broken bolt
 

well, i swapped my old worn leather seats from my liberty heritage over to some gt-b seats today (the kind wit the electronic seatrails), and came across a miniscule yet extremely frustrating issue - also a mild safety concern as the passenger side seat is flapping all over the joint.

essentially, the bolt that was in place on the passenger side seat, securing it to the floor, was dodgey. whilst i applied torque in order to remove it, it gave way, and snapped the head of the bolt off - rendering it impossible to dethread.

i've already tried a variety of penetrating oils and worked at it with a hammer and chisel in order to try get it to give a bit, but have since failed miserably. i'm thinking about welding a nut to it and removing it that way - but if you guys have had this issue before, and have a solution that involves far less effort and time, let me know. don't think easyout or similair method will slip this free unfortunately.

cheers.

Purchase or borrow an "Easyout" to suit
drill hole in broken bolt to suit easyout
insert easyout
unscrew broken bolt.

sometimes it is possible to remove the broken bolt with pliers/chisel/screwdriver after drilling a hole.
sometimes just the act of drilling the hole will drive the broken bolt out the other side.

if all else fails carefully drill to tapping size and clean thread out with a tap

Weld a nut on top of the bolt.

drill a hole in the centre of the bolt, then find the right size allen or torx bit, hit it in and remove that way. usually works quite well. or drill the bolt out

remember easyouts are meant to be wound using the hand. not a drill. using a drill could make the easyout shatter which would literally put you up shit creek.

[url]http://www.perth-wrx.com/vb/showthread.php?t=27934[/url]

Has been fixed before. Doug has a few good points in the above link on how to fix it.

[QUOTE=GX-REX;423075][url]http://www.perth-wrx.com/vb/showthread.php?t=27934[/url]

Has been fixed before. Doug has a few good points in the above link on how to fix it.[/QUOTE]

the ironic thing is, it's a reoccuring issue with the car TJ was referring to in that post. it's his old car. haha.

this will definately be a job for someone whom can weld.

Dont set the car on fire !

By the sound of it the bolt has been crossthreaded in there tight enough to break it off. You won't get it out with an easy-out. If you can avoid using the passenger seat until you get the steering rack done I'll drill it out and re-tap it for you, if possible. Otherwise it needs a patch and nut welded on etc which is more work but still do-able.

Edit; For anyone wondering what an Ezy-out is, or how to use one they have their uses but are not a miracle cure for all broken bolts. For instance if you're bolting on a bracket and overtighten the bolt and break the head off you may well be able to use an Ezy out. The reason the bolt broke was that it was overtightened, and stretched to breaking point, it will not be tight in the threads once the head has broken off.

On the other hand if you bought a coarse thread bolt from Bunnings for your fine thread pitching stopper and it breaks off after you have sweated and graoned through five turns of thread munching (Hi Tino!!) you've got buckleys of anything with the word 'ezy' getting that out!!!!

[QUOTE=dtrally;423124]By the sound of it the bolt has been crossthreaded in there tight enough to break it off. You won't get it out with an easy-out. If you can avoid using the passenger seat until you get the steering rack done I'll drill it out and re-tap it for you, if possible. Otherwise it needs a patch and nut welded on etc which is more work but still do-able.

Edit; For anyone wondering what an Ezy-out is, or how to use one they have their uses but are not a miracle cure for all broken bolts. For instance if you're bolting on a bracket and overtighten the bolt and break the head off you may well be able to use an Ezy out. The reason the bolt broke was that it was overtightened, and stretched to breaking point, it will not be tight in the threads once the head has broken off.

On the other hand if you bought a coarse thread bolt from Bunnings for your fine thread pitching stopper and it breaks off after you have sweated and graoned through five turns of thread munching (Hi Tino!!) you've got buckleys of anything with the word 'ezy' getting that out!!!![/QUOTE]

that's exactly what's happened - the head of the bolt has snapped, but contrary to what you've said - as it occured whilst i was removing the seat itself.

it doesn't look crossthreaded, but i could be wrong. the driver's side needs some attention too (as you have remembered from last time when you test drove the car, doug) ; although the seat mount channel has copped some damage prior to my acquisition of the car.

there's certainly not as much movement as there was previously however; as the new electronic seat rails are far more rigid in opposition to the original leather heritage seats that stood in their position earlier today.

i'll just drown my sorrows with copious amounts of bintang in bali, it's amazing how something so little can be so frustrating :rolleyes:

thanks for all your input :)

hey dude.... any luck with that check engine light? i think it was you....

[QUOTE=tiddy;423130]hey dude.... any luck with that check engine light? i think it was you....[/QUOTE]

CEL 21 - coolant temp sensor. doesn't make the car run badly whatsoever - it's just a bitch during cold starts, as the ECU assumes the car is running stupidly hot, to the point where it enrichens the mixture and turns the radiator fans on.

quite a nice little precaution, and makes me warm the car up every morning. just don't want to imagine the troubles during winter i'll have with it - so i'll definately have to have it rectified by then.

protip: don't spray water on the top of the heads after cleaning up a coolant spillage. i learnt the hard way :(

[QUOTE=tiddy;423130]hey dude.... any luck with that check engine light? i think it was you....[/QUOTE]

CEL 21 - coolant temp sensor. doesn't make the car run badly whatsoever - it's just a bitch during cold starts, as the ECU assumes the car is running stupidly hot, to the point where it enrichens the mixture and turns the radiator fans on. makes for sweeeeeeet backfire in the mornings but, the neighbours love me :rolleyes:

quite a nice little precaution, and ensures the car is properly warmed up prior to driving. just don't want to imagine the troubles during winter i'll have with it when OAT is obviously lower - so i'll definately have to have it rectified by then. the constant check engine light being on also gets on my nerves..

protip: don't spray water on the top of the heads after cleaning up a coolant spillage. i learnt the hard way :(

haha thats just silly, nice lil crack in the heads?
mine was fun in cold starts, starts up on the second crank haha. n then runs like shit so i let it idle for a bit.
new engine soon so hopefully that fixes it :)

[QUOTE=tiddy;423134]haha thats just silly, nice lil crack in the heads?
mine was fun in cold starts, starts up on the second crank haha. n then runs like shit so i let it idle for a bit.
new engine soon so hopefully that fixes it :)[/QUOTE]

no crack, just some moisture has gotten into the vicinity of the coolant temp sensor - hence why this issue has popped up.

mine's exactly the same. the spark is retarded by a seemingly insanely rich AFR to begin with, but once the engine begins to reach operating temperature (which is usually induced by opening the throttle right up, hence slightly leaning the AFR - which in effect increases CHT and EGT respectively), all is fine - and the car drives nicely.

plus, no harm done running a turbocharged car just a bit rich is there now ;)