ah, another broken bolt problem. Its REALLY in there, tried everything

[BigB9000]

So, outboard in question is a 78 115hp

Took the lower end off, broke the head of one of the 4 side bolts.

Bolts are stainless steel grade-8's smuthered with lock-tight.

first thing I tried was vise grips, then i tried hitting it with the PB-Blaster. Then I tried the torch. then I tried welding a nut onto it. Then a pipe-wrench. then I drilled a hole in it and tried to use an expensive easy out. which promptly broke off inside.

So..... I'm screwed? There is no way this bolt is coming off. whatever was left of the bolt tip is now gone, i have a bolt with an easy out wedged into it.

So, I'm thinking leaving it broken is out of the question?

so.... what about drilling it out completely, and tapping some larger threads into it.

where would I get a step-larger bolt? and how would I fit it into the lower unit?

Ive never done this before. But i don't want to scrap my project because of a bad bolt.

 

[Benny1963]

Re: ah, another broken bolt problem. Its REALLY in there, tried everything

not treally and option to leave it out ,you may try a small drill bit and drill around yhe sides of the ease out ,never use ease outs as you found out there terrible , try drilling around it get it out and put in helicoil around here i get them drilled and helicoiled for 20 a piece .if i cant get them out
good luck post back

 

[F_R]

Re: ah, another broken bolt problem. Its REALLY in there, tried everything

The people that make easy outs should be put in jail. That's my opinion. You are SOL, screwed. You'll never be able to drill that easy out out. You probably can get by without the one side bolt, though it isn't the best situation. Fortunatly it wasn't one of the other ones. One option for getting the junk out of the hole is to grind the metal away from the side and take the bolt out sideways. Then repair the damage by welding and redrilling and tapping to original size.

A comment on another of your other statements; Was it really locktited or was it salt water corrosion? Locktited fasteners can be removed by heating to about 300 degrees, which softens it up and allows removal of the fastener. Salt water corrosion requires a LOT more concentrated heat...almost to the melting point.

 

[BigB9000]

Re: ah, another broken bolt problem. Its REALLY in there, tried everything

It was locktight. no doubt about that

 

[oldrudedude]

Re: ah, another broken bolt problem. Its REALLY in there, tried everything

I agree with the previous comments about easyouts. Every one I have ever used has broken and compounded the problem. They are much too brittle. Your first step now is to remove the broken easyout. You will have to drill around it to remove it.

When I remove a broken off bolt (thankfully not often), I use progressively larger drill bits when drilling out the broken bolt until there is almost nothing left of the bolt but threads. I then use the rectangular tail of a file instead of an easyout. I have not had a file tail break on me yet. It may twist a bit. If the bolt is severely corrode in, the thread may then have to be removed as a spiral coil.

helicoils or threadsert work very well. If all else fails, weld the hole closed, redrill, and tap.

Good luck

 

[R.Johnson]

Re: ah, another broken bolt problem. Its REALLY in there, tried everything

Were you able to get the other bolt's out, and drop the gear case? As already stated, if a bolt is do tight that you twist the head off, a brittle, glass hard easy-out does'nt have a chance, other then to compound the problem. Welded up aluminum never makes for a very strong thread if you go that route. Have you given any thought to just replacing the exhaust housing, should'nt be that hard to find?

 

[BigB9000]

Re: ah, another broken bolt problem. Its REALLY in there, tried everything

just replacing the exhaust housing

Not a bad idea.

not a bad idea at all.

where would I look?

 

[fishinfool96]

Re: ah, another broken bolt problem. Its REALLY in there, tried everything

I only use a left hand drill bit when drilling out broken bolts. Start small and work up in size. Most of the time the bolt breaks loose and spins out while drilling. Although I never tried on a outboard, it has worked on broken exaust manifold bolts on my ford truck.

 

[jbjennings]

Re: ah, another broken bolt problem. Its REALLY in there, tried everything

I like the new exhaust housing idea, too. You might try some dealerships that have been in business for a while, craiglist, ebay, laingsoutboards, tcoutboards, or some other outboard motor salvage yard. I wouldn't think one would be that high, myself.
GOod luck----I'm a fellow "EZ"-out hater, myself!
JBJ

 

[dodgeramsst2003]

Re: ah, another broken bolt problem. Its REALLY in there, tried everything

just my .02 cents worth, but you might try and drill up to the easy out ( you're gonna ruin a drill bit) Once you get to it, try and heat it with a torch to get the metal around it expand. once its good and hot hit it with PB blaster, and repeat. It will take a while but you may be able to get it out. after you get the easy out, out, get yourself a helicoil kit drill the rest of the bolt out, and helicoil and replace the bolt. It might work, it might not, but all you're out is some time and a drill bit or two.

 

[jay_merrill]

Re: ah, another broken bolt problem. Its REALLY in there, tried everything

To me, easy outs are a mixed bag - sometimes they work, sometimes they don't. I would add to this opinion that broken bolts in outboards tend to be a little more difficult than in a lot of items if the motor has been used in salt water.

I do disgaree that you can't drill an easy out free, once it has broken off in a bolt. That is not to say that doing so is an easy task, or will always be successful. That said, I have done it on a number of occassions. The problem in drilling them out is generally that the drill bit will want to dig into the easy out if you drill to close too it. Once the bit drifts into the easy out, it will have a tendancy to "lock" when the lands on the side of the bit make contact with it.

My way of dealing with that is to use drill bit that is small in relationship to the bolt, and to drill a series of deep holes around the broken easy out. If the holes are spaced closely, there will be very little metal between them and that will break easily, if the easy out is moved from side to side by striking the tip of it on an angle with a punch and hammer. This process isn't easy and it doesn't always work, but it is not impossible for it to get the job done. I will say, however, that the end result is sometimes a bolt hole that is pretty "bunged up" by the time the bolt is finally removed. That may require the hole to be enlarged and tapped/threaded to fit the next larger size bolt.

 

[jonesg]

Re: ah, another broken bolt problem. Its REALLY in there, tried everything

The trouble is he snapped the ez out off in hardened stainless, its not exactly free machining.

The welder will get it out, build up the pool, deposit one weld on top of the next, cooling between welds and tap with a hammer to harden.

By the time theres enough weld to grab with vicegrips the welder will have vaporised the loctite into ash, often the broken bolt can be unscrewed by hand.

Broken auto exhaust studs are removed like this by savvy machine shops.

But if theres sufficient surrounding metal, I'd grind the broken bolt off flush ,(protect adjacent metal with tape) and then just drill/tap a new hole, quicker and simpler.

 

[RedbaranTX]

Re: ah, another broken bolt problem. Its REALLY in there, tried everything

I just removed a 1/4" x 1" bolt with nearly a quarter inch of an easy-out stuck in it. After $40 in drill bits ruined, I got it using a Dremel bit, "9909 Tungsten Carbide Cutter" and a nail set.

This cutter was awesome, but I had to keep punching indentions in with the nail set because it's not made to drill, it cuts on the sides. I would punch in a tiny bit then Dremel out the sides of the indention with the "super bit". That bit didn't care about the steel easy out one lick.

Worked for me, I wound up going directly through the center of the bolt and when I broke through the back end most of the bolt came loose and unscrewed out the back side. The threads that were left in the front from my earlier attempts came out with a little heat and lube and a bent fish hook as a pick.

Good luck! It took me three nights to figure it out, hopefully it will help someone else...

 

[seahorse5]

Re: ah, another broken bolt problem. Its REALLY in there, tried everything

Call around to different machine shops. One may have the tool that removes broken taps which would work to take care of your broken EZ Out.

 

[1946Zephyr]

Re: ah, another broken bolt problem. Its REALLY in there, tried everything

A few different times at the fair, I have seen drill bit sets that could drill through anything. Sure wished I would have bought a set. One of these would drill through an easy out and you could start over. Myself, I think easy outs are only good on blots that aren't stuck, but just broke off, by another way.

 

[levi_tsk]

Re: ah, another broken bolt problem. Its REALLY in there, tried everything

i ALWAYS ALWAYS ALWAYS use a left handed drill bit on a broken bolt screw or whatever and as fishing fool said start small and work your way up and theyll usually back the bolt out once you get close to the diameter of the bolt

 

[boobie]

Re: ah, another broken bolt problem. Its REALLY in there, tried everything

With all the modern tech we have today, does anybody know if someone out there makes a drill bit that will go through an e-z out. I sure don't.

 

[RedbaranTX]

Re: ah, another broken bolt problem. Its REALLY in there, tried everything

With all the modern tech we have today, does anybody know if someone out there makes a drill bit that will go through an e-z out. I sure don't.

Again, Dremel "9909 Tungsten Carbide Cutter". see my last. It really worked...

Also, just a note, I followed guidance on other posts and used Grade 5 bolts from the hardware store to replace the stock bolts and they started to snap at 15 lbs. Bad Idea!

 

[texasabil]

Re: ah, another broken bolt problem. Its REALLY in there, tried everything

old post started in 2008!!!

 

[RadarRick]

Re: ah, another broken bolt problem. Its REALLY in there, tried everything

Hey Tex, I won't complain. Thanks to whoever brought this to the top - I'm having a b#&@? of a time with 3 bolts on my old Merc. This info is very timely & helpful.