i'm having a muffler shop install my headers, and while taking off the manifolds, the very last bolt they were taking off broke. he told me that the piece fell onto the "cylinder head".... so he just put the headers on with one missing bolt (i know it will leak)... he said it would cost $515 to get that peice out. that's bull****, i'm not paying that much for anything... lol.. anyways, he said the car would be driveable....... this guy speaks like broken english ( i was recommended to them by a friend, who's about to get a beat down)... so, does he know what he talking about - will the car be driveable even with that bolt peice in the "cylinder head" or not. any help would be great.

 

if a piece of a bolt fell in the exhust port the valve head is about as far as it likely would of went, should be easy to fish out with a magent. depending on where it's at it might not be hard to drill and tap the broken bolt with an angle head drill.

 

woudl the car be driveable if i don't have the broken peice out?

 

i wouldn't drive it cuz the part could make a vavle stick open or it could go past the vavle and go int othe cyl wall and mess up the walls and the top on the piston, and could start smacking the vavles.... i would try to get that out of there ASAP befor you drive it.... and they did it so they should fix it... sue them if you have to

 

if they broke it, THEY should have to pay for repairs (labor, parts, whatever)

it isnt your responsibility to pay for it unless they told you they arent responsible for their mistakes (at which point id find another muffler shop)

 

if i can't use a magnet ... how else could i get out the piece?

i hope they don't start the car up to move it around.

anyways.. they called me and said that the bolt had broken, and that it would cost $515 to get it out... how the hell does the bolt peice even get in there?

 

go to the auto shop and pick up intake, head, header gaskets and take the heads off :-D

 

how hard is that to do? i bet its a pain in the ***... i bet the hole has to be retapped too.

 

The broken-off piece on the outside could not have gotten into the port unless the manifold was pulled away from the head. But, strange things do happen.

If this is the back bolt on the passenger side, that bolt hole won't be used by the headers, anyway. The broken off piece still in the head shouldn't cause any harm (unless it sticks out enough to hit the header flange). If it's any other bolt, the above doesn't apply.

Unless they had you sign something up front that stated they weren't responsible for abnormal things (such as severely rusted fasteners), they are responsible for getting the job done at the quoted price (or reasonably close to the estimated price).

Tell them not to start the engine up until they have all parts out of the "inside" of the engine. Let them know if they don't put it back together the way it should be, they'll be getting a call from the BBB, CoC, Bureau of Auto Repairs, Consumer Affairs, lawyer, etc., whatever name you feel most comfortable dropping to get the point across to them that they will get this right before they get paid.

 

why wouldn't it matter?

 

for the intake side of the vavle yes.. i'm talkgin the exhust side... just by takeing off the headers you have the hole goign down into the cly

 

lesson learned here? mechanic with broken english...hmmm.

I'm still wondering how a bolt located there could even possibly "fall" into the cylinder head.

 

okay... just saw the car today.... turns out when the spanish guy said the bolt "broke, and is stuck in the cylinder head", he meant that it was broken flush against the head, and it would have to be retapped..... that's a relief... and it would be $515 to get the head out retap it , and put it back in... looks like i'm gooing to be looking for new heads while i have my exhaust leak.

 

Before you go through all that trouble and expense, drill a hole in the center of the bolt......go to a hardware store and buy whats called an " Easy out ". It looks like a drill bit but the threaded part is reversed. You put the easy out in the drilled hole and twist it counterclock wise with a wrench. It will bite and help turn the bolt out. A little break free will also help....let it soak for awhile before you do the work. There are different sizes of Easy outs so make sure you remember what size hole you drilled before you go to the hardware store. With the Easy out and break free, should cost you under $10.00 . Give that a shot before you start pulling everything apart. Let us know how you make out. Good Luck !!!

 

which hole is it? i defently second the ez out idea, might wanna spray some rust penetrant on it first or try some heat on it though, its probably really rusted in there.