Note the 8mm x 5cm bolt in the circle.



Note the 8mm x 5cm bolt
You are looking at the EGR valve attached to the throttle body elbow of an X-350. The black arch indicates the length of the bolt that is in the part to be removed. If the thread wasn’t into the Throttle body by just a bit, I could grind the head off & simply remove the valve. But it is.

I have ascertained that the top ⅔ of the bolt is not frozen (distance indicated bt the black arc; so, it is just in the bottom 3rd that it is.
I have tried bolt extractor sockets, Hercules bolt extractor bits, vice grips, chisel; everything but heat.

If the throttle body didn’t have a nub stopping it, I could just rotate it off but it does.

Is it worth it to try heat? I would hae to check with my bX-350 buds to see if it is ok to move the black dome part because I don’t know if it can withstand the heat.

So, my questions are; How would you extract it? Would heat make any difference considering how impacted it is?

Thanks and best,

Steve S.

 

I would say to cut the head off of the bolt, pull the EGR valve off and then using the shank to put vice grips on with heat at that point. The plastic connector is what worries me. Worse case, you can weld a nut on to the shank if you want something with a bit of positive engagement.

 

Thanks, Thermos. If a few threads are in the egr, could the egr still be pulled off after removing the head? I have a grinder. Would you use that or a saw to remove the head? I have a heat gun that goes up to 1350W. Will that be enough or should I use butane?

 

Thanks, Thermos. If a few threads are in the egr, could the egr still be pulled off after removing the head? I have a grinder. Would you use that or a saw to remove the head? I have a heat gun that goes up to 1350W. Will that be enough or should I use butane?

 

Steve, the EGR valve is going to have a smooth bore to it. So, once the head comes off, other than maybe a little bit of rust, the EGR valve is going to come right off. The threads are in what hte EGR is bolted too. So, you wil see a few threads sticking out once the EGR is removed. I would try penetrant first, see how that works. But, if you apply heat, you want something with as intense a heat as possible to minimize how much other stuff you heat up. So, butane all the way. You may want to try taking the end of the bolt and giving it a few good hits with a hammer to try and break any rust bonds in the threads too before applying heat. Sometimes a good jarring is all that is needed.

 

Thanks, Thermo! The smooth bore part is what I thought too; however, my measuring must have been a bit off. I will try to remove the head with a chisel. Penetrate 1st makes sense since the app point will be closer to the relevant threads.

Again, your help is much appreciated! Have a good one!

Steve S.

 

Chisel is practically useless. However, was able to remove "hex" part of the bolt fairly easily with a grinder. However, I'm a bit nervous using the grinder on the "washer" part of the nut; it is a little unwieldly & I don't want to damage anything. I will try a Dremel-like tool for the rest.

 

Steve, 2 things. 1) See if you can find a tool (do not know the name of it), but it has a large handle like a chisel, but the end of it is a large flat blade screw driver. In short, you smack the handle end with a large hammer and this will cause the bit to twist slightly. So, you can get a slight twisting action as you are giving the bolt a shock. You would just need to take say a dremel tool and cut a slot in the bolt that you have. that may be enough to break things loose. Bit thing is giving the tool a twisting action (like you are going to unscrew the bolt) as you give the end a hit. This will give maximum transfer of twist to the bolt to start it coming out. 2) using a dremel tool, slowly remove the head/washer of the bolt. As you get a very thin part of the washer left, use a screw driver and start curling this piece. This will help keep you away from the EGR valve.

THinking, I may be going about this the hard way, but this third way depends on how much room you have. Since you now have a flat spot to work with, start with a punch and put a divit in the middle of the bolt (this will help keep the drill bit centered on the bolt). Then, using say a 1/8" drill bit, drill in about an 1/8 to 1/4". Then step up to a 3/16", then 1/4", etc. until the washer part comes off. You can use a screw driver as you get near to breaking through to lift the washer off and it may separate before you drill through the sides. From there, you can pull the egr valve off. This way will minimize any damage to the EGR valve. But, any of these methods, as long as you are not going more than say a 1/4" into the valve, you should be good.

 

Thanks so much Chris! I am getting close.

Actually, the grinder has done a pretty good job at getting rid of the Hex part of the bolt head as I previously mentioned. The Dremel-like grinder would work for making a groove, but that is about it. The fitting I used, while billed as a cutting disc, is no such thing - too flimsy.

Rightly or wrongly, I am convinced that if I did twist the bolt, it would break. I have a really good impact wrench which, I think, you are describing, But I am pursuing your original prescription. Seems to me that getting the barrel part of the bolt exposed will allow the safest option since with a hit, penetrant, and/or heat, I am more likely to get the threaded part of the bolt out without it breaking.

I am going to try this next:

Will let you know how it comes out. Thanks again!

Steve S.

 

All along, as I was working on removing the bolt head, I would stop and smack the circumference with a chisel & a ballpeen & just as I was making headway with my new filing tool, the bolt released!

As Chris suggested, the impact from the chisel & hammer did the trick. Hence, the impact wrench would likely have worked; however, it is fairly heavy & it may have damaged something unless I constructed a cradle to hold things where they had to be for the downward thrust. Frustrating, but I learned a lot.

A little dancin music for Chris:

You Tube

 

Good to hear the bolt came out in 1 piece. Now, why couldn't it have release when you put the wrench on the hex to begin with? LMAO.