Welded a stud to my cylinder head to replace a broken valve cover bolt, stupid or not?

[LaurensN]

Hi, I have 2016 Ram 1500 5.7. When replacing the valve cover gaskets the lower rear bolt on the driver side broke flush with the cylinder head... torqued too much, stupid I know. Tried welding a nut on the tiny 6mm bolt but failed. Then I tried to drill a hole and extract it but the extractor broke and got stuck inside. Tried to drill another hole but this time the drillbit broke inside. I was contemplating pulling the whole cylinder head off but I really wasn't looking forward to that. So I decided to try one last thing which was welding a stud to the broken bolt. It worked, weld isn't that great but it's holding up. It looks off on the picture but it's actually pretty straight and in the correct place. It was really difficult as there is almost no space back there and really hard to reach. Will it hold? Any suggestions?

 

[jr27236]

If you were able to weld the stud to it then take your time and twist the broken one out. The bolts are steel in aluminum head, you can weld on them all day and not ruin it. If I was able to extract numerous broken off exhaust manifold bolts you WILL be able to do this. Apply some PB Blaster and let it soak and work it back and forth slowly. If it breaks off just weld up a little blob on top of the broken bolt enough to grab with a small vice grip. The heat alone from welding will help it out

 

[LaurensN]

Thing is the hole where the drillbit broke in was actually off and was partly drilled inside the aluminium. Drillbit is stuck so I don't think the bolt will turn anymore. I put the cover back on and it's not leaking. Do you think driving like this is a bad idea?

 

[Wild one]

Thing is the hole where the drillbit broke in was actually off and was partly drilled inside the aluminium. Drillbit is stuck so I don't think the bolt will turn anymore. I put the cover back on and it's not leaking. Do you think driving like this is a bad idea?

Necessity is the Mother of Invention,lol. If it's not leaking i'd say you did good,just keep an eye on it.

 

[huntergreen]

Every simple job is a broken bolt away from becoming a 3 day ordeal .

 

[Jeepwalker]

Wow, what a journey! Good chance it's good for life. Also possible it fails in a week. But I'm leaning towards lasting a long time. Give it a go. Let us know how it goes...

 

[GTyankee]

It will work until it does Not
good job

If you did drill it & extract it, because of drill bit etc.
you might have to drill oversized & then install a Helicoil
too much hassle for an non critical job

 

[LaurensN]

Thanks everyone! I feel more confident in my repair now

 

[LaurensN]

It will work until it does Not
good job

If you did drill it & extract it, because of drill bit etc.
you might have to drill oversized & then install a Helicoil
too much hassle for an non critical job

Yeah, oversized drilling would have been an option. But after the extractor got stuck I gave up on the idea because these extractors are made of really hard steel so drilling in them is almost impossible I believe.

 

[crackerjack1957]

Wire EDM will remove but who has that in their garage.