92-4runner4x4

Stripped one head on the bolts! On the flywheel! Can someone please give me advice on getting it un done ???

MudHippy

1. Weld a big ass nut on it. Then use a big ass wrench/socket to remove it.

2. If #1 isn't feasible, grind/cut the head off. Then remove the flywheel(assuming the rest of the bolts are already out). Then grab hold of the protruding/remaining end of the bolt with a beefy pair of vise grips, or my personal favorite tool of choice for such occasions, a big ass pipe wrench. Then try to remove the remainder of the bolt by applying turning force in a direction/angle that won't try to spin the crankshaft in the process. If that's not possible, without it wanting to turn the crankshaft too, use a tool to hold the crankshaft still from the front of the engine(might require a helper).

MudHippy

One more word of advice. You'll need a replacement bolt that's identical to the ruined one. If that's not feasible, then you'll need 2 identical replacement bolts. One for the bolt that's ruined, and another for the bolt hole directly opposite to it(as in 12 o' clock and 6 o' clock). If you fail to do so, you will cause an engine imbalance. Which is a big nono.

EDIT: Sorry for the confusion there. I probably could have worded that advice worse. But I'm at a loss as to how. I tried to fix it up as best as I could.

92-4runner4x4

oh you mean the ones that I end up grinding off replace with same one from auto store ?

MudHippy

Keyword: Balance

Every bolt must have an exactly matching bolt in the hole directly opposite to it. 12 o' clock must be the same as 6 o' clock. You'll figure it out.

92-4runner4x4

Thanks man! I'll End up Grinding them off tomomrrow, Its easy to grind the head off? And once i do that it was come Un screwed hopefully?

nv4runner

Make sure you don't dig into your flywheel when grinding the heads off! Balance is very important with the flywheel!! The heat from grinding might also help to break the bond between the bolt and the threads in the crankshaft, but I'd put my money on the bolts not wanting to come out easy. I hope I'm wrong though.

95blackToy

To hold the crank Take a piece of nylon rope that will fit in the spark plug hole and put a piston at the bottom of the compression stroke.
Stuff the cylinder full of the rope, and I mean as full as it can get.

That will hold the crank and since it's the compression stroke the valves wil be closed and it won't harm anything.

Used this method to remove and install flywheel and harmonic balancer. Works flawless! The crank completely stops turning very fast.

92-4runner4x4

Okay! So grinding the bolts off may loosen the threads up you think? And no grind into the flywheel

vital22re

iTrader: (2)

I prefer the weld on a nut trick. The heat from welding will penetrate the metal all the way through and hotter than grinding.

92-4runner4x4

but I don't have a welder

vital22re

iTrader: (2)

I'm sorry for you. Go with the grinder route.

wyoming9

iTrader: (1)

Do we want to know just how you ruined the bolt.

Have you tried the Irwin Sockets for rounded fastners ??? Great addition to any tool box.

I would try the grinding only if all else fails then more then likely throw the flywheel out as well.

Get all new Flywheel bolts from the Toyota Dealer!!! Not something your going to find any place else.

I have a friend now known as Stumpy from being foolish .

AdmiralYoda

In what shape was the bolt head when you tried taking it off? If it was kinda in rough shape and you further trashed it you might be able to get away with a sumo wrestler sized vice grip.

I'm just thinking of simplest option first before you start grinding and potentially throw things out of balance.

Get the vice grip that is as tight as you can get. A few taps of a hammer on the vice grip might be enough to break it loose.

If you have a few $$$ go buy an easy out socket set, sometimes reffered to as a bolt extractor socket. You can get them at Autozone, Harborfreight, Sears, etc. I'm pretty sure that is what wyoming was talking about.

If those two options fail you have two more complicated options.

Don't touch the flywheel option:
Drill a small hole in the center of the head of the bolt. Go to a depth of the height of the head. Step the drill size larger and larger until you are about the diameter of the thread of the bolt. Put some vice grips on there and twist the head of the bolt right off. Now you can take your flywheel off but you still need to get the rest of the bolt out of the crank. That's a new set of problems but no different than just plain grinding the head off. What is left of the bolt will be the thickness of the flywheel. Maybe a really small torch to get the bolt nice and hot and then use a very large set of vice grips?

Grind the head off.
No matter how careful you are, I don't see how you can do it without messing up the flywheel, even a little bit. Just a few grams of metal is enough to throw the balance off.

AdmiralYoda

I can see how this would work but I don't think it would be very nice for the valves.

MudHippy

To each his own. But I don't reuse flywheels...EVER. And I was presuming you weren't going to be doing that either. Since, as stated, it might be pretty close to impossible to not damage it with the grinder. And also like has already been said, you'll be screwed if you do.

So...why not just buy a new one to be on the safe side? They're only $40ish.

On the ease of the bolt stubs coming out. I'd think, unless there's a good deal of rust on the threads(which there shouldn't be), they'll probably come out fairly easily. Don't quote me on that though. Since if they were installed correctly(which they almost never are), they might have high strength threadlocker holding them tight. In which case you'll definitely need to torch them first to loosen them up a bit. In fact, if they don't come out real easy first try, I'd suggest you go ahead and do that...just in case.

wyoming9

iTrader: (1)

What i was talking about are sockets made just for removing rounded bolts nuts what ever.

Nice thing is you can use your impact if needed .

On these little Clutches I pretty much go with a new flywheel When the Fly wheel gets over several Hundred $$$$ I get them turned.

92-4runner4x4

Hey Guys so i went out and bought some Sockets that are Specific for Stripped bolts and i got 7 outta 8 off! The 8th one is on there and pretty well stripped.

95blackToy

You have to make sure the cylinder you use has the valves up so that its on the compression stroke. And the valves don't bend.