well i went and did it. Broken Driven Clutch bolt 2004 DS

[dundeebarnbuggy]

AHHHH. You didn't tell us you twisted the bolt off putting it together. It sounded like the bolt twisted off removing it meaning the threads were seized. Yes, an Ez out might work if you are lucky. Just be sure to get good ones, not made in chaina $#it. And the hole doesn't have to be perfectly centered for them to work. Keep us posted.

[Springbok]

Any updates?

[TheCricketer]

Funny. I was just coming on to provide an update and saw my thread was bumped. Man, I am stuck. I can’t even drill a pilot hole to try and get the EZ out in the hole. I’m using good quality cobalt bits too and no matter how hard I try, I can’t get it to go deeper and it’s just right at the top too. We are talking about a 13 year old bolt here and I just can’t get it to work. Even if I use a small bit to try and work up in size it just spins. About to drive myself crazy. Should I be using cutting oil/fluid? Can attach picture later if needed.

[dundeebarnbuggy]

Always use cutting fluid or at least oil to drill something like a bolt. You have probably work hardened the metal in the bottom of the hole you are drilling. I have good luck with M7 drills for hard metal. The issue with cobalt is it doesn't transfer heat worth a darn and the point overheats very easy. How close to the end of the shaft did the bolt break? Is it within 1/8 of an inch? Pics would really help.

[TheCricketer]

Here are the pictures.

[dundeebarnbuggy]

Dude, just for fun do you have an old lug nut somewhere? Set it conical side down over the end of the bolt. Ill bet it can be welded to the bolt and then spin the whole thing out.

[TheCricketer]

just go rent a welder? Its in there maybe a 1/8 of an inch. How do I weld it without touching the input shaft and fusing them all together? And when you say "oil" are you just talking about regular motor oil or is there something else I need to be using? And if its cutting fluid, where would I easily find such a beast?

[dundeebarnbuggy]

You weld inside the nut. The conical part should fit inside the chamfer on the end of the shaft exposing only the end of the broken bolt so little risk of welding to the shaft itself. A wire feed works great for this but it must be gas sheilded [not flux core] to get a good weld with no flux encapsulations. Cutting oil should be easy to get at any decent autoparts, but automatic transmission fluid [ATF] cut with kerosene works well too.

[TheCricketer]

Why do I always feel like I have to post these "mea culpa" types of messages? Its embarrassing but I'll take one for the team for the future of humanity. While it follows logic that the EZ out is LH threaded, I did not inspect the bits that came with it, which are ALSO LH threaded (none of the others have been this way). So I've been essentially reverse drilling my hole and thus, why I haven't been successful. Thank God this is anonymous. Anywho, after my discovery and due to extreme frustration, I put it all down and will revisit it tomorrow or the next day. Will update with new info after done.

[dundeebarnbuggy]

OOOOPPPPPPS! Sorry, maybe I should have mentioned that about ez out drills. They are done that way so that drilling the hole doesn't tighten the stud further. Occasionally the drill themselves will create enough torque to unthread the offending piece. You will want to check the drills cutting edges to make sure you haven't dulled them over by trying to drill backwards. Don't worry though, they are easily resharpened if you have a bench grinder. There are plenty of videos to show how far easier than trying to describe it here. Keep us posted!!!