Broken Head Bolts - Advice Needed

[Snakecharmer]

I have a ticking noise coming from the engine (2008 Alpha) so I took it to the dealer (yes, the dealer) who I have been working with for about eight years and he sent me the following email:

The noise you're hearing is the two back cylinder head bolts are broken off. Fairly common problem on these V-8s when they get some age on them. Hopefully we can drill the broken bolts out and replace them ($700.00 + estimate). If they won't come out of the head you"ll actually have to replace the head itself ($2k + estimate). We won't know until we start drilling.

I am not sure where to go with this - I am seeking some of the forum's sage advice.

 

[JPaul]

Where did the bolts break? At the block or did the heads pop off leaving you with essentially smooth studs?

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[scoreh3]

It sounds like the POS exhaust manifold bolts broke. They used the cheapest bolts they could find at Pep Boys to bolt the exhaust onat the factory. I would bet that at least 60% of H3 and Colorado owners have had theirs break. Mine broke (2 bolts) years ago and when I went to try to remove the manifold, I noticed a crack just above the cat and got it all fixed under the emissions part or the warranty. Good luck.

 

[Snakecharmer]

Where did the bolts break? At the block or did the heads pop off leaving you with essentially smooth studs?

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I am not sure - I will try and find out tomorrow

 

[atvspeed4]

My alpha has two broken and I just helped my friend with two broken on his H2 it's a really common problem.

You do not need to replace head that's ridiculous. If they broke off flush with the manifold just remove the rest of the manifold bolts then the manifold and unscrew with small vice grips. If they are broken off flush with the head I just welded a nut to the stud and spun out (this takes a lil practice) they are in aluminum so not much force is necessary

 

[Snakecharmer]

Where did the bolts break? At the block or did the heads pop off leaving you with essentially smooth studs?

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I am told that "They broke off inside the block" - now what?

 

[Mr_Rich]

I am told that "They broke off inside the block" - now what?

I think everyone will read this and go, "Huh????" The exhaust manifolds are bolted to cylinder head, not the block.

 

[JPaul]

We are talking about the actual cylinder head bolts and not the exhaust manifold bolts, right? If it's clean at the face of the block then that royally sucks, and as far as I know extremely uncommon. Hopefully they can drill it and extract it with an ez-out. If not then yes, it will require removing the head so that the broken off part of the bolt can be extracted.

If we're talking about exhaust manifold bolts then that is more common and a lot easier and cheaper to deal with, and it'd be in the cylinder head, not the block itself. It will require removing the manifold and first trying to use an ez-out/bolt extractor which requires drilling the remaining bolt and trying to get it out that way. If that fails then it'll be drilling out the bolt with a bit that fits as close to the inside diameter of the threads and then removing whatever is left. If it's really bad then you drill the whole thing out and use a helicoil to restore the threads in the head. It will not require removal of the cylinder head.

 

[atvspeed4]

We are talking about the actual cylinder head bolts and not the exhaust manifold bolts, right? If it's clean at the face of the block then that royally sucks, and as far as I know extremely uncommon. Hopefully they can drill it and extract it with an ez-out. If not then yes, it will require removing the head so that the broken off part of the bolt can be extracted.

If we're talking about exhaust manifold bolts then that is more common and a lot easier and cheaper to deal with, and it'd be in the cylinder head, not the block itself. It will require removing the manifold and first trying to use an ez-out/bolt extractor which requires drilling the remaining bolt and trying to get it out that way. If that fails then it'll be drilling out the bolt with a bit that fits as close to the inside diameter of the threads and then removing whatever is left. If it's really bad then you drill the whole thing out and use a helicoil to restore the threads in the head. It will not require removal of the cylinder head.

Im betting its the exhaust manifold bolts broken off in the head but he should definitely confirm. I have never heard of a stock LS motor breaking the actual head bolts.

You don't have to remove the head honestly I just did this job and as I said before just weld a nut or if its broken off flush to the head weld a washer to the broken off bolt and a nut to the washer then unthread it. No reason to remove the head. It makes it much easier to remove the wheel well liner and tire to access the broken off bolt.

Unfortunately many dealer mechanics are lazy and will tell you need a new head or that the head needs to be removed but that is not the case.

 

[speedy]

There's another option for a temporary fix :huh:
https://kralautoparts.com/product/exhaust-manifold-bolt-repair-kit-kap169

I actually have one in the parts box:shame:

Might need to go to a independent shop to get it removed. Dealers just like to slap on new parts
Worst case pull the head and take it to a machine shop if your not comfortable doing it

I replaced all of the bolts on the 6.0 exhaust with ARP Bolts before i installed the engine in Bebe's H3

 

[Mr_Rich]

There's another option for a temporary fix :huh:
https://kralautoparts.com/product/exhaust-manifold-bolt-repair-kit-kap169

I actually have one in the parts box:shame:

Might need to go to a independent shop to get it removed. Dealers just like to slap on new parts
Worst case pull the head and take it to a machine shop if your not comfortable doing it

I replaced all of the bolts on the 6.0 exhaust with ARP Bolts before i installed the engine in Bebe's H3

ARP bolts are the way to go. For one thing you can torque them to spec and not have to deal with TTY (torque to yield) bolts because of the "stretch" that's engineered into those type of bolts.