Bad words were said........

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Tried a drill bit that is supposed to be able to drill through hardened steel and it did nothing. I have guests in town this weekend, so the project will need to hold until Monday. Then i am going to try and file a flat edge to what is sticking out, so that the vice grips have something to bite into. More to come

 

At this stage consider some heat to get the remaining bolt red hot.

 

Agreed. If you have to just get it red hot and let it cool down. If it doesnt come loose get it red hot again and cool down. Oxy/acetylene and a rosebud torch is your friend.

 

I am a HVAC technician and have been for 25+ years will be licensed HVAC contractor pretty soon

 

TJ abuser - with your HVAC license be sure to get a 609cert. That is the automotive systems.

 

Have my MAC cert since 1996 I think I just don't like working on vehicle a/c ...give you an example the a/c worked in my Jeep when I bought it lol

 

I worked in a parts store part time In 1991 I knew the R12 ban was coming almost a year in advance. I traded my pay checks for cases of R12 cans . I was selling those cans for 10 bucks a piece in 1992 . That's the most money I ever made off mobile a/c

 

Hi, I am new here, but saw the post and thought of PB blaster.
So, I'm only replying to second (or third) the PB Blaster suggestion: it is way more potent when it comes to screw extracting than WD40 (which is an excellent thing...just not for everything).
Also it works best combined with heat.

And one memory: when a mechanic working on a shock replacement on my Cherokee 92 broke the last bolt, he went to the welding shop across the road, the guy came and welded a rod with a horizonal bar to the bolt, and then after heating it quite a bit with a torch was able to extract it.

Good luck!

 

Welcome @morzh ....we have all been at this stage with $#@% broken bolts so suggestions like yours have merit when all else fails you got to "mcgyver" it. Post up a thread on your Jeep and introduce yourself.

 

Yep, already ahead of you on a build thread - https://www.jeeps.net/threads/2003-black-wrangler-x-texas-jeep.3326/

Still fussing with the broken bolt. I have so much to do on this Jeep, but I am fixated on getting that bolt out. I bought a Dremel today and a couple of carbide and diamond tipped accessories. I have cut a slot in the bottom of the bolt from under the Jeep, but it seems I need to go a bit deeper to get a screw driver to hold in the slot. If that doesn't work, then I an going to grind one side of the bolt so that the vice grips have something to bite into as they keep just rounding the threads but not moving the bolt in either direction.

The build thread will continue once get this frigging bolt out......LOL

 

Update...... I used the Dremel to cut a deeper slot into the bolt from underneath the Jeep. I then used a long flat bladed screwdriver to try and twist it out.......lets just say that instead of a slot, I now have a half moon of a bolt protruding........I've tried getting the vice grips in there to turn the half moon, but its is not moving and the vice grips continue to slip off, as there isn't much of the bolt showing to get a grip on.

The saga continues......

 

Have you tried the heat yet??

 

Cutting a slot wasn't a very good thing: first, a screwdriver almost never work in a situation like this one - not enough torque to get the bolt out when upright, but might be quite enough to break the half if held to the side as now the bolt's halfs are the weak part.
Your best bet was grinding down two flat surfaces and use vice, not vise-grip as the latter never has a truly good grip plus hurts the hand. Plus PB blaster plus heat.

Now that you broke a half, I am not sure what the best course is. The other half might just do the same.
Do you have pics of it in its current state of disaster?

PS. I am almost ready to suggest drilling a pilot hole dead in the center, and then using progressively larger drill bits to drill as much as possible leaving thin shell which then is picked out by some sharp tool piece by piece.
This however is complicated by the extracting bit piece lodged in there.
PPS. A square extracting bit (the one you hammer in and then torque) might work better than the helical one.

 

I was saving heat for the final option, which looks like tomorrow. Possibly with some heat on the bracket/nut housing around the bolt underneath I might be able to use the vice grips to twist out the remainder.

Here is the view of the snapped off bolt in the hole for the back seat floor bracket.





Here is the view from under the Jeep of the bolt that had a slot cut in it (before 1/2 of it snapped off).

Both the top and bottom of this broken bolt have been saturated in PB Blaster. In fact I will need to wipe off the underside before applying heat to ensure I don't start a fire.



I have been using a Dremel carbide tipped bit all night and have made a little bit of progress on creating a hole in the top of the bolt. The hope was to get through the extractor piece back to the bolt, but it is painfully slow.

 

Ouch.......looks painful.....wish you patience and luck.
Truth be told, even before breakage it doesn't look like it protruded enough to have a good grip.

 

I just ordered a new carbide tipped drill bit, as a result I am going to try and take my mind off this frigging issue and work on something else until the Amazon Santa brings me the new bits.

Plan for tomorrow is start on replacing front rotors and pads. If that goes well, then I'll move on the the replacing the rear drums and shoes.....finger crossed.

 

Can you weld anything to it @The4x4Guys

 

Tack welding a nut onto the bolt plus the heat might do the trick

 

My vote is for welding also. Probably shoulda been done before.
Either a nut or a thick T-bar, then use the bar from the T to torque, with heating.

 

Its not that I disagree and didn't want to weld something to the bolt fragment. I don't have any welding equipment.

Bob