Broken torx bolt head on chain guard

[bobbsy]

Was trying to remove the plastic chain guard yesterday, and one of the Torx bolts was either corroded tight, or had been cross threaded - as such, a bit too much pressure and the head of the bolt twisted off, leaving the shaft buried in the bolt hole.

What would be the recommendation for removing the shaft? Been a long time since I've used screw extractors - are these strong enough to remove a corroded bolt? Any other recommendation?

Many thanks

Bob

 

[redtape]

Same thing has happened on my 800, I just drilled it out and put a nut and bolt, works and is better for the future as nothing to corrode in the ali frame.

 

[Shunt]

Any chance of a picture? Always helps.

Ive had great success with these

http://www.screwfix.com/p/irwin-bol...YF4FdujQrRLHyQBWNMImnozBKyt0nVG5mUaAmwG8P8HAQ


But failing these id be drilling it out and running a tap thru the hole. Stainless is quite a soft steel. But certainly use good drill bits. Cobalt drill are brilliant. Use with a cutting paste or even grease drill running slowly with good pressure.

 

[bobbsy]

Thanks redtape, shunt. I can't quite work out how to add a photo, but the head sheared clean off, leaving 1mm or so of shaft protruding.I've got no joy trying to get a grip on it with multigrips.

I night try one of these: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Draper-Expe...sbs_diy_3?ie=UTF8&refRID=0YREXCK781RVVKJ4SSP4

and if no joy drill it out completely.

B

 

[volcane]

Hi
Same thing happened me. Tried easyout etc to no avail. Finally just drilled it out completely and used a good quality bolt and locknut. I think this is the best solution for the longer term. Best of luck with it. Rgds PJ

 

[harry the cat]

How old is the bike and has it got service history? I've had the same issue twice. First time on an older 800 with dealer service history. It's a common issue with the cheap bolts fusing with the alloy.

Dealer drilled out the bolts and replaced them but charged me. BMW knows it's an issue but it's not a service item and customers aren't advised to take them out regularly and copper slip them. On that basis I went on the offensive with BMW customer service and got the money back. That process involved several pointless email exchanges which I then copied to the UK CEO who in turn sent them to the Head of 'Customer care'.

The second time was a new 800 GSA. Shortly after buying it I decided to take the bolts out and one was already stuck. Rather than shear it off I spoke to the Service Manager who sorted it FOC at first service.

No criticism of the dealers or the service manager. It would appear it's not on BMW's list for 'goodwill' at first point of contact.

 

[Bungy]

If you do have to drill it out it would be worth centre punching and at least starting of with a pilot drill bit and then swapping over to the correct size for the rest.

 

[bobbsy]

Harry - good advice thanks, Bungy - also!

 

[v8legend]

I've had similar problems in the past. If you progressively drill it out, starting with a really small drill bit. You'll get to the point where you can unwind the last remnants of the broken bolt with out damaging the thread.