How do I remove snapped off head bolts?
 

I bought a 72 cub cadet. it had a k161 kohler engine. i tried taking the head of and 2 head bolts twisted right off. i tried putting vice grips on it and it just spins. I used pb blaster on the bolts 2.

First off, soak the heck out of those broken off bolts. I would leave them sit for a few days. Then, take a hammer and lightly tap on the top of the broken bolt. This will help break rust and potentially vibrate some things loose. You can try vise grips again, but try working the bolt back and forth gently first to see if it will move. Spray, wiggle bolt, spray, wiggle bolt. If it happens to break loose, keep doing that procedure until it comes out. If this does not work, center punch the broken bolt and drill it out for an easy out, or drill the bolt out and re-tap the threads. Make sure you drill the bolt out just enough that it dosen't ruin the original threads. With my luck of doing this it's almost worth it to take it to a machine shop where things are square and precise. Just my .02 hope it helps.

get rid of the pb blaster and find some Kroil oil, spray it down after you tap it with a hammer to break up some of the rust. Let it set a day or 2 and it should come right out. Also if you have enough to grab try a stud extractor instead of vicegripes

Before there is no bolt ,left weld a nut to the broken bolt then use heat and a good penetrating oil.

If it gets really short but still has a little sticking out, 1st weld a flat washer to what's left and then weld a nut to the washer and bolt. Many times the heat generated by the welding is enough to make it break loose. If not.....well its off to the shop!

What he said!:beerchug:

like the others said, weld a washer then a nut to it...the heat should break it loose...but let it cool down a minute or so before you try to wrench on it, otherwise it will twist more of the stud right off.

Ok ill try that

X4 with the welding the nut on. And letting it cool for a minute is great advice because if too hot it will twist right off. Sounds like you will need heat applied to the threads area as well as the welding, good luck

If the welding trick doesn't work, before you mess up the block, take it to a machine shop. Also bring a head gasket to help them verify/ line up the bolt as close as possible.

Jeff