So I was going into to replace a worn wheel stud and the infamous seizing 19mm lower caliper bolt struck me. The bolt is completely seized even after hours of PB Blaster. I even tried taking a torch to it and even put the impact wrench on 4! Finally broke out the breaker bar and the bolt broke on my first tug. I went and got a Vermont American extractor kit, I even got left handed drill bits! I drilled a hole into what is left of the bolt and got the extractor in. As soon as I put pressure on the t-bar the extractor snapped off..... I have no clue what to do now...... Can anyone offer some help or point me in the right direction?
Just so we are on the same page, were you able to remove the caliper from the car, or is it still stuck on? Where did the bolt break?
Its still stuck on..... Here is a link to a picture of the current situation. https://twitter.com/Vampyre777/status/363828698132144128/photo/1
I think you are going to have to just keep going at it and drill out the old bolt and hope for the best. It is just rusted into the "braket". May need to helicoil the the caliper as well.
I was able to get the extractor out! I used a Dremel Aluminum Oxide Grinding Stone to flatten the extractor flush with the bolt to make a center punch. The stone chewed through both metals with little effort at 30,000 RPM. I then proceed to SLOWLY drill out the rest of the bolt with a cobalt drill bit and some pb blaster for lube. I got all the way though the bolt, caliper included and its still solidly attached....... I guess ill go grab some different sizes of that stone and slowly hollow out what is left of the bolt? I really think the knuckle and the bolt fused together and are one..... Car only has 44k on it......... Why Subaru? Why don't you use some cooper anti-seize during manufacturing...... Not all of us live in sunny CA!
I'd keep drilling the whole larger and larger. If you are nicely centered, you may be able to get it to a point where the remaining part of the bolts (the threads) with literally come out like thread.
Invest in a Heli-coil repair kit for the threads on the caliper as well while you're at it. In hind-sight, I wish I had heli-coiled the calipers before even installing them just so they had some decent threads to work with in the first place.
Good luck. When I've had bolt break I've been able to weld a nut to the broken bolt. That usually heats it up enough to break it lose.
Also if you are able to get the extractor out and have not made to huge of a hole they do make some square extractors that work 10000x better then the round ones.
Just had the same thing happen to me Thursday. Drilled out the bolt and tapped with a heli coil, worked like a charm.
