Look like you are making nice progress!! Good job ad don't worry about those nicks.

As the extractor is tapered you may almost be home free.

Try and pick the thing out with a rotating motion as your grinding progresses.

Good luck and keep us updated.

-Adam

In your pic I see the edge of the extractor (I think it kinda looks like it goes the wrong direction am I wrong) try to get a pick or a small screwdriver in there and gently tap the extractor in the opposite direction that you were turning it to extract thr bolt, you should have been turning counter clockwise and you need to turn clockwise to get it out.

nocarriers advice about the welding is correct. Just running the weld current through the threads should be enough to loosen it.

If all else fails you need to find a shop then can EDM the easy-out.

Other suggestions:
Carbide drills (solid carbide) work very well.
You can even drill to the bolt size and re-tap it, so yu never really have to extract the bolt.
Be prepared to go drilloversized and heli-coil when this is over.

Good eye! It does look like that... Although he was able to get enough torque on it to break it...

Any progress?

Hi guys. Some progress and a bit of backslide. After 4 Dremel grinding stones, I have effectively ground out the extractor (yay!). What's left of it was pushed to the back of the hole (more on that in a minute), but the path was basically cleared.

So I re-commenced my left-handed drill-out. I got up to 7/32 and.....

*SNAP*

Are you _______ kidding me?!?!

I think my drill bit encountered some "debris" from the extractor, got bound up and snapped off. It broke into a few different shards. I was able to pick out the first couple shards, but the rest of the bit is about 1.5-2" inside the hole and wedged pretty tight. I'm trying to find something in my toolbox that will help me knock it loose.

Here's where I'm at:

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1213107719.jpg

Assuming I can somehow remove this latest blockage, I found some of the short-style extractors but I'm not sure how confident I am in them either. Tell me about the proper application of heat.....I have a little propane torch I've been using, but I'm not sure how long to heat up the hole before letting it cool down. Also, not sure how many cycles of heat should be attempted before possibly using the short extractor.

Beyond that, I am starting to give serious consideration to professional help. I've never retapped a hole and I don't want to make this whole situation worse. Thoughts on that?

A few thoughts:
Propane is NOT hot enough to do it.
You'll need an Acetylene torch with a small nozzle.
No matter which, it needs to cool off before using an extractor because heat expands the broken bolt.
I gather from your description that you have no real experience with this.
It takes someone with machining-experience to have the right feel for how metal behaves and how much force to apply when drilling and tapping etc.
Going by the picture, the hole drilled is not deep enough yet; go deeper until the drill is through and hits the Alu.
After drilling through, heat the area around the hole so the Alu can expand faster than the broken bolt; move the flame in a circular motion around the hole then apply heat straight onto the broken bolt for 2-3 minutes meaning a concentrated flame to break any thread-locker, then use air to cool off the broken bolt while the surrounding area stays warm.
Spray some penetrating oil into the hole so it can work from the rear; wait 2 minutes and try the right size short extractor with a reasonable force.
IMHO: drill right through the broken bolt, warm the surrounding area, heat the broken bolt, cool it off with air while keeping the area around it hot, spray penetrating oil into the hole, use extractor.
It takes a certain feel for this and you may not have the skill.

You can try MAPP gas or there is a rig that uses MAPP and Oxygen, if you have an air compressor then get a 1/4 inch die grinder and some small cone bits and clean it out with, that from the looks I would say that you are at the point where I would consider cleaning out the broken bit and extractor and using the transmission as a guide drill out the old thread and put in a timesert if you cant get them locally I can send you to a website that sells kitsfor every need.

Given that you've never tapped a hole I would say this is not the place to learn. Take it to a machine shop.

cut your losses and have a professional take over. cheap tools and no experience has taken it's toll.

I agree. At this point if you damage the original threads then you are looking at
an even bigger expense. That expense exceeds the cost of having a professional
resolve it at this point. Good effort though!!!

broken bolt
 

Matt, nice try, but now it's time for the professionals.
EXPIRIENCE GAINED IS PROPORTIONAL TO EQUIPMENT RUINED, but now cut you losses befor it get's to expensive.

I am surprised that no body else is close by, to give him a hand and even teach him some new tricks.
Let us know the out come and the cost.

+1 on the above comments...
Could you post a help wanted thread for your area, maybe a local pelican could drop by and give you a hand without moving the motor to a machine shop....??
Good effort though Matt!!!

Guys - The PO has offered to send me a Timesert kit to resolve my issue. He feels that this is something I could do with minimal risk of (further) damage or screw-ups. He is way more confident in me than I am in myself! Just curious as to your thoughts....thanks.

Have the PO send you the timesert kit and then take it to a compitent machine shop. I've done these while the people waited and never even unloaded it out of their truck. In fact just did one tonight.

this should have been a 10 minute job. those studs just are not in there real tight. you still would have to totally drill out the old stud, broken drill bit and all, to use the timesert. i've been cringing through this long sordid ordeal, one broken thing after another. go for it if you feel you can do it. that's the spirit of DIY, but it kind of looks like your luck isn't very good. valiant effort so far though. you just can't end up boogering the case.

I've had these kinds of projects myself...think 944 engine ready to go in and you realize that the bolt holding the coolant line is snapped. Spent all day with a similar project, broken bits and all. Think also, driving the roll pin out of the bilstein shock on my 911. Add this to the "never wanna do again" file. It adds character to the DIY experience and another war story to be told.

Good luck!

Let me know how this ends, subscribed.

3 guys have said take it to the machine shop. One guy even said to put it in a drill press. Well, carrying a 3.2 to the machine shop is a pretty big affair, but I'd like to see the whole motor standing up in a drill press or sitting in an EDM!! (EDMs require a wire fed all the way through)

Hey Cubby, the reason the thing is broken is because it's really stuck in there, But I guess you know that. You have the Dremel and apparently you have some degree of control over it. I'd get a diamond burr about 3/16ths and go real slow so as to not cook the thing. Relax. When you get the bit out, come back and the guys here can plan the next step.

I'll wager that if you have patience, you won't even need the heli coil or TimeCert (which is harder to install than you would think).

+1 Take the timesert kit and let a machinist drill it out he has the equipment it takes and the motor is on the ground so it would be relatively painless. Also keep us posted on the resolution.