[isuzu95]

M6 x 25mm bolt broke off in thermostat housing on an old Accord of mine. Tried using an extractor and in the process, it broke off in the hole I had drilled.

It's my understanding these things are about the hardest material known to man and in many cases impossible to drill out.

I'm aware of the left-hand drill bit technique; I don't know if technique is going to get this done.

I'm content to copletely drill out a new hole and simple attach a nut/locker washer to the other side of a new bolt once I get a new hole drilled.

Does anyone know of a product that will cut through a broken extractor?

Thanks.

 

[Tad]

Oh boy. If you have a welder, you can usually weld something to it to back the extractor out. Then you may want to drill the stud out with the next size larger bit and try to pull the pieces of it out with some needle nose pliers or a pick.

-Tad

 

[bigpoppax2]

You can sometimes shatter the extractor with a punch or a chisel. I hate extrators. I will rarely even begin to use one. Only way I'd try is if I couldn't get a drill in there to begin with.

Usually if the fastener was in there tight enough to break, it's not going to come out with an easy out.

Joe

 

[isuzu95]

Tad:

Thanks for the reply.

Yeah...this thing is "IN THERE" and it's not coming out. What I learned on another site was that trying to drill thru a broken extractor would merely cause the drilling path to go everywhere but the intended route. There is a bit called carbide endmill, but it's generally used on vertical presses used in machine shops.

This thermostat case contains water-ways and I'm right on the edge of drilling into one of these interior canals.

I priced a new housing from an after-market provider and it's not as bad as I had thought it would be.

Bailin' out.

 

[bigpoppax2]

Check a few local j-yards as well. That'd probably be an easy pull at a u-pull it type yard.

Joe

 

[isuzu95]

Joe:

How right you are. Extractors are simply %$#@!&^

I've had success using one of these on only one occassion. Thought I'd give it a try anyway.

On another car site I belong to, a Mercedes tech mentioned that it was ok to try to go the extraction route as long as you understood that in the end you would replace the part. If someone who's spent 30 yrs. of their life wrenching has this attitude about extractors and the problems that come from using them, I don't feel so bad about the whole thing.

Anyway, I found this article; thought I'd pass it on:

http://www.asashop.org/autoinc/may2003/techtotech.cfm

 

[¡Oracle!]

I've learned my lesson on extractors the hard way.

Punches have worked well for me to crack them and get the pieces out when the extractor was large enough for the punch head to fit.

 

[Tad]

I knew that I recodnized that url...

http://www.mercedesshop.com/shopforum/s ... 3?t=125120

-Tad

Maintenance supervisor for a pair of '95 C280s and an 85 300SD (as well as tech advice for an 88 420SEL, 01 C240, 02 C240, 02 SLK230 and a 94 E320)

-Tad