So after getting my truck back from the tranny shop i noticed an exhuast leak ...tick tick tick tick.... its wasnt too bad and i figured it was coming from the egr so i got the gasket i pop the hood and the tick is noticably louder since the day i got it back on thursday.... turns out the last bolt closest to the firewall on the passenger side header broke off in the head, flush with head.... the trany shop told me they took off the header when they put the y pipe back on, my guess is it was seriously over torqued and it broke off while i was driving it....now its a MAJOR leak... and its so cramped i cant get a drill in there for any kind of tool to back it out..i tried to grind a groove on the head of it with a dremel to try to back it out with a flat head but that just stripped it out ....now im stuck anyone have any ideas or ever have this happen to them? i really dont want to pull the head or motor its been nearly a year since the truck ran last and 4 days later im not going to pull the motor again.

 

My guess is the tranny shop broke it on the reinstall and it took a while for the gasket to leak(getting worse). If you remove the heatshield under the a/c on the firewall it gives a little more room. A short bit on an angled head drill and an easeout. Sorry for your misfortune, it's going to be a knucklebuster.

 

Sounds like that head may have to come out to me. I would definitely get that shop to cover your cost in repairing. Good luck.

 

If you get that broken bolt out WITHOUT removing the head your a magician not a mechanic. The header bolts aren't a large diameter so they can't take a lot of torque before shearing. It's a good thing you didn't go to a better quality bolt like Stage 8 or that mechanic would have probably stripped the threads in the head instead of breaking the bolt off. Consider yourself lucky. In that case youo would be looking for a helicoil which also requires removing the head.

 

well looks like the head is coming off.....what do u guys suggest as far as a head gasket replacement? head bolts? ect..im having a local f body shop do it for me...black magic racing in hayward. anyone ever have any work done by them?

 

Same thing that just happened to me on the TA. Took the driver side header out to replace the motor mount and one of the bolts broke. There is still a 1/4" of the bolt sticking out, so I might try to get a stud remover, if that does not work, will probably have to use easytap. Anyone else have any ideas? It's one of the middle bolts. This f'ing sucks.

 

I'd take the truck back to the tranny shop and tell them to fix it or pay you to get it fixed. Its obvious they fucked it up, so they should repair it, whether they broke it puttin git on, taking it off, or they over torqued it and it broke on the ride home, its obivously they're problem as they removed it in the first place for the install. I'd drive the truck down there and right thru their front door and tell them to fix it.

 

Agree - It wasn't busted when you took it in, they should repair their mistake.

Just like when an oil change place leaves the plug out - damage is done, and covered by the shop. NOT the customer.

C

 

Center punch works good, use it to make a little dimple toward the outside of the bolt so the punch has a place to grab then tap it in the direction the bolt needs to spin out.
Left handed drill bit needs to be centered in the bolt. Once the hole is started run it at low speed and apply pressure so it trys to grab.

 

I recomend that also but get a size where you can also use a easy out if the bit dosent work... but it probably will once its out a little you can use piliers but I would deffentally go back to the tranny shop some times they wont even fight you when they know they screwed up there was no reason to pull it off anyways.