Alrighty, well I think I had posted a thread a bit back saying I had a broken starter.
(not asking anyone to remember)

There had been a couple responses considering and explaining rebuilding it, but actually it'* fine. The only thing that'* wrong with it from the previous owner, is that one of the bolts holding the selenoid busted. Sure, I'll just grab some new ones......

But damn, there seems to be a little problem. I can't get the remainder of one of the bolts out of the track for it. It'* broken off just small enough so I can't remove it with a plyers. I don't really know any other way to get it out, and I figured you guys would have some pretty decent ideas.





There'* a little room underneath it, so maybe I could get something in there and twist it out, but I don't really know how I'd get that done.

(sorry it'* a little blurry)



Thanks for all and any responses!

Bad thing is that it probably got cross threaded and broke.

You could try punching a point in the center and drilling carefully. As you drill you take pressure off the threads.

I haven't looked at a starter for any reason and don't remember it that part is steel or aluminum...be careful..

Once drilled pretty thoroughly consider trying an Easy Out or Craftsman version that looks like a crazy drill bit with reverse cutting to take bolts out.

A screw extractor/easyout is going to be your only hope. The smaller the screw, the harder it is to do. Pre-soak that broken piece in some penetrating lubricant first. That housing is aluminum.

Left handed drill bit is the answer. Put one in the drill and put the drill in reverse. Drill out the bolt. Sometimes the bolt will back itself right out.

Steve

If all else fails you could drill it out and tap the next size thread in there and use a slightly larger bolt. Taps available at a hardware store.

I've actually had the exact same thing happen, but on my old 1978 Bonneville, back when I was in college.

Here'* what I did: I got a girlfriend whose Dad was a machinist. I handed him the starter and let him do his machinist thing on it. He either used an easy-out (you can buy them at Sears) or he used a professional milling machine to drill it out and retap it. Then I continued dating the girlfriend for a total of six years, married her ten years ago, and had our first child last year.

You can do that, or you can go to Sears and buy an easy out and a center punch to strike a starter point for a small drill bit so you can use the easy-out. If that fails, take it to a machinist along with a six pack of beer.

If all of that fails, you can spend $75 on a new starter.

LOL! Look what that starter bolt started...

And, to reiterate what'* been said already, make sure you use some good penetrating lubricant such as PB Blaster on that before drilling. Otherwise you risk breaking that aluminum ear.

I'd suggest trying the suggestions of using an ez-out to remove it. If all of the suggestions fail, and short of buying a new starter, you could drill all the way through, then use a screw, nut and lockwasher to hold things together.

The biggest problem I can see here is finding an easy out small enough for the broken screw. In the event that you can't find one, I second or third the advice of drilling through it completely and using a bolt with a lockwasher and nut to hold the new solenoid. (Y'know, unless you can find a girlfriend with a machinist Dad. . .)

I recenlty did some work on an exhaust manifold to remove a broken off bolt. Drilled..drilled a little bigger...and then once the remnants were paper thin..I used a screwdriver or something to back the piece out via the threads.