I was working on getting the crank hub on my car, another post i made described it, and it was going on crooked. so my dumbarse decides to put a little more force into it to see if maybe i could force it on straight. NOPE! I ended up breakin the bolt off in the crank, flush I might add, and now I'm stuck.

I don't know what to do. My uncle said I can try to use and EZ out to get it out, I don't think that would work. What else can I do or what should I do? Should I look at just replacing the crank itself or maybe do a 355 buildup.

I don't have a lot of cash, I can maybe get $3000 scrounged up for this. The car's a '97 Z, A4, stock lower end. And one really pissed off owner.

If anybody can help out, give ideas and/or suggestions that would be great.

And yes I know, now is the time for the 355/383/396 build up, but please keep in mind that I don't have a lot of money at my disposal.

Thanks

Phil

 

EZ out is the only solution unless you drill out the bolt and retap the crank.

 

What kind of work would that include? I know I have to drill a pilot hole in the bolt, I guess what I really mean to ask is - will it work? If the crank bolt is in there as stuck as I think it is, will i need any kind of lube on the bolt? Also, I think I would need to get an angle drill because the room I have to work with. I haven't taken the radiator's out, I can if I have to. At this point I don't really care what I need to do as long as I can fix my car. Which I may not want to do since I broke the damn thing, lol.

Thanks for the quick reply!

 

Heres a trick that might work.Take a small ,SHARP punch and tap on the outer edge of the bolt in the loosening direction.If that doent work,I would try a left handed drill.It may loosen it.Or drill it out with the left handed drill,then use an easy out.One of these should work for you.

 

I wouldn't drill it out....but if you do make sure its even or you might throw off the balance on the crank.

 

Visit your local tool rental place and get the tools needed incl easy outs, drill bits, drill. Once you can get a piece of it with some vice grips, you should be good to go.JMHO

 

Also, as mentioned. If you have a chisel that will allow you to do a bit of hammering on the bolt end to back it out enough for the vise grips, that's always been a productive method for me. Don't beat the heck of it, just gently and accurately use the chisel to back the bolt out to (counter-clockwise,of course).

 

thanks guys, I will try that idea on drilling it out. I just gotta get an air compressor so I can get the hub off. Trying it by hand is not a good idea right now since I will probably break my damn wrenches, it seems to be stuck or that bolt is still holding it on?