This Noob has a threaded bolt head on EGR exhaust

[Cosmic Tourist]

Hi y'áll, my first ever post :arms:

Having been led up the garden path by this site (thanks everyone :D ) I have been setting up the 1999 TD5 auto for an eventual chip upgrade.

New air filter (TD5 alive, excellent), cleaned MAF and MAP (covered in vegemite) and came time to replace EGR with the TD5 bypass kit.
I went to do the exhaust side first (it looked hardest), noticing someone appears to have already had a go at it, and in fact the 5mm hex key just goes around and around a completely threaded head :mad:
The bottom bolt loosened very nicely, and the rest appears untouched.
Question: How can a newbie such as me get that top bolt out of the exhaust side? Having seen what covered my MAP I am desperate to get rid of the egr.

I was thinking of the wifes Dremel and cutting a slot for a flathead, but it looks pretty awkward and the bolt may be too hard. Do bolt extractors actually work?

Second, as a pointer, if I am aiming a mild to moderate chip (140 ?) then will a D2a intercooler be sufficient, or do I need a much more expensive after-market one.
Thx
James
Who loves his disco
(and usually the rest of my family)

[spudboy]

If you are happy to possibly sacrifice a hex key, go up a size to 6mm or maybe even 7mm, and hammer it in the rounded hole. It will create its own splines when you hammer it. You could even bevel the edge of the hex key slightly prior to hammering.

Pretty rough and I admit its a real "farmer" solution, but it has worked for me a few times.

[spudboy]

BTW - welcome to the forum, and your wife sounds like a top chick if she has her own dremel :D

[Blknight.aus]

a torqz bit which is over size hammered in is your first bet.

If you preheat the housing with a small blow torch (propane not oxy) it may also come loose.

you can also just get to the top one with a small pair of vice grips so try putting in the allen key (try an imperial as it may be just slightly bigger enough to be hammered in)the clamp it with the vice grips and then turn both at once.

you can purchase whats essentially a short length easy out for the allen socket screws but I havent had much sucess with them.

If you're near ipswich Im happy to lend a hand. (edit jsut checked your profile, ACT is a bit far)

[Zute]

Welcome, Im in the ACT (south ).

[Chops]

a torqz bit which is over size hammered in is your first bet.

If you preheat the housing with a small blow torch (propane not oxy) it may also come loose.

you can also just get to the top one with a small pair of vice grips so try putting in the allen key (try an imperial as it may be just slightly bigger enough to be hammered in)the clamp it with the vice grips and then turn both at once.

you can purchase whats essentially a short length easy out for the allen socket screws but I havent had much sucess with them.

If you're near ipswich Im happy to lend a hand. (edit jsut checked your profile, ACT is a bit far)

Just a normal "easy-out" should do the trick,, we get quite a few like this at work,,
Try giving it a tap with a hammer/punch first, this might help if its siezed a bit, making it not so hard to undo,, (dont use too big a hammer though,,:o)

[Bigbjorn]

Try a good spray with Chemsearch "Yield", an industrial product sold usually by engineer's suppliers.The use of conventional easy-outs is fraught with peril. They are tapered and often will wedge the fastener tighter into the hole as the taper screws in. If you break one off in the fastener then it is you and not the fastener that is screwed. I am not familiar with the installation. Can you get to it with a hand held battery drill? If so, try using a left hand helix drill bit in a battery drill turning in reverse. This will often wind a stuck threaded fastener out of the hole under the thrust of a drill bit's cutting action.

[Benny_IIA]

Second, as a pointer, if I am aiming a mild to moderate chip (140 ?) then will a D2a intercooler be sufficient, or do I need a much more expensive after-market one.
Thx
James
Who loves his disco
(and usually the rest of my family)


@ 140kw you will have to watch the torque figures as the auto will sense too many NM and go into limp mode. I think it's around 380nm but some will be able to confirm that for you.

As your Disco is an early one it will have a non-flashable ECU this means it is not a simple plug and play upgrade, Mike from TRT is the man to talk to about ECU upgrade and he sometimes has exchange ECU's so you can upgrade to a flashable ECU. I'm also led to believe the flashable ECU also gives a nicer delivery of power.

*TRT - Total Rover Tech (http://web.mac.com/rovertech/TRT/Home.html)*

As for the D2a intercooler I think it would be fine and would be good modification. I'm running one of Mike’s I/C on my defender but its manual and putting out a stupid amount of power. :twisted:



Ben….

[Discovery-94]

sorry to hear mate! sucks to get stuck on a bolt!
I used a screw extractor the other day - and it worked a treat... just a little awkward to get in there.
but I would probably try the bigger key option first - if you're confident that the bolt isnt rusted in or too tight, should be fine! (could always soak it in some lube oil just to be safe...)
good luck!

[DaveF]

Welcome Disco Boy,

You probably are already doing this but i used a hex head insert like what is used in a drill with my socket set. This gives more leverage also makes it easier to hammer in. The rounding of the head happened to me too but that is because I should stick to advertising sales LOL. I used lots of CRC and vice grips on vice grips to get one of the bolts out.
Good Luck

[gazk]

Having read a few posts on the problem I used one of those "freeze release" products on the bolts a couple of times before I tried to undo the bolts and had no problems.
I know its a bit late for your situation but:
The standard "L" shaped 5mm hex key is difficult, if not impossible to use in the space available. I recommend a socket drive type hex key be used from the start to reduce the chance of rounding the hex flats.

[Cosmic Tourist]

Thanks all for your suggestions.
Its an awkward spot, far too tight for a key. Its probably how it got stripped in the first place.
I will try the farmers solution, thanks spudboy, but I'll use a torx bit cause they have more edges, probably a 5.5 or 6mm I'll soak it first in penetrating oil or similar and then try and bang it out + vice grips.
If not, a trip down the local mechanic for a drill out might be in order.

Weekend after the coming (27 sept 09) is the Landrover fair in Sydney, so I might be able to pick up a few bits there :cool:

And yeah, my wife is the best. She held the steel rear bumper while I got it in place and is damn cute too :p
James

[Bigbjorn]

And yeah, my wife is the best. She held the steel rear bumper while I got it in place and is damn cute too :p
James

you know the rules, pictures please.

When you eventually get to replacing the bolt, use high temperature anti-seize on the threads. Loctite nickel anti-seize is good.

[Cosmic Tourist]

Just for those who might have come across this by accident....

I managed to grip the bolt heads using a set of nut extractors which worked hugely well, turning the bolt and breaking it off!
Grrr.
The second bolt also turned really well using just the wrench, and also broke off in the manifold!!
:2up:
Son of a bitch!
The rest of the egr came off pretty well, but try as I might I couldnt get those bolts out, vise grips hardly made it, I tried dremelling a centre line and using an easy out but no bloody luck!
I took it down my trusty mechanic, excellent fellows, and 2 hours later they couldnt get the little bastards out either, blowtorch and drills and grips. They wanted to remove the exhaust manifold but then I could see more snapped off bolts and a buggered manifold and head, so we ended up just welding closed the hole.
And its driving great!!:arms:
If I care enough I can get to it later, the main hassle being I had the TD5 alive set, the exhaust plate had the word ALIVE on it and I was wondering, you know, if maybe it would be number 5 alive, but maybe thats later.
THANKS FOR ALL YOUR ADVICE, MUCH APPRECIATED

[Disco44]

Hi y'áll, my first ever post :arms:

Having been led up the garden path by this site (thanks everyone :D ) I have been setting up the 1999 TD5 auto for an eventual chip upgrade.

New air filter (TD5 alive, excellent), cleaned MAF and MAP (covered in vegemite) and came time to replace EGR with the TD5 bypass kit.
I went to do the exhaust side first (it looked hardest), noticing someone appears to have already had a go at it, and in fact the 5mm hex key just goes around and around a completely threaded head :mad:
The bottom bolt loosened very nicely, and the rest appears untouched.
Question: How can a newbie such as me get that top bolt out of the exhaust side? Having seen what covered my MAP I am desperate to get rid of the egr.

I was thinking of the wifes Dremel and cutting a slot for a flathead, but it looks pretty awkward and the bolt may be too hard. Do bolt extractors actually work?

Second, as a pointer, if I am aiming a mild to moderate chip (140 ?) then will a D2a intercooler be sufficient, or do I need a much more expensive after-market one.
Thx
James
Who loves his disco
(and usually the rest of my family)

buy a set of the attached grips you will never have trouble with rounded bolts again

[George130]

Only just read this post.
Next time contact capital thread repair. Great bloke and will come to you. You will be impressed with what he can remove and the quality of his work. He is the guy the workshops call in when they are stuck.