Not a Good Wrench Day

[cruiserbent]

So,about 2 tears ago I put a new timing chain set in my sons truck. Didnt pull the head or the pan. Slipped cover back in & all ok til the last 1/16 of an inch. damaged the head gasket. Siliconed the crap out of it but still had some leakage. Finally got tired of adding oil frequently & the exhuast manifold was leaking so I figure what the heck. Take a day,replace the head gskt,fix manifold leak.Good weekend project. WRONG. Snapped 2 headbolts. Engine ready to come out & go to machine shop now. may as well ring it & bearing unless there are some good suggestions for getting those bolts out.

[07 Elephant]

The grabbit has worked for me. Although it hasn't worked every time it is my first go to.

[cruiserbent]

you can tell in the pics the cylinders are gettin pretty shiny. might just be a good time to to rebuild. just hate to put more money at this time. wife out of work & carried our health ins. COBRA is OMG expensive. and all was running ok before,just tryin to fix an oil leak.

[Strizzo]

looks like there is enought of the bolt left out to put a vice grip onto, soak it for a few days with some pb blaster and give it a whirl? worst case its going to the machine shop anyways right?

[corax]

You can try soaking them with an ATF/Acetone mix for a day . . . did that happen coming off or going back on?

I had something similar happen on my '88 p/u, except the head bolts snapped off pulling the head and there was so much crud built up in the bolt hole (cyl head hole) that it was impossible to pull the head off. I tried carefully drilling the bolts so I could at least salvage the head, but it didn't work so good.

If you have a welder, you can lay some thick leather or something similar over the engine and weld a large nut to the top of the bolt that's sticking out. The sudden expansion/contraction from the weld heat might also help to break the bolt loose.

[cruiserbent]

happened coming apart. & yes worked about an hour getting the head freed up from ther crud up & over the bolts. wldnt mind pullin it out but theres really only one good machine shop around here & they are slowww. meantime my son is in my 4 runner. Ill be a nervous wreck til I get him back in his own.

[flyingwil]

Looks like you have enough of the bolts showing...

I would take a nut and weld it on, Soak it in penetrating oil, and use a socket, Basically weld a new head onto it.

If you dont have a welder, you can try, but probably will not work; Take the bolt and try cutting a slit in it to attempt to use a screw driver (make it into a screw head). You might not get the torque you need to get it out though.

[corax]

happened coming apart. & yes worked about an hour getting the head freed up from ther crud up & over the bolts.

Good, hopefully it was just the crud that kept the bolt from turning and snapped off the top of the bolts. The fact that you got the head off means that the job is 1/2 done. If you or any friends don't have a welder, see if you can hire someone with a mobile welder to come out and burn a nut onto the stub - you should be able to get them off without pulling the rest of the engine.

BTW, where are you located? If you're anywhere near Salem Oregon I'd be willing to help out with this for beer money

[cruiserbent]

paducah,ky. i was quite ticked off when happened. then a national guard truck went by from patroling a couple miles down the street where flood waters are about 8 feet or more over the road. i feel fortunate that head bolts are pretty much about the biggest problem i have right now. ive got the bolts soaking with pb blaster. all i have to do is remove bolts from bell housing to lift engine out if need be. everything else off,torque convertor bolts out.

[cruiserbent]

got the bolts out today. patience pays off. sprayed em down with liquid wrench & let soak for 3 days. soaked down again today with justice brothers jb 80. put a pipe wrench on em,pulled em loose & turned em out with my fingers. i am so fortunate