cheers Andrew

 

[WVBrady]

There's several rods for stick welding designed to go after bolts that are broken off well below surface. The flux gets into the threads to protect them, and an hot fat arc gets the stub plenty hot. Fill the hole and a washer and nut on top and out she comes.

Would you be so good as to tell us some of your favorites?

 

[RedF]

For the big stuff, assuming it's not broken off flush/below flush, an air hammer hitting perpendicular to the axis of the bolt/stud can break the rust bond and let those seized fasteners turn out with ease.