Broken screw heads

[spyder24]

I was attempting to remove the black plastic covering underneath the car (towards the front) a few days ago. Apparently two of the screws that hold this piece were severly rusted and the heads of these screws broke off flush with the bottom of the car.

To make matters worse, I tried using an EZ extractor type device purchased from Lowes. On one of the screws, the extractor snapped off in the screw itself. Now, there is a gap between this plastic protective shield and the bottom of the car where two screws cannot hold it in since two screws are essentially missing.

Does anyone have any advice for getting these screws out?

Thanks for the help!

[Jack Deth]

some generic advice...

1) liquid wrench or PB blaster are your best friends
2) once the panel is down, if you can get at the other side of the screw with vise-grips you may be able to grab it and twist it thru, rather than backing it out
3) if the screw goes into a clip nut, cut the clip nut apart with a dremel and tear it off. you can buy replacements.
4) drill the screw with the proper size tap hole and tap out the remains
5) drill the hole oversize and retap for a larger screw
6) drill and tap a new hole nearby

best of luck

[spyder24]

Originally Posted by Jack Deth

some generic advice...

1) liquid wrench or PB blaster are your best friends
2) once the panel is down, if you can get at the other side of the screw with vise-grips you may be able to grab it and twist it thru, rather than backing it out
3) if the screw goes into a clip nut, cut the clip nut apart with a dremel and tear it off. you can buy replacements.
4) drill the screw with the proper size tap hole and tap out the remains
5) drill the hole oversize and retap for a larger screw
6) drill and tap a new hole nearby

best of luck

I appreciate the advice. I will give those suggestions a try.

[skynet1988]

had same problem, self tapping screws and a power drill are your best friends in this situation, just be careful around the radiator!!!