How-To remove a broken bolt

 

Everyone sometimes has this problem. We al know it! A broken bolt in your engine or other motorcycle part.

This problem can set you back a couple of hours. And if you do this wrong allot of money and maybe days of delay. 

 

Of course it al depends on the place and part were it has gone wrong. I am only giving my advice from my experience. You have to decide what is usable in your situation and what kind of risk you are willing to take on your bike. Some tips maybe good for you and others not.

 

A Bolt is broken what to do? If a small part is still sticking out you can try with some pliers if it is really stuck or not. 

First always start by hitting/tapping it with a hammer. We call this shocking the bolt, sometimes this is already enough to get it.. to come loose.

 

If it is not coming loose always spray it in with some WD40. You can buy this product here: 

 

 

If it is still not coming loose, try to heat the surrounding area so the material expands and the bolt not.  If this still not gives the good result try to use your angle grinder or metal saw to make a small incision in the bolt end. Now you can use more force with a flathead screwdriver. If this does not work you can use a screwdriver and hit it with a hammer to get it to turn around. 

 

We have a great tool in our shop. You can put this on a bolt or screw and hit it with a hammer. Now the hammer blow or bang will be converted into a twist or turn. And the bolt will also come loose because of this. You can see or buy it here: 

 

 

If everything above does not help, if it is still in there you have to go to plan B. Option 1 is the best. This only works if you have a welding machine. The small part that is still sticking out, weld a new nut on this part. Now you can use this nut to turn the bolt and get it out. Also the heat that comes with the welding will be good for the proces. 

 

If there is nothing sticking our or you don’t have a welding machine try something else. You have to use the angle grinder to make the surface flat. Now you can hit a small dent in it and drill the remaining part out. Drill it out very straight and try not to hit the tread. If you leave a small piece of (only the outer side) intact the original tread is still okay. Now just take a small something and try to turn/twist/fiddle the remaining bolt pieces out. The tention is away because of the big drilled out hole in the old bolt. 

 

If this still hasn’t worked you can use a left turning tread cutter in the bolt They also call this an extracter. But watch out, if you break this tool during the proces you can never get the bolt out. Because this is hard steal and a drill is the same hardness so you can’t drill this bit out. But if a bolt is already quite loose you can use this tool to get the remaining part out.

 

If you have damaged the tread of the engine part you can choose to use a helicoil. You can now drill the old bolt out and make a new tread. You can use Loctide glue to secure the new helicoil tread in there. Now you have the original tread size back. The only thing you now need is a new bolt to put in there. 

 

In a nutshell, first try al the options like heating the material, making a incision in the bolt, use WD40 and our hammer tool. If all fails then start welding, cutting drilling. Afterwords you have make a new wire tread and also use a heli coil and this takes allot more time….. you can maybe save yourself the trouble. 

 

No hardend steal tools in the old bolt only if really necessary. I am talking about the extractor. Because if these break in your bolt there is no way of drilling it out anymore. 

 

If the extractor tool breaks and you want to drill it out.. try using a Cobalt or diamond drill. You might have a chance then. 

 

Also a nice trick, if there is a piece of bolt inside and you want to drill in it to extract it. Drill a hole trough the center of a new bolt. Then put the bolt in the hole were the broken bolt is. Now drill trough the self made tool/bolt with the hole in it. This way you will not damage the remaining tread. And you will always drill in the middle. You can see this trick in the added video's.

 

 

 

 

 

Greetings 

 

Motorcycles united.