Broke alternator bolt

[HBFL]

Yeah, broke the upper left one off, abt 1/4 of the bolt is visible. Just got WD 40 on it while I plot a strategy. I’ve got some Craftsman bolt out sockets never been opened. I reckon soaking it for a few days in WD, then heating it up, maybe a rap or two from a small hammer and give it a go. Any other suggestions?

[Chrisj CMA]

Yes. If it starts to turn. Don’t just keep turning. A little turn then back. Some back and forth then more penetrating oil. Then back and forth hopefully with more movement. If it seems smooth and you can just keep it goin go slow and stop if starts to get tight. Then go back to back and forth with more oil

[Bighead]

Sounds like a plan.

[The emperor has no clothes]

Sounds like there might be enough protruding to mig weld a nut to it ?

[Steve K (IA)]

PB Blaster would work much better than WD40.  And you don't want to heat the bolt.  That makes it swell making it tighter.  Welding a nut onto the broken end sounds like a winner.

[da prez]

Tap,tap,tap. The hammer tapping really helps. Turn bolt both ways. If it stops , do not force it.

         da prez

[Paladin528]

I replaced mine with Titanium bolts and some anti seize.

[HBFL]

Great, thanks for the replies. I was trying to remember PB blaster last night. I’ll get some. My bolt out sockets are too large, designed for mucked up bolt heads. I’ll have to try to find one smaller. Welding isn’t an option for me. Ok, no heat. Tap tap. I’m guessing the old practice of vice grips should be avoided?

[Chrisj CMA]

Vice grips are fine if there is enough to bite. If only almost enough it will pinch off the end and you will have a pencil tip to work with

[Bagger John - #3785]

PB Blaster would work much better than WD40.  And you don't want to heat the bolt.  That makes it swell making it tighter.  Welding a nut onto the broken end sounds like a winner.

+1

A couple of years ago I had to take the left frame cover (which mounts the driver peg and allows access into the U-joint area) off my 2012 Concours 14. All bolts except one came out pretty easy. It figures that all bolts used on the sub-assembly are dome-head Allen...and are in recesses which preclude getting Vise-Grips on their heads.

No amount of PB Blaster, hex-bit-on-the-impact-driver or anything else would loosen that fastener. I ended up dragging the MIG welder to the garage and welded a 14mm nut to the bolt head from the inside of the threads, making sure to use enough current to get a good pool of melt of both nut and bolt, in addition to the feed wire.

After the area cooled down enough to be workable, a simple application of a 6pt, 1/2"dr socket at the end of a breaker bar fixed that particular problem.

Seems Kawasaki loves to use semi-permanent thread-locker on certain fasteners which must periodically be removed for servicing.   

[The emperor has no clothes]

Great, thanks for the replies. I was trying to remember PB blaster last night. I’ll get some. My bolt out sockets are too large, designed for mucked up bolt heads. I’ll have to try to find one smaller. Welding isn’t an option for me. Ok, no heat. Tap tap. I’m guessing the old practice of vice grips should be avoided?

With just 1/4" protruding, I doubt you'll be able to get enough bite with vice grips. You might have a friend with a mig welder who can help you. Or there are mobile welder outfits that could do it. I don't know if the cost of them would be feasible though. If all options do fail, there are a few that have used just the two bolts on the alternator mount with no bad results. (This should be the last option though)

[HBFL]

The narrow vice grip ain’t budging it after soaking in PB blaster. I have stud removal tool on the way, there isn’t much to grab onto. If all that fails I’ll cut the bolt flush and use my screw out. If I can get enough out I can use a shorter bolt at least. Im glad it’s the outer top bolt.

[MarkT]

Some points:

The very best penetrating oil isn't an existing bottled product at all but a 50/50 mix of acetone/ATF fluid.  I always keep some mixed up.  Here's the results of a comparison test - one of many you can google.  https://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/threads/penetrating-oil-showdown.350800/

I doubt if you'll have success with "Easy-Outs" in this case.  Be careful you get the hole centered and go easy, clocking it back & forth if it starts to move as said above. It's not easy to get the drill in this tight location.  An angle drill is called for to get there at a straight angle.

That bolt isn't needed anyway.  I broke mine off on Deerslayer nearly 20 years ago and it's done fine w/o it.  The alternator is seated in the well anyway and held from clocking by the other bolts.  I glued a chrome bolt head on there to stop "missing bolt" comments.

For others or for you, if you do get it out.  Use anti-sieze on any threads that have dissimilar metals - particularly steel into aluminum.

[idaida98]

Try to center punch it and use a left handed drill to relieve some of the pressure on the threads.Careful when drilling but should come out , maybe while drilling.

[Avanti]

Great, thanks for the replies. I was trying to remember PB blaster last night. I’ll get some. My bolt out sockets are too large, designed for mucked up bolt heads. I’ll have to try to find one smaller. Welding isn’t an option for me. Ok, no heat. Tap tap. I’m guessing the old practice of vice grips should be avoided?

With just 1/4" protruding, I doubt you'll be able to get enough bite with vice grips. You might have a friend with a mig welder who can help you. Or there are mobile welder outfits that could do it. I don't know if the cost of them would be feasible though. If all options do fail, there are a few that have used just the two bolts on the alternator mount with no bad results. (This should be the last option though)

Welding will work well. Welding a nut on will heat it up and you can remove the bolt while it is still hot.