New 96 OBS..Broken Exhaust studs..

[c0r3f1ght3r]

Hey all I've found myself in quite a predicament once again.

 

I just bought this 96 OBS with 122k.

 

 

 

I noticed broken exhaust studs during the first oil change so I inspected the area and noticed there was a good bit of metal sticking out from each stud and decieded I would go ahead and replace the gaskets since I just completed this job on my 95 legacy which sold a couple weeks ago.

 

 

I sprayed some pb blaster on the night before, then again about an hour before attempting removal. Now I'm not sure if its because I've been lifting weights lately but just a small turn with a big 1/2" bar broke another stud off so I tried the other side going as slow as I could wiggling back and forth but still it broke off as well. So now I'm left with this after a mobile mechanic attempted to drill one out and gave up:

 

 

I know I have a few options here:

Remove the heads

Attempt to drill them myself

Have a shop do all the work for me which I really don't want to do..

 

I live in San Marcos Texas and have tried a few shops around here, but none of them will touch this inside the car..

 

I want to try drilling them out using a carbide bit, and then a big easy out, but would I be wasting my time?

 

If I go with removing the heads myself. What is the fastest way to go about doing this engine in car? I figure I can unbolt the intake from the heads, remove the timing belt, and then the head bolts and they should drop?

 

I know this situation as a mess and I can't expect a solid answer here but any feedback will be greatly appreciated!

[Fairtax4me]

Well the one will definitely have to be drilled out.

 

Put the y-pipe back up against the block and try to hold it there with a floor jack or something. Start the engine and let it warm up to normal operating temp. This will get the heads warm and might help loosen their death grip on the studs. Drop the y-pipe down out of the way (use gloves) grab what's left of the ends tight with a pair of big vice grips and see of you can get them to loosen. Smack them with a hammer a few times (up toward the head) and it may help break the rust seal.

[Fairtax4me]

Double post

Edited August 25, 2015 by Fairtax4me

[c0r3f1ght3r]

Definitely seems like something worth trying since the block is aluminum and the studs are steel!

 

Any thoughts on welding a nut onto whats left of each stud and then trying to turn that?

Edited August 25, 2015 by c0r3f1ght3r

[idosubaru]

EZ outs suck. 

***if*** the EZ worked, then whatever method you use to drill the hole to use the EZout - would work better without an EZ out - so there are no gains but very risky.

 

They often shear off and then they are stuck. Usually means drilling the aluminum out to the side of it and bashing it into that cavity you drilled.  They're a PITA and not a good fit on exhaust studs, i'd never use one in a billion years on exhaust studs.

 

1.  As he said - weld a nut to studs sticking out

clean the studs up to clean metal if you can (i'm usually lazy and skip that 50% of the time). 

put a nut just a tad bigger over top the studs sticking out of the heads. 

weld the nut to the stud. 

let it cool.

use a socket to remove the nut.

 

if that doesn't work - drill them out.

 

2.  drill them out. 

get a good set of *left handed* drill bits.

start with a small bit first and get it centered in the bolt.  might have to chisel/grind it flat to get it to start in the center.  don't put any side pressure on a small bit - they're brittle and break easily.

increase the size of the bits.

eventually the remainder of the bolts unthreads itself with the left handed turning actoin of the left handed drill bit.  move up to a size close to the OD of the bolt quickly - like 2nd or 3rd drill bit choice.

if the threads are damaged in the head - either chase them with a tap or rethread them for 7/16" or 1/2" studs - lots of information about how to do that on hear - it's really simple.

 

drill the first hole with a small bit so you can get it centered - the second bit increase to much closer to the OD of the bolt.

 

if they don't spin out - drill them to close to the OD size and then you can just pick the outer shell out of the hole.  use a punch or chisel or other tool to peel the reamining OD, when it's thin it will literally bend/peel like aluminum can (exaggerating but you get the point), get it started and just start chipping away at it and out itl'll come.

 

Another option is to call a few machine shops and ask if they'll do it on the vehicle.  I've actually orchestrated some stuff like this before - call around and see if any will do it, you might get lucky.  I called around Florida for a friend who was in a similar situation and mechanics wouldnt' touch his toyota 4 runner due to a bad crank - i swore to him it was repairable - they said engine replacement only.  i called around and finally found a machine shop that would look at it and they fixed it for like $300...i don't remember the exact price but it beat the mechanics wanting thousands for an engine replacement.  he drove that car into the ground at 260,000 miles beating the snot out of it as a work truck.

 

Yes you can pull the heads.  If you go through the trouble to pull the heads I'd just have a machine shop do it - if you can't do it on the car, having them off isn't likely to help that much.

machine shops do this every day and shouldn't charge too much to do it for you - they'll likely charge the minimum 1 hour rate - so $75 - $150 depending where you go.

 

those EJ22 heads are really easy to remove - but man that's still a lot of work for an exhaust stud - too bad you got 4 of them!  AH!

 

might be simple to just pull the entire engine and do the exhaust studs without pulling the heads.  buy an engine stand for $50 or cheaper used.