help please....how to remove a stripped star bolt from my axle

[b5power]

so my inner boot ripped on the passenger side. in removal of the axle i stripped one of the bolts to the flange of the axle using a brandnew t50 and drenched the bolts with WD40. what is the best and easiest technique to remove the star bolt. thanks!

[FNK]

You can weld another bolt on top of the other to wrench it again.

[csosnowski]

use a cold chisel and drive the bolt counterclockwise until you can grab it with something/wedge your bit in there to get it the rest of the way out, i had to do this with brake caliper carrier bolts and driveshaft shield bolts.

arent the driveshaft bolts M8 triple-square?

[walky_talky20]

Yeah, those guys aren't T50, there's your problem.

[grillhands]

Get a grinder to cut a big line in the top of the head then us a flat head screwdriver to turn it out.

[ahaters46]

Get a grinder to cut a big line in the top of the head then us a flat head screwdriver to turn it out.

This or with a chisel

[TConklin821]

I don't know what you're talking about, lol, because I'm not familiar with this part of the car, but I love these:

http://www.amazon.com/Irwin-Industri.../dp/B0002YVUM6

You can get them at sears and shit too I think

[yoffer]

I don't know what you're talking about, lol, because I'm not familiar with this part of the car, but I love these:

http://www.amazon.com/Irwin-Industri.../dp/B0002YVUM6

You can get them at sears and shit too I think

This works. OR you can try a reverse pitch drill bit to get it out as well. Basically you drill a hole into the bolt and then use the reverse drill bit and it bites into the hole, pretty straightforward.

[_zero]

get one size bigger and go to it with a hammer.. but be careful not to move the socket side to side after its pounded in..

[walky_talky20]

I don't know what you're talking about, lol, because I'm not familiar with this part of the car, but I love these:

http://www.amazon.com/Irwin-Industri.../dp/B0002YVUM6

You can get them at sears and shit too I think

^These work *nice*, and you can get them under the Craftsman brand at sears. They are made to work with hex bolts (normal hexagon type head). The axle bolts in question here are a smooth round head, so I'm not sure how well they would work. Still good to have, though.

[duk3]

^These work *nice*, and you can get them under the Craftsman brand at sears. They are made to work with hex bolts (normal hexagon type head). The axle bolts in question here are a smooth round head, so I'm not sure how well they would work. Still good to have, though.

Well guys this is the B5 forum and I'm having this issue with my B6. Assuming similarity in the relevant parts, I can tell you the Craftsman version of the Bolt-Grip Expansion set linked above can't work on these inner CV bolts in any way I've tried. I'd say same about the ones linked above from Irwin because they look the same dimensions. Why they won't work is that there is not enough clearance between the inner CV joint housing and the head of the bolt to accommodate the rim of the socket. Thanks for the advice though and next I'll try the cold chisel or grinder. I'm expecting to have difficulty getting a grinder wheel up against this bolt but it sounds like a perfect solution if I can.

[seanf86]

drill the head of the bolt off and slide the axle off and twist the rest of the bolt out with pliers after you remove the axle.

[BaseDrifter]

I just had to deal with stripped pressure plate bolts and what worked was pounding a 12 point 12mm socket over the bolt head and zipping it off with an impact gun. Bolts came right out. Far simpler and quicker than welding something onto it (and worrying about lighting the axle grease on fire) or drilling it out. Bolt extractors have never worked for me. 12mm was the correct size for the pressure plate bolts and may work for the axle bolts, if not try to find one that is just barely smaller than the head of the bolt and pound that sucker onto it.

[Mad Cow]

I've had success with hammering on a 12 point socket like BaseDrifter said, otherwise I'd cut a slot with a dremel and either screwdriver or hammer&chisel it out.

[clumsyme]

The way I got my striped one out was rotate the axle until the stuck bolt is at the bottom and use vice grips to get it off.

[hilld]

Cut off the head, once you have the axle off, you should be able to remove what is left from the bolt by simply backing it out (vise grip or and stud remover socket might help).

Next time use the correct tool, those bolts are triple square heads NOT TORX.

[duk3]

So I had a thought/realization that is likely a very valid cause of my difficulty: Up until now, I've been blowtorching the whole area of the bolt before trying to turn. I knew heat would help but I hadn't thought that heat should be applied to the crankcase and NOT the bolt. I should have been trying to use heat to get metal expansion on the part that the bolt goes into but not the bolt. facepalm.

Tonight I will take a third stab at my 2 "stuck" bolts and report back. I have no compressor for an impact gun but otherwise I will be armed with the following:

• PB Blaster and WD-40
• blow torch
• the triple square bit (which, hilld, I must say in my defens that I'd been using from the start).
• 15 inch breaker bar with floor jack handle to extend it's mechanical advantage.
• These that I bought yesterday w/ next day shipping: http://www.amazon.com/Irwin-Industri...p/B0002SRG66/1
• Cold chisel & screwdriver
• Dremmel tool
• 12mm socket
• the triple square bit (which I can't resist pointing out that I'd also started with)

Next time use the correct too, those bolts are triple square heads NOT TORX.

I'll get a drill bit also for if all above fails. Does a 1/4" titanium one seem like a good choice for this application?

Thank you for much input. Very helpful and I really needed that help.

[hilld]

So I had a thought/realization that is likely a very valid cause of my difficulty: Up until now, I've been blowtorching the whole area of the bolt before trying to turn. I knew heat would help but I hadn't thought that heat should be applied to the crankcase and NOT the bolt. I should have been trying to use heat to get metal expansion on the part that the bolt goes into but not the bolt. facepalm.

Tonight I will take a third stab at my 2 "stuck" bolts and report back. I have no compressor for an impact gun but otherwise I will be armed with the following:

• PB Blaster and WD-40
• blow torch
• the triple square bit (which, hilld, I must say in my defens that I'd been using from the start).
• 15 inch breaker bar with floor jack handle to extend it's mechanical advantage.
• These that I bought yesterday w/ next day shipping: http://www.amazon.com/Irwin-Industri...p/B0002SRG66/1
• Cold chisel & screwdriver
• Dremmel tool
• 12mm socket
• the triple square bit (which I can't resist pointing out that I'd also started with)

I'll get a drill bit also for if all above fails. Does a 1/4" titanium one seem like a good choice for this application?

Thank you for much input. Very helpful and I really needed that help.

Not sure PB Blaster will help, those bolts are usually applied with loctite, so heat might be your friend. Have you tried a manual impact driver such as this one.

http://www.amazon.com/Lisle-29200-Ha.../dp/B0002NYDRG

It will keep the bit deep in the bolt but also provide turning as well as the impact of you hitting the tool with the hammer.

[duk3]

Thanks hilld! I'd not seen that tool before but definitely now want one.

I got those bolts eventually and got the new axle in! Just hoping for an easier time with the other side's axle. Going at it tonight.

Here's the exact method that I eventually got to for removing my particular stuck, stripped bolts:

Tools:
• Hammer
• Drill
• 7/32" Titanium drill bit
• 1/4" Titanium drill bit
• breaker bar
• Approx 30" of wrench extender(s.)
• Large pipe for leverage that fits over your breaker bar's handle. Mine is the handle of my floor jack.
• 1/4" socket
• Irwin Industrial Tool 53227 Hex Head Multi-Spline Extractor Set - I did not note which 2 of the 25 extractors in this kit were used. Sorry! PM me if you're in the same boat and want to know.


Always engage the parking brake fully. Use jackstands and not a jack alone. Especially important here because the force that I needed to break my bolts loose was more than you'd need to push over a car jack. Like by an order of magnitude. Once my car is lifted into what I think is a safe position, I walk around pushing hard on the car anyway to ensure no movement.

So that your wrench can eventually be horizontally aligned with bolt, rotate the axle to put the stuck bolt into the position shown below. The photo is of the threaded hole after a bolt had come out. Both front tires must be lifted to rotate axle and after that the opposite side tire should be lowered to the ground again to prevent any other rotation of axle. If you get confused by rotating to position, you're not losing your mind. These axles rotate inversely to each other. CW on one moves the other CCW. At least for a tiptronic in park.



The extractor bits will work eventually but without drilling the bolt, it's hex head is not deep enough for the extractor bit to get much of a bite. Use first the 7/32" bit to drill straight into the bolt's hex head. I don't know why and maybe it was just my bits but the 7/32" bit was able to dig into the bolt easily while the 1/4" bit would not. I eventually had to drill about a half inch of the bolt's shaft. The 1/4" bit was helpful in widening this hole after it was made by first bit. The bolt after drilling looked like this:



Fit the large pipe over your breakerbar and keep it within arm's reach. Find the biggest extractor bit that will fit into this hole at all. Put in hole and fit your socket with extensions onto it. Then wail on the extension with a hammer to drive the bit into the drilled hole as much as possible. While holding still the extension, drop hammer and lift breaker bar, try to attach it to the extension without jostling the extractor bit out of it's position. Do a power stance with legs (think Kirk Hammett soloing) and place weak hand at extension end of pipe. Strong hand farther away. Keep your body and face as much away from the bolt as possible, then try to twist the bolt out. I broke one cheap breaker bar doing this and saw a stronger one felt a strong healthy fear about metal parts snapping and flying at me. Keep others away and protect yourself as best you can. This is probably pretty dangerous.

Your extractor bit may just slip off this time and with subsequent efforts too. What I found was that a single hard try at this widened the drilled hole in bolt enough for the next extractor bit in size to fit. That's the one that was able to finally break free both of my stuck bolts.

[viceprp]

8mm triple square. It's not a t50.

[Seerlah]

drill the head of the bolt off and slide the axle off and twist the rest of the bolt out with pliers after you remove the axle.

This is what I would have done. Would have used vice grips, though. Since you can no longer slide the axle out easily due to the extra bolt in the inner cv joint, you would need to accommodate. Remove both lower CAs from the spindle (if steel, banging it with a heavy hammer will make them pop free after a few whacks) and you can pull the suspension assembly up/back to free the outer CV from the hub (may be necessary, so try chocking the wheel first before wasting your time. or lower rear only removed may also still work).

edit: Just read rest of thread. Glad you got it sorted.