Ok so I am putting my Egt probe in the left hole where the heat shield usually bolts to, I am doing this to gain some height because Apexi uses a long probe. Anyway all was going well, hole is drilled out, tapping went easy enough, then it was time for the simple part of screwing in the Egt bung. All went well, had it tightened with rachet and saw a few threads still showing. Being that I wasn't really applying to much pressure I thought the old torque wrench with a nice gentle pull would do the job . Bad idea I sheared the bung off , level with the top of the hole Ok so now my dumb *** thought ok just use an extractor and back it out,and then go order a new bung. Another bad idea, I seem to be full of them today. I drilled it out slighlty, tapped the extractor bit in there and gave it a good tug with the wrench to try to loosen it. I am sure you can guess what happend the freakin bit broke off in the bung, in the hole flush with the top . So now I am trying to figure out how in the hell to get this thing out. I am pretty sure I cannot drill that bit out of the way as they are made of hardened steel. I am think ing of trying to drill alot of tiny holes around it so I can try to smack it loose with the tip of a screw driver. The bung I can drill out if I have to its a matter of getting that stupid bit out of the way first. Any ideas would be great. Please try not to laugh this sucks but is humerous in a kinda sick way

Thanks guys,

Shane

 

Dude...do whatever it takes to get that thing out. Use cutting oil and a titaniumnitride (sp?) metal cutting drill bit to drill it out if necessary...other then that I don't know how to get it out.

Next time...if it's so tight...you might have the wrong thread pattern. It should go in somewhat easy...but not too easy...know what I mean?

Other then that...I would call a shop and see what they say about getting it out. Go to a performance speed shop...somewhere with GOOD mechanics. Depending on if your in my area...I could recomend one...I'm up near Gurnee Illinois

 

I have done this and it has worked.

 

Well tomorrow I will be working on it, I hope to god I can get it out. What a crappy string of events. I have had to fix little problems on cars in the past but this is redamndiculous lol.Oh well thanks for the info, I will keep you posted.

Shane

 

Here's a tip when trying to drill through hardened steel. You have to start out using the smallest drill bit and progressively work your way up in size one step at a time. That's the only way you'll have a chance at being able to drill it out. Oh yeah, and use the strongest material drill bits you can find.

I would never use a torque wrench on an NPT fitting. It won't work. NPT threads are flared, so you'll never be able to torque it properly. Just make sure it's tight and it should seal. The flared threads help old the EGT probe in place and it won't vibrate loose.

Good luck.

 

I have broken easy out extractors everytime I have used them. They must make better extractors, but damn if I know where to buy them. I broke one trying to get a broken off 3/16 grease fitting out on a lawn tractor. If they won't turn out a grease fitting, what are they good for? I have been lucky and in most cases I have been able to get to the other side and punch the broken extractor out.

In factory setting like a machine shop they use what is called a "Tap Burner", to cut out broken taps. Uses a carbon electrode and electricity to slow burn through the hardened steel. Not useful in your situation, but it gave me an idea.

Do you have any acess to welding equipment? If so you could try welding a small bolt to the base of the snapped extractor. Then try and tighten it, which will cause it to loosen because of the way that the lands on the extractor are shaped. Might come out if drilling doesn't work.

A trick I used on a reluctant snapped exhaust stud was to drill through it untill I was as close to the threads as I dared. I then used a thin coping saw balde to make two small cuts from the inside through the stud into the base metal threads. I then used a punch to colapse the shell of the stud into the center of the hole. The remains of the stud fell right out. Cleaned up the threads and put a new stud in.

The only other crazy idea would be to hit the area with freon and strike the extractor with a punch. Hardened steel gets brittle at very low temps, wear safety glasses and gloves to prevent burns from the cold. Crooks use this technique to bust bike locks.

My best suggstions would be drill or weld.

Tough break, but you are not alone. Many people have done this sort of thing.

 

It is difficult to use a drill as it will wander unless you have enough savy to set it up ridgidly enough and at the proper angle on a drill press. You can use a hand grinder to remove the piece of extractor if you are careful and have a steady hand. You can grind most of the bung plug remnants out too. Go slow and work just a small arear at a time until you get things thin enough to use a tap to clean out the threads again. If things do not seem to be going well you can use a machine shop but it will not be cheap.

 

Best way is to take it to a fab or machine shop and have them extract the broken pices and tig weld a bung on there. Shoulnt cost more than 50 or 60 bucks. Good drill bits are expensive.

 

I've been there and just too the easy way out. I found a local machine shop who took out the broke bit for me. It was pretty cheap and when I compared the cost they charged to the time it would have taken me, it was a no brainer.

 

Well this is what I am going to do. I had no luck drilling the thing out. There is a machine shop 5 mins down the road, I talked to the guy. He is going to burn it out, retap it, then screw in what remains of the bung and weld it on there. He said it shouldn't be much more than $50. I took the manifold off yesterday which sucked, radiator had to come out, down pipe off, o2 housing off, turbo off. I am also doing a clutch and removed everything from right side of engine bay. To say the least the bay is lookin real empty right now . I figured I will bolt the turbo and stuff back on after clutch install just so we have as much room as possible.

Shane

 

Thread moved to the Engine/turbo/drivetrain tech forum.

 

Damn dude, you're 3/4 of the way to a turbo upgrade! Why stop now?!?

 

i was going to suggest getting a die grinder, and making a small slot in the bung AND the screw extractor. Make the slot big enough for a large flathead screwdriver with a square shaft to grip with an adjustable wrench , lube it all up with WD-40 and back it out like you would a screw. Ive done this before with broken screws. a die grinder with a good cutting wheel will cut through a screw extractor also.

also welding a bolt to the bung and using a wrench to backit out works too. make sure you put a guerilla weld on the bolt though cause it will break too. Weld then immediately spray the bolt with penetrating oil, then start to back it out while the manifold is still warm. That will cause the metal to soften and expand and will help a small bit with getting the screw out.

 

I know man, that is going to be the winter project. AEM and gt35r or equivelant. I dropped the manifld off at the machine shop. Will be getting it back in a day or two. Thanks for all the replys guys. I appreciate the responses.

Shane

 

EGT gauges are useless anyway. Sell it.

All they ever do it make you tune your car to be slower than it should be.