Broken screw head, any ideas?

[rizzo]

The screw holding the cover to my rim seized and the head broke off while trying to loosen. The pic below shows the headless screw. This happened on both rear wheels and makes my Camry look pretty low budget.

I began to drill a hole in the screw thinking I could utilize one of those screw extraction kits but most reviews on them are bad. Any ideas on how to remove?

[hill8570]

Is that really a screw / bolt or a stud? If it's really threaded into the rim, and not a stud, then cut a slot in it with a dremel tool and unscrew it with a straight screwdriver.

Can you torch the rim in the vicinity of the hole? Heating the area around the hole often makes it easier to back out a frozen bolt.

[Chris Crash]

Grab with locking vise grips and loosen, then you should be able to get it by hand. Use lots of PB blaster! Maybe a torch?

[nitronate33]

^ +1, using a torch if possible will surely make the job easier.

[rizzo]

Screw. I attached a pic of a good one below. I read about the heating procedure but I'm a little worried about the alloy rims. Can the heat damage the rim? Would a small propane torch from Home Depot or maybe Walmart do the trick? I've been PB'ing it but no luck.

[71Corolla]

You can heat that with a torch. But to protect the wheel and/or hub, get a thin piece of aluminum and drill a hole it the size of the screw, then gently tap/bend the piece into position. Heat only the screw not anything around it. With a bit of patience the screw should come out easily.

edit - make sure to use anti-seize compound when you put the screw back in.

[Chris Crash]

Maybe a pencil torch would be a good idea for this job. Can be had for relatively cheap.

[rusty9]

lol dont heat the screw. getting it hot will make it expand making it stuck worse! use the screw extractors or like hill said, cut a notch on the end and use a big flathead screwdriver. and now you know why its important to use a dab of grease or anti-seize on dissimilar metals.

[96ToyoCam164K]

use some lock jaw grip pliers from advanced auto. make sure it has teeth. i broke like 2 or 3 when trying to change my compressor and it made it come out like nothing

[71Corolla]

Originally Posted by rusty9

lol dont heat the screw. getting it hot will make it expand making it stuck worse!

haha, not it doesn't work that way. Heating the screw burns off the rust and other crud on the threads, and also as the metal heats it moves slightly freeing it up. Plus you wait a few minutes for it to cool down before you try to remove it.

[Chris Crash]

I was actually talking about heating the nut that the screw is threaded into..

[JohnGD]

Or OP can cut off the bolt at the base, center punch the bolt and drill from 1/8" and gradually increase the bit size. There is probably no need to go up to the thread diameter, because when you're close to it what remained of the bolt often spins out while you're drilling. So I've not needed to use a drill tap to clean the threads - but not sure about NY road salt however.

[smilecow]

I had a similar experience. the screw head was stripped so I used a torch to heat the screw and used the impact screw driver with a hammer. with the impact screw driver and several hits, the screw and the flat driver got tighted and easy loose

[dc_98_cam]

Get a spray can of GM Heat Valve Lubricant ... any GM dealer anywhere ...
It has excellent penetrating and capillary flow properties.

Get a small prick punch ... which has a sharpened, hard tip.

Allow the broken screw end to soak with the spray oil on it... maybe for 24 hours or so.

Using the prick punch, try to get the screw to break free and rotate.:
Just use a light tap with the punch ....only at the outer edge, or perimeter of whatever metal is left on the screw. Try two or three different points of impact ...to release stress and break any rust or oxide on the threads.

The idea is to strike the screw metal with more of a tangential force on its outer edge, causing the screw remnant to rotate. The sharpened end of the punch will dig into the screw metal if held at an appropriate angle.

Don't use too much force on the hammer, or you will cause the screw to deform. You just want to break the screw threads loose and get it to rotate a little.

If the first try doesn't succeed, soak with the spray oil again and try later.

This method is effective ... and doesn't risk any heat damage.

[ajkalian]

A very effective and non damaging way to remove it would be to double nut the broken off screw. It's easy, and quick, and will work for most stuck screws or studs. Just take two nuts that fit the stud, and screw them both onto the stud. Then hold the one on the end of the stud with a wrench, and tighten the one underneath it with another wrench. When the nuts cinch up, keep tightning the one on the bottom, while still holding the one on the top.

The pressure of the two nuts locked against each other is usually enough to overcome whatever is causing the stud to stick in the first place.

Sometimes it's easier and less harmful to freeze the stud, rather than heat it and cause heat warpage. You can make yourself up something easily with a can of R134, that they sell at Autozone. Just be sure to get the stuff without oil in it. You can pick up a valve that punctures the top of the can, and squirts the cold stuff out on the stud. This will cause the stud to shrink, as well as dislodge any crud caked on the threads. It can be localized easier than heating with a torch.

You can also get it commercially if you want. Locktite make this:
http://www.loctitefreezeandrelease.com/

If all this fails, clamp a pair of vice grips onto the stud and muscle it off.
.