Broken valve cover bolt

[Badgertastic]

A 2 hour valve cover job has turned into a 7hr beating. The bottom right valve cover bolt sheared off while I was taking them off:

The bolt next to it was binding but I managed to get it off after a bunch of PB Blaster and back/forth wiggle. Got the cover off and I could see that the sheared bolt had about 1/2" of thread exposed. I soaked it with more PB Blaster and tried the vice-grip method:

This bolt has 0 wiggle and wouldn't turn in either direction, and ended up snapping it in 1/2:

Oil soaked paper towel is there to catch any metal shavings and stop them from getting into engine.

So now I 'm down to 1/4" of exposed thread and debating my next choices:
- Weld a nut
- Reverse drill bit/bolt extractor
- Slap the cover back on and take it to a shop

Anyone have experience with this? I'm open for suggestions/advice.

 

[Camotubebender]

weld-a-nut

 

[Rednexus]

Weld-a-nut. It will come right out, due to the heat the welder will apply. A $200 HF welder (Titanium Flux 125, which runs on 120V power is perfect for this), cheap auto darkening hood, and a pair of gloves, and some nuts is all you need. You'll need a nut with an I.D. a bit bigger than the O.D. of the broken bolt, so the weld has some room to fill in the gap and bond the two together. You may have to try several before you get a good bond. And, then you'll have a welder and can use it for other things.

 

[Badgertastic]

You guys and a few others I know have recommended the weld-a-nut method, so $170 later, I have one brand new mini welder sitting in the garage along with the hood and gloves. I needed one for another project anyway so this was as good of an excuse as any to get it. My local Makerspace is holding a Mig welding intro class, so I'm hitting that tonight.

 

[Badgertastic]

Quick update, I managed to get the bolt out but weld a nut failed 3 times, with the bolt breaking 2 times more in the process. I gave up and ended up drilling out the bolt and rethreading the hole. Nerve wracking having metal shavings and weld splatter next to all the internals, ended up using magnets and lint free towels covering all the components to capture everything from going into engine.

 

[Rednexus]

Yikes! Glad you were able to get it out. I might go loosen/re-tighten all of mine to see if they are or are not seized.

 

[zzyzx85]

Yikes! Glad you were able to get it out. I might go loosen/re-tighten all of mine to see if they are or are not seized.

+1. I have no intention of removing my valve covers any time soon but after reading this thread I want to soak the bolts in Kroil or PB Blaster.