Topic: in a bit of a pickle

[lanulos89]

ok went to do my oil pan. blah blah blah. took one starter bolt out, came out fine, went to do the other one, didnt notice that my torx socket had a crak in it and  the freaking thing is rounded.. mother trucker, went to sears bout irwin bolt remover things, and no size is small enough  .
so uhhhh im kinda stuck nd my oil pan is badd. plz people helppppppp. its the one more toward the center of the vehicle, the one thats hard to get too. i have an idea of what might work but id rather not do it, im about to cut the starter sleeve pop it out, cut the head off the bolt and use a stud extractor on the damn thing.
thanks in advance

[Jeffy]

What size torx is it?  Can you get some vice-grips on it?

[oldjeep]

Assuming you have a welder, just weld a nut to it.

[lanulos89]

not to the welder and the vise grips idea.....

[aw12345]

Sometimes you get lucky by pounding a smaller 12 point socket on it. Still welding a nut on it might be the best idea that or post a picture of it makes it easier to come up with a solution this kinda stuff happens fairly often.
If all else fails you could try to drill the bolt head and make it thin  enough to easily snap it off with a chissel
then just spin the remaining bolt out with visegrips. It all depends on what tools you got available. Also don't reuse bolts with boogered up bolt heads, if I remember correctly you just replaced the starter. At that time you could have used a pair of regular hex bolts or a pair of volts with the internal hex if room is tight. Also hammering on the head of the bolt will help loosening and might swell it up some to give the socket a good bite on it

[lanulos89]

ill get a picture tomorow, i already tried hammering smaller sockets onto it, that created the issue, if i didnt the easy out i bought would've fit...  my buddy just got a welder, so i may cal him up and see if he feels like welding a nut onto it for me, or idk.  ill be sure to get a picture of it morow tho

[Bounty Hunter]

Many auto parts stores have the external torx socket sets with an e-socket that is small enough.

Otherwise you may have to hammer on a 12pt. socket that is close in size.

[might4banger]

Go buy a Dremel with the cut off wheel attachment... the reinforced cutting discs are the best.

Cut the head off and remove the starter - then use vice grips to extract the remaining stud.

[lanulos89]

im starting to think my heep is a misfit, bc it seems everyones starter is different from mine.  i cant cut the bolt head off and slide the strater out and now heres picture of my issue , and oil pan.  bad quality had to use my fone cant find my camera.  but u can definatly get an idea of what my problem is.....

[chardrc]

ya what are we thinking the starter kinda has to come forward and down to come out not just down.(or maybe it can all i know is mine kinda just fell to the ground when i got the second bolt out.) im just glad i didn't totally strip out the bolt head when i did mine 2 weeks ago. ow and its easier to get to the inside bolt when you take out that bolt for the bell housing to the flywheel service plate thing... although its a little late now for you.

[might4banger]

You have red "X"s under your Jeep ? hehe

[lanulos89]

okay i dont know why my pics disapeared but here they are again

[Jeffy]

I think I'd try cutting a slot in the top with a dremel and see if you can get a screwdriver to turn it.  Soak it in PB BLast or CLP.  Otherwise, I'd maybe do the nut thing.  Place a nut on there and have it welded on.  Place the nut on top and fill the hole.

[neale_rs]

Nothing works better than heating the bolt and then cooling it with PB blaster.  Better to give it your best shot right from the beginning.

[lanulos89]

i did the heat nd pb nd everything, i dont think the slot and screwdriver will work but heck its worth a shot.  ill hopefully try it tomorow if its not down pouring.  stupid me left the doors off last night got up this morn to goto class nd well my seats are still soaked