How to Remove Broken, Stripped, Rounded or Damaged Bolt Heads, and Nuts
I had taken off 7 out of the 8 bolts on my friend Pat’s intake manifold. On the 8th bolt, every do-it-yourself mechanic’s nightmare happened: the bolt head stripped.
Preventative Step
The first step before trying to remove any bolt, broken or undamaged, is to use WD-40 or, preferably, PB Blaster. Unfortunately, I didn’t take my own advice on that before the bolt stripped.
Step #1
Now that I had a stripped bolt to deal with I sprayed on some PB Blaster and the first thought that came to my head was vice grips.
A couple of times in the past I have used vice grips to remove broken or damaged bolts on my truck. Therefore, Pat and I grabbed the vice grips and tried to remove the bolt. To our dismay the bolt was slightly recessed and there wasn’t enough room to get the vice grips on the bolt.
Step #2
The second thought that came to me is a Craftsman bolt out set.
I had never used one myself but I remembered seeing bolt out kits in Sears while picking up other tools. Off we went to K-Mart. Thank God they carry some Craftsman tools. This saved me 20 minutes of driving to the nearest Sears. Once back in Pat’s garage, we opened up the Craftsman bolt out set and to our disappointment there wasn’t even enough clearance for the bolt out set. The wall of the bolt out set was about 1/32″ too big to fit onto the bolt and we didn’t have enough room to get a good hammer swing to force it on.
Step #3
The third thought that came to my head is using a hack saw or a cut off tool to saw a groove into the bolt.
Once the groove is sawed into the bolt head you can flat head screw driver to remove the bolt. After a few attempts, we found the there wasn’t enough clearance to use the hack saw or cut off tool.
Step #4
After all else failed us, we were left with seemingly no options. Therefore, Pat’s car sat in his driveway for a few weeks. At a Christmas party, Pat was talking with his grandfather and telling him about the stripped bolt on his car. After hearing the story, Pat’s grandfather said that when he was younger he used to drill a hole in the bolt, stick a screw driver in, and weld the screw driver to the bolt. After the party, I got an excited call from Pat telling me about removing the bolt with a welder. On my next free day I came over with my welder.
At first, we tried the screw driver. In our case, the screw driver didn’t fit into the hole so we used an Allen wrench instead. After a few minutes of welding, I finally got the Allen wrench secure. Then I took a pair of pliers and successfully removed the bolt. Also, if welding doesn’t work you could try and use J-B Weld. I’ve personally never used it since I have access to a welder, but I would imagine J-B Weld would work fine. If you have any alternative ideas on how to remove a bolt, please feel free to leave a comment.
[...] have been in removed a quite a few broken, damaged or rounded bolt heads. The first thing I would suggest starting with some PB Blaster. Then try the vice grips or a bolt [...]
Pingback by Best way to remove rounded bolts? - Honda Prelude Forum - Prelude Online.com — March 31, 2009 @ 3:40 pm
[...] have removed quite a few broken, damaged or rounded bolt heads. The first thing I would suggest starting with some PB Blaster. Then try the vice grips or a bolt [...]
Pingback by Best way to remove rounded bolts? - Honda Prelude Forum - Prelude Online.com — April 2, 2009 @ 2:03 pm
oh i prey i dont have to go as far as you guys…
i just striped the head off the bolt holding the oil filter case on the front of my bike and being short on cash , and as it would seem in comparison, without nearly enough tools; i can’t seem to get the bloody thing loose. and to make matters worse it’s a $55.00 bolt that i can seemingly get from the dealer…
Comment by Adam — June 11, 2009 @ 8:43 pm
$55 for a bolt? That’s insanely expensive, I would go to your local hardware store and try and match one up. As long as it isn’t used in a high torque situation a standard grade bolt from the hardware store should work fine.
Comment by admin — June 11, 2009 @ 10:41 pm
heeeeeeeeeeeeeeeellllllllllllppppppppp i snapped a screw of inside my 4wheeler motor. there was nothing to grab on to so tryd a bolt extracter and ended up streching the hole. puttint me further up the creek. what to do, pleas emale me at sullyexspress77@aol.com
Comment by kyle — July 2, 2009 @ 4:03 pm
I stripped the “pivot” bolt on my rear disc brakes, when I was changing out my pads. [No matter how simple a job you have there is always one bolt/nut that makes the job a SOB! I had nightmares of having to cut the caliper off.] The Craftsman Bolt Out set was a godsend–even on a t-47 bolt, which has a rounded head. The trick is, and if you have the room, pick a size that’s just bit too small and attach the “bolt out” head to a half-inch extender and hammer it on. Twist and pray. Good luck!
Comment by Andrew — September 11, 2009 @ 2:30 pm
ok, i’ve got a trick hear that you’ll think will never work. i used this with a coupler on a jetski crankshaft that spins at close to 9000 rpm, so you can imagine how tight this was screwed on. they make a special tool to put in the coupler on an impact wrench and hold the crank in a vise but i was able to hold the crank with my knees and spin the coupler off by hand. here’s the trick. you need a candle and a small torch. heat up the bolt and sweat the wax like you would when you solder cooper pipe. let cool for a few minuites and repeat 2 more times. the wax in liquid form will work all the way down the threads. further than pb blaster or anything else. after it cools grab with pliers or what ever you can get a grip with and it will break free. i know it sound doubtful but i was able to remove something with my bare hands that usually takes an impact wrench. give it a shot, guaranteed to work. good luck, steve
Comment by steve melton — December 6, 2009 @ 9:08 am
best thing drill a hole in the centre of the screw, thn fill it with epitox putty. before it dries get a flat head screwdriver and make an insision, so that it has the mark. oncits dried you wil be able to ueta sae screw driver and the screw with its new head should come off.
Comment by chris — February 16, 2010 @ 6:10 am
weld a nut on to the end of the stuffed bolt head
Comment by matt — February 28, 2010 @ 3:12 am
Matt, that’s a great idea! Thanks for the suggestion.
Comment by admin — February 28, 2010 @ 3:31 pm
HELP I stripped the last and final bolt on removing my Hard Drive :S what shall I do???
Comment by sanad — March 16, 2010 @ 7:33 am
this little trick works for me,whenever I strip a nut or bolt I simply get a nut to fit over the one that stripped all I have to do is takeout the thread in the nut then fit it over the stripped nut or bolt.
Comment by chet — June 1, 2010 @ 2:41 am
Gonna try the wax trick and a pipe wrench!
Comment by Darrin — August 12, 2010 @ 6:24 pm