Help! My plans this morning were to lower the engine and fix my leaky engine (pushrod tubes, oil cooler seals). Additionally, I was planning a really thorough engine bay inspection.

At the point where I need to remove the CV bolts, I have found the following:
1. The PO has replaced the 12-point bolts with standard hex bolts (female-the bolts, not the PO).
2. Two of the bolts on the driver's side are stripped, and one bolt on the passenger side is stripped.
3. I have no apparent way to remove the stripped CV bolts - what should I do?????

Since I don't have any special tools, what do I do now? I guess I can replace the pushrod and oil cooler seals without removing the engine (seeems like it will be a real pain).

Please advise!!!

My thanks.

It is 'Tool Abuse' but it has worked many times for me.
Take your 12 point socket and a brass hammer and drive the 12 point into the stripped allen head bolt. The stripped allen head is usually large enough for the 12 point to be driven in and with the 12 point you should get enough bite to get the bolt out. I usually used my Snap-on 12 point since it was easy to get replaced.

Don't tell your tool dealer!

I have also had some luck with vise grips on the out side of the bolt head. Need good vise grips and you won't be able to turn the bolt much but I have broken them loose.

Good luck
Jim

Same thing happened to me. Used a vice grip cranked down hard and with slow steady pressure. Actually, Aaron did most of the work.


Obviously you will need new bolts too.

Please somebody... Throw me a bone here!!!

As I see it I have two choices:
1. Complete what work I can and once the car is re-assembled, take it to a shop to have the damaged bolts removed and replaced with Dr. Evil's bolts.
2. Use some piece of "magic" you tell me about so that I can remove the bolts myself, and install Dr. Evil's CV bolts.

Any thoughts... Stories... Ideas... Dirty limericks???

Just... just... smoebody please talk to me...

If you have a hammer and a chisel you can get them out. You do not chisel the heads off of them. You hold the chisel on the bolt head along the axis of the bolt, hit directly towards the center of the bolt several times to form a groove on the side off the head. After you've formed a groove that will hold the tip of the chisel, you begin to move the chisel so that the impact will be turning the bolt head loose, the chisel tip will be parallel to he axis of the bolt and each impact will begin to loosen the bolt a little bit.
Picture 1- on the axis.
Picture 2- parallel to the axis.

THANKS!!!

I'l try each one of these

Vice grips .................

Are the threads stripped or the hex head stripped such that a hex driver just spins?

If the hex driver is spinning, is the bolt worn out or your hex driver? I've seen hex drivers get rounded. On some drivers I was able to grind off the rounded part to reveal a nice sharp driver again.

If stripped, how about an eazy-out? Or a pair of vice grips?

1. put car in neutral
2. jack up side you're working on (use jackstand!)
3. get a hand held vice grips on outside of bolt as tight as you can.
4. rotate wheel by holding on to the tire.
5. rotate the tire in the opposite direction you need the bolt to go.

If you do this carefully, you'll get a whole lot of torque on the bolt and hopefully will spin it out.

Best of luck,
Konrad

Clean it (grease) out first, give it a couple of real good wacks with a BFH, hammer the tool in, gorilla the vice grips on, then turn both same time with about the same pressure.

Works everytime for me, done lots. I'm a big guy with real strong hands (for the vice grips) though.

I agree with Mark H.
I just use Vice Grips, but they need to be a big pair, and you almost have to bend them to get them to grip into the hardened steel head, but it works.

Rich

I was afraid that if I tried to hammer the tool in BFH I might mess up something in the transmission. I'll try that....

BTW: It is the inside of the CV bolt that's gnarled, not the hex tool itself. To my knowledge, there is nothing wrong with the threads themselves.

Thanks everybody! I will continue to press on...

I third fourth fith? the vice grips.....

Yea vise grips.

I had a bus guy ask me to replace his CV's. Since I will do anything for a buck I agreed. the out joint is similar to the 914 (way down in the trailing arm.
I used a standard easy out. Piece of cake.
the inner joint had a bad screw also and the vise grip did the trick. I was his new found "super hero" because the shop he went to couldn't do it.

We just had the same problem on my son's 90's GTI.
We tried all the above suggestions and still couldn't get two out.

We welded short bolt to the heads and used a 17mm socket to back out the offending bolts. ymmv.....

Was just about to say something along those lines.... If it's impossible to get enough bite on the heads with vice grips, and other methods fail, then weld something to the heads of the bolts!

Vice grips. It's easy and I've done it several times. If you can't get them out with vice grips, try harder, or buy bigger vice grips.

No ruining tools, or pounding on sockets, or banging on things with a BFH necessary.

Always done it with the vice grips

sawzall - it is the only way

Vice Grips.....my second oldest tool.

This my send extreme but I have had my student do this quit often on for bolts of this type. get a piece of strap metal drill a hole the size of the bolt head, bend it to a 90 and weld it to the top of the bolt use an adj end wrench of vise grips and remove and through away

Boa

Come on people, weld something to the CV bolt??? I'm not even allowed to carry a hammer (due to the unfortunate drinking and hammering incident of 2001 ). I'll end up using the vice grips from hell.... later.

But, now, I'm on a strict time budget (Long Beach Gran Prix coming up fast)

So, I changed out the oil cooler seals and replaced all of the pushrod tubes with the engine in the car. Actually, it wasn't that difficult.

Thanks everybody (sure hope the car starts tomorrow...)

Don't pinch yer fingers with the vise grips or you're gonna have to sell the teener. Hammer and vise grips are true Porsche Tools ..... drinking is optional.