in a bit of a bind

BlueWaterMetallic · 06-28-2023, 05:38 PM

Doing pads and rotors and shit is going wrong a caliper bolt snapped and my 6mm Allen’s refuse to come off, thoughts on what to do?

HondaRC51 · 06-29-2023, 08:22 AM

EZ-out+heat+hammer=should get rotor bolt out. Or you may have to drill the head off.
Can't give input on caliper bolt without seeing how much is sticking out but once you remove the caliper you could probably take some vice grips on what's left of the bolt (if any are sticking out) and heat the bracket around the threads. Spray some penetrating oil around and work the bolt back and forth to free it up. Worse case you need to drill the bolt out and tap/helicoil it.

SWFLf10 · 06-29-2023, 09:07 AM

The above suggestions are good. I’d add that shocking the rotor bolt first with a hammer and either a piece of brass or something similar before heating may help. It’s surprising how much shocking a stuck bolt helps in these kinds of situations. Something to remember going forward with removing these bolts in the future. You can also try the allen attached to a breaker bar and hit the end of the breaker bar with a hammer as you apply force. This will shock the bolt while you also have pressure on it attempting to turn it. That may not work now since you’ve already started to round it out though. Although you may be able to jam a torx bit socket in there and try it out before going with heat, if you can find one that you can tap into the head of the Allen bolt snugly.

The good news with this is the bolt only holds the rotor in place during assembly. Once the wheel is torqued to the rotor that rotor bolt doesn’t hold anything together. So if you manage to screw up the threads a bit, don’t worry too much about it.

And for the broke off bolt, try to get at it with vice grips as mentioned above. Otherwise you’ll probably have to drill it and either use an easy-out or helicoil if you get into the threads.

If you do drill it, don’t stop if it begins to spin as you drill. Let the drill bit grab and turn it out itself. Sometimes you get lucky like that.

06-28-2023, 05:38 PM	#1
BlueWaterMetallic Private 12 Rep 66 Posts Drives: BMW 335i sedan, RS7 2023 Join Date: Apr 2022 Location: knoxville, Tn iTrader: (0)	in a bit of a bind Doing pads and rotors and shit is going wrong a caliper bolt snapped and my 6mm Allen’s refuse to come off, thoughts on what to do? Attached Images
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06-29-2023, 08:22 AM	#2
HondaRC51 Private First Class 251 Rep 122 Posts Drives: 2009 E92 335xi Join Date: Oct 2022 Location: Maryland iTrader: (0) Garage List 2009 335xi E92 [0.00] 2016 BMW S1000RR [10.00]	EZ-out+heat+hammer=should get rotor bolt out. Or you may have to drill the head off. Can't give input on caliper bolt without seeing how much is sticking out but once you remove the caliper you could probably take some vice grips on what's left of the bolt (if any are sticking out) and heat the bracket around the threads. Spray some penetrating oil around and work the bolt back and forth to free it up. Worse case you need to drill the bolt out and tap/helicoil it.
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06-29-2023, 09:07 AM	#3
SWFLf10 Captain 374 Rep 639 Posts Drives: 2016 Alpina B6, 2015 535i Join Date: Jun 2018 Location: Florida iTrader: (0) Garage List 2016 BMW Alpina B6 ... [10.00] 2015 BMW 535i [8.83]	The above suggestions are good. I’d add that shocking the rotor bolt first with a hammer and either a piece of brass or something similar before heating may help. It’s surprising how much shocking a stuck bolt helps in these kinds of situations. Something to remember going forward with removing these bolts in the future. You can also try the allen attached to a breaker bar and hit the end of the breaker bar with a hammer as you apply force. This will shock the bolt while you also have pressure on it attempting to turn it. That may not work now since you’ve already started to round it out though. Although you may be able to jam a torx bit socket in there and try it out before going with heat, if you can find one that you can tap into the head of the Allen bolt snugly. The good news with this is the bolt only holds the rotor in place during assembly. Once the wheel is torqued to the rotor that rotor bolt doesn’t hold anything together. So if you manage to screw up the threads a bit, don’t worry too much about it. And for the broke off bolt, try to get at it with vice grips as mentioned above. Otherwise you’ll probably have to drill it and either use an easy-out or helicoil if you get into the threads. If you do drill it, don’t stop if it begins to spin as you drill. Let the drill bit grab and turn it out itself. Sometimes you get lucky like that.
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