Fuel tank bolt snapped

[cw33]

Hi All,

I have just managed to snap the one of the bolts that hold the fuel tank down.

Was just giving it one more tighten and the head has sheared off from the threaded bit.

Im not that great with engineering, however, if i drill the threaded bit out will it mess the part that the thread goes into?

Any suggestions as to what to do...hoping this is fairly common

Cheers

cw33

 

[darius]

Hi All,

I have just managed to snap the one of the bolts that hold the fuel tank down.

Was just giving it one more tighten and the head has sheared off from the threaded bit.

Im not that great with engineering, however, if i drill the threaded bit out will it mess the part that the thread goes into?

Any suggestions as to what to do...hoping this is fairly common

Cheers

cw33

"Was just giving it one more tighten" :spank:

You need an "EZ out" bit set and you tube vids will show you how to use them.

 

[cw33]

I know i am a bad boy and have learnt my lesson!

Thanks for the advice!

 

[n0other]

another option would be to weld something on your snapped bolt so that you could unscrew it.

Also, if I remember correctly these are bolts with big round heads, what you could do is flatten the head slightly from two sides with an angle grinder to have this sort of (__) shape and use an appropriately sized spanner to unscrew it grabbing the flat sides. I assume you snapped the inside edges of the bolt head though.

 

[Gelvatron]

if you can grab it with vice grips whats left of it that is you can spin it out if not

i would drill with a small LEFT Threaded bit so if it catches it spins the bolt out, then once drilled with a smaller diameter drill bit use an easy out,

i wouldn't go as far as welding a head on the shank near the fuel tank seems a bit over kill,

if you just tightened with a small Allen key it should not be that hard to get out.

put some masking tape on the tank as to not scratch it work slowly drill straight into the bolt and use a center punch to make a small indent so drill bit does't wander

 

[TownsendsFJR1300]

I'd lift the tank up and out of the way.

If there's any head left, take dremel and cut a small slot in it for a small screwdriver. Being you just installed it, it won't be frozen and be loose.

If there's a sharp edge on the broken bolt, take a small screwdriver and gently tap the edge Counter Clockwise spinning it out.



Worse case scenerio, use an "easy out" as noted above. You want the fuel tank out of the way in either case.

 

[FinalImpact]

I'd lift the tank up and out of the way.

If there's any head left, take dremel and cut a small slot in it for a small screwdriver. Being you just installed it, it won't be frozen and be loose.

If there's a sharp edge on the broken bolt, take a small screwdriver and gently tap the edge Counter Clockwise spinning it out.



Worse case scenerio, use an "easy out" as noted above. You want the fuel tank out of the way in either case.

^^+1
Unless the threads are chaffed, I bet it turns by hand. It may be done easily - lift the tank and see what's left. But a small cut off disk and a screw driver is the best method even if you have to make tiny slice marks into the frame.

Did it thread in easy all the way by hand or was it having issues? If its damaged and turned hard, you may have to drill and tap because its not gonna come out easy.

 

[cw33]

Thanks for all the advice everyone, thats why this forum is so great!

Just lifted the tank up and it has sheared flush with the frame, didn't have much time to try anything this afternoon but will have a go tomorrow, have bought an extraction kit as a last resort.
It should be quite loose in there so am hoping will be able to get it out.

Will post results tomorrow!

Once again many thanks.

 

[cw33]

Well after a couple of days and about £25 spent on tools etc i finally got the bolt out.

First of all i tried the easy out bolt remover but that wouldn't catch on the bolt. As a last resort i hammered a flat head screwdriver in and low and behold that worked.

A good learning curve and thanks for all your help!

 

[FZ09Bandit]

Woah! How much ass did you really put on that bolt? I am somewhat of an expert on breaking bolts at least you got it out. I usually tighten those, ride it around and if they don't shake free, (I'm somewhat of an expert on that too ) your in the clear!

I picked up a tank bolt from a dealer for like 3$

Just try not to hulk it in there. If I remember right those are Allen bolts. I use just a plain Jane Allen wrench. If you can break a bolt off with one of those. Your a badass LOL

 

[dpaul007]

No need to tighten them that tight if you use a bit of loctite! I use it for pretty much every bolt I take out and put back in that I don't/can't torque to spec.

 

[FZ09Bandit]

No need to tighten them that tight if you use a bit of loctite! I use it for pretty much every bolt I take out and put back in that I don't/can't torque to spec.

Blue loctite not red. Even ultra black permatex is better than nôthing lol

 

[trepetti]

No need to tighten them that tight if you use a bit of loctite! I use it for pretty much every bolt I take out and put back in that I don't/can't torque to spec.

+1 on the Loctite! I never used as much as I do now that I own a buzzer....er I mean fizzer.

And get a torque wrench and a shop manual. Doing it right the first time goes a long way.