After replacing my tstat housing we couldn't get the DP back on without cutting the studs shorter. We got one nut on just fine, the other we had to place washers on to tighten it, and the other one wouldn't even budge. It had no leaks at the time, but now about a month later the 3rd one has opened up and is causing a minor leak.
We tried to heat the studs up and pull them with vice grips, no luck. we used a propane torch and an 02/acel torch. Had them cherry red and still no budging....

Would a machine shop be able to drill and tap them out? I know it is such a tight area, but I have no need to remove the entire turbo!
Heres pictures to explain the issue...









What are any options I can do as of right now? Anyway to clamp it down?

any help?

Weld a large nut to the stud, and remove it with the nut. Just weld it, hurry up and turn it while it's still red hot and it will come out VERY easily.

This will work 100% as I've done it more than a dozen times for situations like this.

I'd try that before drilling / tapping.

Next time maybe you'll put some copper anti-seize on the bolts on installation and not run into this problem?? he he he.


11.92 @ 122.69 MPH Rotrex Blower / Intercooled / Water-Meth / 100% Daily Driver / 381 WHP

This will work even though we have already tried turning it with vice grips??

Yes it will, I would put money on it. You can't get much out of vise grips.

Anyways, even a small 120V Mig Pac 10 would do the trick.


11.92 @ 122.69 MPH Rotrex Blower / Intercooled / Water-Meth / 100% Daily Driver / 381 WHP

I will give it a shot this week I hope.
So right after welding the nut onto the stud, while it is still red, begin to torque on it?

You expected that stud to hold with 9 washers on it?

You have a few options for stud removal. I think you negated one since you probably raped the threads with the vise-grips. One way is to double-jam-nut the stud by putting one nut on, then another on top... then you tighten the two nuts to one another. Voila - you have a bolt. Now loosen, after applying a bit of heat.

The other method is as mentioned by Mars. Weld a nut to it, and while it's still hot, remove the stud.

Drill out is not recommended.... for a few reasons. #1 you'll have to remove the turbo. #2, I don't know about you but I don't want to put my turbo into a situation where any shavings at all can get into the turbine housing or under the wheel. Lastly, those studs have to be Grade 10 studs, give or take... they will not be fun to drill out at all.

If you go ahead and use bolts, be sure to use grade 10 bolts, with lockwashers. Even though a lot of it burns off, I have also begun to use red loctite to hold my bolts for the downpipe and for the turbo itself. After fighting with it for 3 years to stop backing the bolts and nuts out, I am yet to have a problem using loctite. The only downside is - good luck getting the bolts out later on when the car is cold. I have to use a 2 foot solid breaker bar, lol.

If you're not using a gasket in there, be sure to check that the flanges are still true. You'd be surprised how hot that exhaust is that leaks out - it doesn't take much to warp a flange after a bunch of heat cycles.

-Chris-



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Slowly but surely may some day win this race...