So last night my dad and I were working on the car. you know father son bonding. we were going to put in my K&N filter. I went to go pick up the filter and told him to take off the scoop. when I got back, without a filter because autozone didnt get it. he told me he thinks he had stripped the torx screw under the black plug and sure enough, while not totally gone, it was too stripped to take out. What do I do now?

 

Perhaps a screw extractor aka ez-out?



Better give your dad the camera and keep him away from the tools, LOL
Good luck,
Ryan

 

Thanks Ryan, he thought years of automotive experience would have him ahead of the game. Then again his old VW bug caught on fire. Thanks for the tip!
Bryan

 

I would like to know how on this earth you strip out a torx screw.

 

uhhh I assume he either used a screw driver (he would have had to have been really dumb) or just kept slipping

 

Standards used to be different. In those days we thought very well of ourselves if we didn't catch on fire. Some days you eat the Volkswagon, some days the Volkswagen eats you!

 

Torx are VERY easy to strip.... IF NOT USING A TORX DRIVER!

See if you can grab the head of the screw with some vice grips, or use screw extractor as someone mentioned. Depending on the size of the screw, using an extractor can be difficult. Another option is to drill off the head so you can grab the screw with some pliers or vice grips.

Good luck!

 

Sometimes you can grip a screw with some vise grips to get it out.

 

Oh Lord, e-z outs. Just my opinion, ok for non-critical screws and studs. Very much not ok for critical screws, studs. Don't ask me how I know. Friends with long term German shops hate the things cause "hobbiests" like me then show up with a buggered engine casing or tranny housing and there's not enough to weld a nut to. Probably ok for new or recent cars, just not anything older.

YMMV

That said, probably wrong torx driver like cnolan or fam strang mentioned.

Best of luck

 

OK... though I don't necessisarily condone this (I would go for the easy-out set. It's a good investment)... I have seen a stripped torx screw removed with an allen wrench. Find one that fits snug, apply a lot of inward pressure and go slow. If it doesn't work.. well there's still the easy-out kit! Striped is striped, right?

 

maybe even tap the torx driver lightly with a hammer to get the best possible bite on the screw.

 

Thanks everyone for the input. I will go find myself an EZ out, and something to keep my dads hands busy.

 

You could maybe dremel a slot in it with a cutoff wheel and use a flat blade screwdriver.