schro Posted April 4, 2011 Share Posted April 4, 2011 (edited) ] -Go through the wheel well after taking the wheel off... I removed mine yesterday by this method.From the wheel well, with the apron removed you have direct line of sight. (shop towels stuffed into exhaust ports to keep debris out) 2 broken studs here, rearmost exhaust port viewed from right wheel well 2 broken studs here, front exhaust port on left side viewed from left wheel well (sorry for the glare, not a great pic) you can see your drill bit placement better. You can apply even controlled pressure to your drill. I chucked up a 12" long bit driver extension into my cordless drill, with a 1/4 hex 3/16" bit (like you would use in an impact driver) Drilling was fast and easy, and extracting them was a piece of cake.I was seriously concerned about this job, and had budgeted a lot of time to do it. I had all 4 studs out in a bit over 1 hour. BTW. Loyds brand 'Moovit' penetrating lube was what I used. I didn't try anything else so I can't offer a comparison to PB Blaster or other, but it worked great!DEFINITELY if you can, go in through the wheel well. Edited April 5, 2011 by schro Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sewebster Posted April 4, 2011 Share Posted April 4, 2011 I'm trying to decide if I should tap to M10x1.5 (the standard pitch, doesn't match the VG33) and just cut up some grade 8.8 M10 redi rod. This would be way cheaper than buying the VG33 studs. But I might just leave things as is (with the stock M8 studs) and change things later if it causes a problem. Of course this is so much easier now with the engine out... Just thought I'd post an update on what I did a few months ago... I drilled and tapped the holes for M10x1.5 and just used easily available BOLTS, instead of studs. This has been working fine. I upped the torque a little based on my calculations for achieving the same tension as with the M8 studs (calculations online if you search and are willing to do some math). I think I used about 20 ft-lbs but I am not certain I remember right now. Anyway, bolts aren't really ideal, because every time you take them out and put them in you are putting wear on the threads in the heads, and now, especially since I've already drilled the holes larger, I am probably getting close to cooling channels. However, I have found that with the studs, the studs themselves always seem to come out instead of the nuts coming off, so really you end up with the same problem. Ideally I guess you'd have interference fit studs so that they would be less likely to come out, with anti-seize on the nuts, but I don't think the VG33 studs are interference? Anyway, just throwing this out there as an option that seems to work, and is easy and cheap to get the tap and bolts (watch the length). But there are no warranties supplied with this advice!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1994SEV6 Posted December 10, 2011 Share Posted December 10, 2011 How do you get the studs out? This thread didn't really answer how to get the studs out other than drilling them. I want to get out my unbroken studs. I don't want them to break down the road. How do I get those out? Other than visegrips I have no idea. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kingman Posted December 11, 2011 Share Posted December 11, 2011 Two nuts and a wrench. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1994SEV6 Posted December 11, 2011 Share Posted December 11, 2011 Two nuts and a wrench. That didnt work worth a damn. I put two on there. Did it properly and it just turned both of them. I even tried three nuts. No luck. I drilled all the way though it to the head and broke it off with a hammer. Then I drilled it into the head and used an easy out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NissanNismoZ Posted July 22, 2012 Share Posted July 22, 2012 Looks like o have to do this now...ugh. I'm not comfortable doing this but can't afford the 300$ to have it done.. Btw 1994SEV6 did you tighten the two nuts together really tight first? Just an idea.. I have a drill but its not the most powerful..so lets hope none break inside.. thanks for the great write up! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Trogdor636 Posted July 22, 2012 Share Posted July 22, 2012 I wouldn't worry about how powerful your drill is. I'd worry more about taking your time and using a good quality left hand drillbit. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tungsten Posted July 22, 2012 Share Posted July 22, 2012 (edited) The key to drilling is to go slow and lube the bit. Be careful to not drill into the water jacket. There are multiple ways of getting the stud out. 1. Once you drill into the stud, turn the entire gun out as the drill bit should be wedged enough into the stud to grab it and screw it out. 2. Use a special bit that locks into the stud once you drilled a hole through the center. 3. Drill a hole and tap a left hand bolt inside then use that to pull out the stud. Getting a whole stud out is easy. You just need slim nuts. You jam one with the other and turn. Using an impact gun might help too. Edited July 22, 2012 by Tungsten Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DarkDragon Posted August 29, 2012 Share Posted August 29, 2012 this is old. yet it's my turn now. 2 studs on the driver and 1 on the passenger that i can see. i already have the pacesetter headers ready. other than getting this dam studs drilled out, how did you get the egr off? i spent about an hour trying with pb and small torch. i just gave up and and reinstalled the y-pipe and left. already spent 10 hours welding the frame on the rear of the truck. now is this issue i have to take care of. tony r. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
msavides Posted October 28, 2012 Author Share Posted October 28, 2012 I can't believe that i did this 5 years ago. I have not had a single exhaust leak or problem since. \ I updated the original post to fix some links and add a link to photobucket as snapfish are now forcing a signup to see pictures. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
urimashe Posted January 19, 2014 Share Posted January 19, 2014 in about an hour, I will be doing this repair myself. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gmmeyer3 Posted January 27, 2014 Share Posted January 27, 2014 in about an hour, I will be doing this repair myself. So how did your venture go? I have to do this myself. Total dread! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SpecialWarr Posted April 1, 2014 Share Posted April 1, 2014 Hey hey guess what I found this afternoon after taking off the heat shield! That's right, a broken stud with nut attached. So I guess I'll be on this project in the next while, needless to say that the rest of the nuts are moving on the passenger side but that doesn't mean they are going to play nice. It's just too bad that this is my daily driver. Wish me luck!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kdj Posted April 1, 2014 Share Posted April 1, 2014 Wish granted... Good luck!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JackStraw1 Posted November 9, 2015 Share Posted November 9, 2015 Started this lil bit of joy today on the driver's side. Just couldn't take the ticking and the exhaust smell any more. No BL - kinda tight. 3 broken studs so far with minimal torquing with a 1/4" drive. Seems like they are just total @!*%e. Can't get either end of the EGR tube to move. Don't have a wrench big enough for the top end. I guess I'll put a pipe wrench to it after it sits in the lube for a while. Anyone ever just take the EGR off and work it out attached to the manifold? Oh yeah, haven't seen it mentioned yet but I have spacers between the nut and the manifold flange. I have a 94 WD21 4x4. Is this common? I guess I'll have to get an extra one for the stud that is completely missing when i go to put it back together. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
adamzan Posted November 10, 2015 Share Posted November 10, 2015 You can just use washers stacked to the same thickness. That's what I did. The egr tube we had to heat with a torch but it did come off okay. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Slartibartfast Posted November 10, 2015 Share Posted November 10, 2015 Just don't go after that EGR pipe with torque alone, that's what sheared most of the threads off my old one. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jmoor85 Posted November 10, 2015 Share Posted November 10, 2015 When I got my egr pipe off I just use pb blaster and an adjustable wrench. I sprayed the blaster the day ahead of time. Then the next day use the adjustable wrench and when it finally did break loose just slightly and went back and forth with it in the tightening and loosening direction until it felt nice and free. I had 7 broken studs total. Wishing I replaced them with something way better. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JackStraw1 Posted November 10, 2015 Share Posted November 10, 2015 Thanks for answering guys. I'm trying to borrow a torch now, otherwise imma have to trudge down to HF and get that lil portable (expensive fastner remover but I have always wanted one, ) Snow belt rust has made it much harder to work on truck. I took a look at the two bolts that attach the down pipe to the y-pipe and they have morphed into something that looks linda like melted plastic. Plus they are in a tight spot that almost necissitates taking offf the torsion bar on that side - or maybe moving back to the next connection after the Y-pipe. Did you guys loosen the lower or upper part of the EGR tube ? Upper is obvi easier to get to but I don't know if I could finagle it out of there still attached to the manifold. @Jmoor --7 broken studs ? You're the king. The stud king,lol Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jmoor85 Posted November 11, 2015 Share Posted November 11, 2015 @Jmoor --7 broken studs ? You're the king. The stud king,lol Here thanks. LMAO. I was not a happy camper though. It thoroughly pi$$ed me off. I was on here trying to get other ways to get the last ones out. My drill bit walked on me and I thought I hit the threads. I got lucky on a couple. I also had two broken on the collectors. The two bolts(one on either side) that have the exposed end on the back side of studs are the ones that broke. They must have been siezed from both ends. So yeah. I hope I'm past all that and am still wanting to go back in and replace them with something from NASA that will never get stuck and break again. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JackStraw1 Posted November 11, 2015 Share Posted November 11, 2015 Yeah, one of the collector studs came all the way out for me too (the one closest to the block, nut was totally rusted in place surprised it didn't break) I guess I'll get it off when I pick up the torch. I'm gonna try to get a center punch in there for the manifold studs cuz I've had the same off center drilling happen when drilling out a broken bolt on the a/c condensor. Thinking about using left handed drills too. Damn I wish I had a body lift to give me a little more wiggle room Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jmoor85 Posted November 11, 2015 Share Posted November 11, 2015 Yeah, one of the collector studs came all the way out for me too (the one closest to the block, nut was totally rusted in place surprised it didn't break) I guess I'll get it off when I pick up the torch. I'm gonna try to get a center punch in there for the manifold studs cuz I've had the same off center drilling happen when drilling out a broken bolt on the a/c condensor. Thinking about using left handed drills too. Damn I wish I had a body lift to give me a little more wiggle room I went to homedepot and bought some 12" drill bits. They were like $6 each. I went in through the inner fender. Not much space but it got the job done. The drill bits are only good for a couple studs so I bought 5 smallest bits and 5 of the next size up. I tried left handed bits on the ones I could get to since they are much smaller. They didn't grab for me. Use oil and drill slowly when you do. Don't heat the bits up too much. Good luck. It's rather stressful. Also try drilling the hole in the stud to the largest you can so you can use the largest extractor possible. This will help to ensure the extractor doesn't break. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JackStraw1 Posted November 14, 2015 Share Posted November 14, 2015 So I got the torch and it made short work of the exhaust fasteners. Got the top EGR nut off. Bottom one just wasn't happening. Also managed to get the bolts off the remaining studs. Had to take the horn out to squeeze the manifold and EGR tube out through the top. So now I've got 3 broken off in the head and 3 intact. I was thinking about heating the intact ones with the torch before trying to turn them. I think I can get the torch on em perpendicular so as not to heat the block much. Which leads me to this... anyone heat the block around the broken ones with a torch ? I know its aluminum but I wondering if this can be done with out warping, deforming or god forbid - melting the aluminum. Gonna try to get this done Monday/Tues when it warms back up to 60 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JackStraw1 Posted November 14, 2015 Share Posted November 14, 2015 So I got the torch and it made short work of the exhaust fasteners. Got the top EGR nut off. Bottom one just wasn't happening. Also managed to get the bolts off the remaining studs. Had to take the horn out to squeeze the manifold and EGR tube out through the top. So now I've got 3 broken off in the head and 3 intact. I was thinking about heating the intact ones with the torch before trying to turn them. I think I can get the torch on em perpendicular so as not to heat the block much. Which leads me to this... anyone heat the block around the broken ones with a torch ? I know its aluminum but I wondering if this can be done with out warping, deforming or god forbid - melting the aluminum. Gonna try to get this done Monday/Tues when it warms back up to 60 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
msavides Posted November 18, 2015 Author Share Posted November 18, 2015 the best penetrant is 50/50 mix of ATF and lacquer thinner, and cheap too Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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