Broken bolt inside engine head

[HotHeaad]

Hi everyone.
It`s been just under a month since i`ve had my Picasso and i love it
I bought it cheap with a faulty injector seal and a resolution for a quick DIY fix.
For my amazement, there was a hose clip tightened around the big nut on the injector.
I hesitated and scratched my head for a bit but decided to take it off and proceed with the fix.
So as soon i tried to loosen the injector the top part came right off. And voila! The nut was broken in half
Anyway, after 3 days on hold, while waiting for a new injector i replaced it (in the dark, last Wednesday when it was -7).
And not researching properly, as i normally do, i over tightened one of the locking nuts and broke one of the bolts.
So my question is what should i do?
Can i drill with a very small drill bit and use a thread cutting tool or will that just damage the head?
P.S. Don`t judge too hard, please This job is the first thing ever i do on any car...

[Bick]

Hi Hotheaad those injector studs are a pretty rubbish idea and you are not the first and wont be the last to snap one off. The only choice you have is to drill it out and retap the tread you may need to helicoil a new tread in the head.

[Hell Razor5543]

Hi, and to the Forum. I am sorry I cannot help with your problem, but I know that you will get help from others far more knowledgeable than I.

[Gibbo2286]

If you're drilling steel studs in an ally head you need to be very careful not to skid off and go down at the side of the stud into the ally.

I've used a lot of different tools, easyouts etc. to remove broken studs over the years and this one has recently come on the market, it's listed to use on wood screws here but I wonder if it would be as good on engine studs.

https://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=Br ... RM=VDQVAP

[Zelandeth]

It's a bit of an awkward one this, as you'll be trying to drill out something which is significantly harder than the material around it. With a hand held drill I think it's going to be almost impossible to keep the drill on target. I don't know the layout of coolant/oil passages in these heads, but the last thing you want to do is have the drill wander off and nick one of them. Then you're looking at needing a new head.

Is there any of the bolt/stud in question still visible? Or has it snapped flush or below the surface?

If it's still above the surface, it might be possible for someone to weld a bolt onto it and unbolt it that way.

If this were my car, I'd probably be looking at pulling the head and taking it to a machine shop to be sorted... it's not too hard to deal with in a workshop when you can clamp things in place and drill it out with a pillar drill... that's quite different to trying to do it on the driveway. It's a lot of hassle though...so I'd see if anyone comes up with genius ideas first!

Yes...the clamp arrangement is far from the best.

[NewcastleFalcon]

Is there any of the bolt/stud in question still visible? Or has it snapped flush or below the surface?
If it's still above the surface, it might be possible for someone to weld a bolt onto it and unbolt it that way.

If there is a bit sticking out, that would look to be a good option.

If this were my car, I'd probably be looking at pulling the head and taking it to a machine shop to be sorted.

My Xsara Picasso defeated me in that regard Zel. I never found anyone who had ever removed a Xsara Picasso Cylinder head (mine was a 2.0 HDi) without first removing the engine! The architecture of the engine position vis a vis the bodywork, gave absolutely no access to the rear of the engine for a straightforward removal of the head. The 1.6HDi could be a different kettle of fish for head removal, but I would be surprised if it didn't throw up similar problems of access.

Regards Neil

[HotHeaad]

Thank you all for the advice (and welcome spam )
I guess i`ll have to pick an option and go for it.
If i only had paid attention to what my dad does for a living i wold not be in this mess now
One more for the knowledgeable people of the forum... How do you clean a fuel heater? ( the one mounted on the diesel filter)
Changed the diesel filter, but dash still says "Unblock diesel filter".
P.S. If i was in your place i wold totaly laugh my a** off on these newbie posts, too.
P.P.S. It`s definitely inside the head. I have not taken the injector out again yet.
I ran it just for a test today. There is a definite loss of power and the engine is vibrating around 2000 rpm, but absolutely no leak from the seal, what so ever.
But as i mentioned the dash keeps showing unblock diesel filter and engine fault.

[myglaren]

Don't be too hard on yourself, everyone has to start somewhere and asking questions of those with experience of the problem is definitely the right place to start.

[RichardW]

The filter in question is the particulate filter. It may be possible to do a forced regen; but if the light has been on a while maybe not, and it will need to come off and be mechanically cleaned. Then you need to find out why it stopped regenning in first place, and fix that, or it will happen again....!