Broke EZ Out in Exhaust Manifold Stud

Status
Not open for further replies.
Joined
Apr 4, 2009
Messages
355
Location
Ontario, Canada
I broke the EZ Out flush with the pre-broken exhaust manifold stud, trying to remove it Left Twist.

How much should I bid to the Machinist to remove this thing? I tried to drill out the portion of the EZ Out but it broke my LH Jobber Drill Bit. Moved up a size, and it just won't drill into the EZ Out material.
 
Are we having fun on this engine job yet? You have my full sympathy. I put another engine into my Grand Wagoneer back in '03. The best way I have heard for DIYer to deal with a sheared EZ out is to go after it. with a burring tool in a Dremel grinder. Just grind it up. I have never done this, I have just Heard this. Twice. Machinists get big bucks to arc them out.
BTW, EZ outs are just a cruel trick to play on a hack like me. I just use drills on sheared stuff. I learned like you just did.
 
Sometimes if your lucky you can take a GOOD center punch and a sharp blow to the ezout and if its made of cheaper hard metal that is brittle it might shatter. You can then take some dental picks and fish out the remainder of it. If however its a good quality ezout then it may have to be burned out with something like an EDM machine. I've only had that done once. and it was in a cylinder head but it was on a motorcycle and not installed on the bike at the time. Cost was about $50 and that was about 20 years ago.

I have at times laid a nut on a broken stud or bolt and mig welded the nut to the bolt. Then sprayed the said bolt with PB blaster. Wait for the weld to cool and then heat the part the bolt is in trying to keep the bolt as cool as possible and then slowly work the bolt out. If you can ever get it to turn one full round your likely home free.
 
Burn it out with a torch. The bolt thats broken off will melt before the cast iron manifold will. Once the bolt is gone the EZout will fall out. Then you can run a tap through the threads to remove any pieces that might still be stuck in the threads.
 
Follow the centerpunch hammer recommendation first. If that doesn't work take it to your machinist and they will be able to get it out. I'm really sorry about your misfortune! We had to deal with one of these issues when the mechanic next door broke a high quality tap off in a Durango's thermostat well ( have no idea how he did it because the manifold was aluminum). We set it up in the mill and used a 3/8" carbide end mill to plunge through it. Took about 10 minutes with flood coolant on and slow Z feed. We were able to save the piece for him thankfully.
 
Also if you could braze something to it you might be able to coax it out with heating, careful penetrating oil application and reverse torque...good luck bud!
 
OK Thanks guys. The EZ Out is the original type by CLEVELAND, bought at Grainger so I think it's the good material. The cylinder heads are Aluminum. I managed to get out 5 of the other studs with the broken EZ out piece that seemed to work better when the pointed part sheared off.

I'll try some of your methods but when I was trying to drill it 30 mintues ago, the drill slipped and started drilling into the side of the threads in the M8 hole.

I have the carbide Burr double cut rounded top one but it seems risky - M8 is a pretty small hole, i'll try it but I don't think I'll make progress. I could buy another smaller carbide burr for my die grinder, but it could be a waste of money as I could put it towards paying the machinist.

I don't think I want to hook up my MIG and try it. ie. weld a small cap screw to the end of it. It's a really tight spot.

I'll try your center punch method now - I picked up last week a couple of Proto center punches - really high quality stuff. The tip doesn't seem to go dull like the cheap Harbor Freight ones.
 
Last edited:
Don't forget that your time is valuable too. An aluminum head is usually something that I would be looking to take into the machinist pretty quick if 2 or 3 methods failed. The screw ups that you might make will cost you more money at the machine shop. When you take it to him/her on a bid basis before you screw it up too bad- they own the screw ups and remedial actions/costs from that point forward.
 
Been there done that ONCE for myself and then after a successful rework on my Volvo turbo, I did it for TWO other guys.

Best way? Easiest way?

Dremel tool and diamond bits. Just go to Harbor Freight and buy a couple low cost diamond bit kit sets for your Dremel. Just hunker down and go after the Easy-Out (ball tips work best), use some light oil in the hole to make a diamond dust slurry and change bits as the diamond leaves the tips. Takes a little control but you get the stud and the broke Easy out ground to nothing without messing the hole up. Clean and retap. Good to go.
 
Weld a large nut to it with the weld on the inside of the nut. The aluminum won't stick or melt while you are welding (dissimilar metals) make sure to get good penetration into the ez-out.
 
I believe there is a drill bit that will drill the EZ-out. I had a shop break an easy out off in the aluminum head of a Ford V-10 when they were putting the headers on it. I took it to another shop and after some work with this bit they got it drilled out. To make matters worse, the first shop had drilled the broken stud crooked and into the threads in the head in which the EZ-out went into and then broke. I will check with the shop tomorrow and see what type of bit it was (I believe it came from Snap-On).
 
This is a quick & DIRTY method- not for the faint of heart:

Try a masonry bit. I've never tried one on an easy-out, but I've drilled through some impossible situations with masonry bits (including hard-facing and a broken tap). Go SLOW, use lots of oil. It'll chatter and smoke, and the hole will be rough as [censored]- but I think there's a pretty good chance that it will drill through. The hole can be cleaned up thereafter and repaired with a helicoil if necessary.

I also agree with others on this thread that a dremel with diamond bits could also do the job. These are also handy if you're drilling out a broken steel bolt in aluminum heads, and the drill starts to get off-center- you can get out the dremel and re-center the cutting area. Takes a little patience, but works fine. A carbide burr on a die grinder can serve the same purpose- but a dremel would be better suited for a hole of this size.
 
Bad news guys, the carbide burr slipped while using the die grinder, and because it's such a high quality double cut one, it instantly started taking metal off on the side of the hole right into the threads.

Photo to come tommorow. I think I want to leave this for the machine shop at this point so I don't render the head useless, unless you guys have another approach. I'll read the recent replies more closely.

To save the little money doing this myself, it's probably not very cost effective at this point. In the shop, don't they stabilize the head in some huge vice and use a super precise drill to go STRAIGHT DOWN into the thing?
 
Yup they will fixture the head on a milling machine, reference the hole and probably go straight at it with a carbide tool probably ran around 5000 rpm. There will be lots of flood coolant involved to keep the chips flowing and the tool cold while they slowly plunge in.
 
Have you tried a reverse carbide drill bit? Grind a small X into the center of the easy out and get a new sharp LH reverse drill bit. I have driled out many broken studs that way. Usually they break loose and unscrew when you are about 1/2 way through. Once you grind the X take a center punch and give it a good smack. That will sometimes break the threads loose.
 
Last edited:
Try beating it and breaking it. AT least you should loosen it.
A dremel tool can also make a deep slot to use a screwdriver with, to turn it out.
 
Thanks guys, I called my list of machine shops - they wanted between $40.00 to $60.00, most shops wouldn't give me a price - they like to use the open end method so they can create the price themselves once the work is done and I'm stuck paying what they want.

Good news is I found one shop to remove it for $10.00 so i'll take it to him.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top