I have a rounded bolt - Timing belt tensioner - Any ideas?

[maxhag]

I am trying to change my timing belt (4AGTE) and I have become a little stuck. I am trying to remove the belt tensioner. The bolt holding it on is very tight/stuck and looks to maybe the wrong bolt anyway. It's a funny looking 10mm bolt. Looking at one of the spare 4AGE's I have in the shed, the spare has a 12mm normal looking bolt.... Iam guessing the 10mm one is wrong.

Anyway, my problem is that when I tried to undo it, it started to round the head of the bolt. After trying a few times with a few differant tools, it is now completely rounded off, and the bolt tensile seems quite soft. So, I am wondering what tools you would use in this situation? Any ideas and tool recomendations would be much appreciated....

Really needing to get this fixed, got a drift day at Wakefield coming up soon....

[slide86]

the bolt in my engine is like the one you describe

1) vice grips
2) smack a smaller 6 sided socket on it
3) hammer and chisel it, rotate the bolt by chiseling the side of the bolt

one of these three will get it off

[ae86 slide]

I had a bell housing bolt round off on me yesterday. Had limited access so I tried an easy out, no success. In the end I just kept drilling out the bolt and eventually it somehow loosened it's self and I unscrewed it with my fingers.

[Stain]

If you can cut/drill the head off. then slip the tensioner off over the stud thats left, u should find that it would be pretty easy to remove after that with some vice grips (or 2 nuts tightened against each other)

[lolwat]

try a chisel or get your angle grinder and cut a slot in the top of the bolt head, get a fuck off sized flat head and 300mm shifter, put the flat head into the slot and put the shifter onto your screw driver handle and try that, but i reckon you best bet is chisel

[swcustoms]

i suggest if you have access to a welder try this first , get a larger size nut with a decent center hole hold it roughtly in the center of the head of the other nut and put a decent size weld through the center of the nut onto the head of the bolt and fill up the center of the nut.

failing that , as mentioned above use a pair of vice grips and gently work it back and forward until it loosens be patient with these kinds of things otherwise if you snap the head off the bolt youll only make the job way harder for yourself ...


no offence to the people above who said use a grinder or a chisel yes that would possibly work but its fairly damaging if you slip and really not a good way to do things .

[lolwat]

if you slip???? dont slip, using a chisel jsut gets the job done, dont worry about slipping (dont slip simple)

[maxhag]

Thanks for the replys guys..

Yeah, I tried the vice grips, but the bolt head seems really soft, just keeps turning into shavings, using good quality vice grips and really tight....

SWcustoms, I dont have a welder

Only got the chisel idea, will try it now.....

[maxhag]

I was able to bash a 3/8 socket on snd get it off, I was almost ready to throw spanners!

[fantapants]

its called a "slip" cos you didnt intend to do it in the first place.

hence doing things that limit the likelyhood of slipping and or killing yourself is a good idea.