I was cleaning out my engine bay today and I saw the one bolt was in the wrong position holding the tapet cover (cam cover?). The one with the extra long head was in the wrong place so I decided I will quickly fix it and swap them around.

Everything is fine and as I'm tightening the small short bolt it snaps Now it's stuck in the engine head.

What is the best/easiest way to get it out ASAP?

 

if you can get the valve cover off, do that and see if any of the bolt is sticking above the head. A pair of vice grips or similar has worked for me in the past. If its broken underneith, get a EZ out drill bit. The ones from Sears have been great for getting annoying bolts out!

 

You need one of those extractor thingys from an auto parts store.
Here's a great article on bolt/stud extraction:
http://www.asashop.org/autoinc/may2003/techtotech.htm

 

It's definitely broken under. I'm so pissed off, I was getting ready to finish the car off before it goes in for a tune on Monday

I tried drilling and it's quite tough. Getting the valve cover off is going to be PITA!

 

This may sound strange but have you tried a left handed drill bit? A lot of times when they start to drill into the bolt they will grab and actually unscrew the bolt if it is not cross threaded or bottomed out too hard.

 

That is a great idea. I will need to remove my valve cover though. I had it sprayed and don't want to ruin the paint job. This is such a drag!

@DrPhil: thanks for the link - I'll give it a good bash tomorrow and hopefully everything works out.

Will I still be able to drive my car though? It's the bolt of the left side of the valve cover (near engine stablizer) at the top (closest to car cabin)?

 

Will the oil spew out if I remove the valve cover? Or is it quite a "neat" thing to do? I don't want to spill all over the garage floor unexpectedly.

 

Only if you take the cover off while the engine is running.

 

LOL! Ok I'm not THAT noob

That's a relief to hear. I'll get cracking tomorrow morning. It's 10PM here now - wish me luck... I'm going to need it. A lot of it.

 

I think I'm going to try weld a nut to the broken piece and see if it doesn't come out that way. If the valve cover is off - won't the sparks etc. set the engine oil alight?

 

yeah be careful of the welding. you dont want to get anything in the valve cover. I would try the ez out first. maybe let the welding be the last option.
and taking the valve cover off shouldn't be to hard to do. just takes a while to get everything out of the way.

 

Also another option, if the bolt is not too far deep, you can us a dremel or diegrinder with a cutoff wheel and slot it so you can us a screw driver to take it out.

 

Use the second from the left extractor. They are the best to use. The ones on the right break more than the other style. The trick is to drill the broken stud right down the middle of the stud. So be careful when you first start drilling, the drill bit will try to "walk" so buy a good center punch. Snap-On sells the extractor. Oh you dont need to drill all the way through the broke stud. Drill just enough for the extractor to get a good bite.

 

If there is no oil leak from your valve cover gasket, why not just leave it there? Also if you do remove it without the valve cover, cover the valvetrain with masking tape to keep out the drill shavings.

 

The sparks should not light the engine oil. Plus if you are tacking on a small nut, you shouldnt have any sparks at all (depending on what type of welder you use with what wire)

 

Thanks for all the swift responses. I struggled with it for about 4-5 hours before I had enough. So I dropped off the car at my local BMW dealer and they had it sorted out within 2 hours, bit pricey though ($100) to remove a stupid bolt. I'm very happy non the less! So everything will still go as planned on Monday!

 

For you it was worth the $100 for them it was a bonanza as it probably took them less than 5 minutes including cleanup. A reverse cobalt drill took it out clean and usually will if you can get the drill in there which in this case is easy.

The moral of the story is that it is not the guy with the most tools that wins, it’s the one with the right tools!

Rich

 

I suppose, but like I said, I'm happy. I just ask, do I try save myself $100 or ruin my new $2500 RMW head, because of my inexperience. No brainer there for me

 

But the guy with the most tools generally has the right tool.