Hi everyone,

I removed the exhaust manifold today and as i was taking it off noticed I only had 5 nuts and not 6. Upon further inspection I could see that one had already broken off. I went ahead and removed all the remaining nuts and removed the manifold. Two of the studs came out and all of the other studs, inc the broken one, stayed in. Two look like they arent all the way in and one seem to be in correctly. Im thinking of removing them all and replacing the lot. Any thoughts on a good way to take the remaining studs out and also any ideas on how to remove the broken one?

I was thinking put two 7mm nuts on each stud and then remove them with a sppanner. The broken one however doesnt have anything left to do that. here are the images:

Thanks

Rob.

 

A couple of those look okay to me, but I replaced the studs on my F3 when they were as rusty as many of your studs.

I got most out of the studs out with gripping pliers, AFTER several rounds of Liquid wrench, then GENTLE heating with a propane torch (don't want to distort the aluminum cases).

One was totally stuck, and I ended up using this method: Catalog
cutting it flush to the engine with a Dremel, mark and drill a pilot hole, then use a Cobalt Left hand drill bit (got on set on amazon cheap). Came out before I even got 5 mm into the stud.

Good luck! I know it's nerve-wracking to mess around with threads on the engine block. Just go slow and smooth!

 

I'm in agreement with replacing all the studs based on all that rust. We call them "Easy Outs" on this side of the pond. They work well and you can usually find them in most hardware stores. When drilling it out, do your best to put a punch mark as close to center as possible, then drill a small hole and then use progressively larger drills until you have the correct size hole for the particular Easy Out you're using. While you're in there you might give it a good cleaning as well. Having all that dirt and grime holds in moisture which promotes corrosion.

This is what it looks like when the dirt is gone. (good photo's by the way)

 

You've got enough bolt still there I'd spray some liquid wrench the get some vise grips and clamp it to the most you can. If you've got someone there both of you clamp it. Should be able to get it. Vise grips one of the best tools ever invented

 

Hi Guys,

Got an update, tried mole grips (vise grips) and it didn't budge, heated it up with a heat gun, I set it to 450degrees but didn't try 600 as I didn't want to damage anything. What kinda temps are safe to go up to on the alloy? I've been spraying all the studs with WD40 for 5 days now too.

I've ordered some 7mm nuts to remove the remaining studs, couldn't find them anywhere in B&Q, Halfords and random motor spares shops. Managed to locate some genuine studs and nuts to replace the current ones. When the nuts arrive im going to attempt to weld one to the broken stud and remove it, will a mig welder do the trick, will the current damage the electrics on the bike?

IDoDirt, what did you use to clean the block like yours? It looks great.

Corvus, seen alot of success using the method you recommended. So if the welding doesn't work, or I cant get anyone to weld it, I'm going to go down this route.

Thanks everyone.

 

Welding a nut should do the trick, that's how I got one of mine out. But I find the genuine studs shear off way to easily because of the smaller thread, so replace them with some better ones if you can or if you haven't bought the new ones yet. Good luck.

 

One of the guys at work said to file two flat spots on the top and bottom of the remaining stud and get a spanner on it, so i'm going to try that tonight. Fingers crossed.

 

Get the stud next to it out so there is room to get a good bite on it. Then try the vise grips again, getting them tight and working in the correct direction. They work best with the fixed jaw doing the pulling. If that doesn't work, use a pipe wrench.

IDoDirt really doesn't do dirt on his bikes......

 

Its not going well, the file was a pain, so i made two flat spots with a dremel. Got mole grips on it and the studs metal just started to twistl. That stud aint going anywhere.

 

yep tried the exact same thing. file then dremel with the same results, twisting stud. i think it was more the heat from welding that worked as it came straight out after that.