I bought these valve cover wing bolts from my local Autozone and began tightening them down and two of them broke off. How do I get the piece out that's left in the head? :oops: Trust me, I wasn't overly tightening them. They weren't even all the way flush with the valve cover. I know they were prob just pieces of crap, but they looked good. Any help would be gr8ly appreciated.

If there is some thread sticking out of the hole, use needle nosed pliers to grip & turn. If they broke off flush with the head, use a small punch or the corner of a small screwdriver & gently tap the outside edge of the bolt in a counter clockwise direction. When enough of the bolt is showing, either back it out with the needle nosed pliers or by hand. Jon

You may have to pick up an eazy-out to get them out. are you sure you didn't get them cross threaded?

Chris

Nope, not cross-threaded...at least, I don't think so. They were going in just fine and started to get some tension, then "snap" one broke. I thought I'd over tightened it, but, after looking at it, noticed it wasn't even down all the way. So, I started on the next one and "snap" it broke too. I guess I need to lay off the Wheaties. :P Anyway, thanx for the advise! I'll try out the small screwdriver thing first. They did break off flush.

Maybe the theads were so long that they bottomed out and broke. In any case the quality doesn't seem very good. You should complain to Auto Zone.

Here's a helpful hint for next time. I used Moroso studs and hold downs, aren't that expensive either....Look great and are holding up extremely well too. :cool:

Yeh, I'm thinking they were poor quality. They do have a fairly lengthy thread. Prob should have used valve cover tabs or clamps. :oops: I'm still new to working on engines. This is the first vehicle I've ever worked on, so I'm still learning. I know a few things now that I've made mistakes. You'd think by now, age 26, I'd have done some kind of automotive work, but I've always been more into the design of vehicle until just recently. I've already pretty much taken the engine apart and am now putting it all back together (changed the gaskets). This is the first "major" prob I've come across. :cool: Anyways, thanx for ya'lls help.

All the aforementioned suggestions are worth a try. I have used them in the past and they worked well, especially using a sharp, pointed object to tap the bolt counter clockwise. However, if they are in tight and will not budge, then what? You may be forced to drill a hole in the VERY CENTER of the broken bolt and use ever increasing sizes of taps to cut the bolt out of the hole a little at a time. Caution: this will not work if an easy out has broken off in the hole!!! Do not put much pressure on an easy out. If it breaks, it compounds the problem.

I have used a easy out tool & they usually work well.