Anyone else have trouble getting their TPI T-45 intake bolts out? The first one I tried twisted my craftsman bit into a pretzel. So I borrowed a Mac bit from a buddy and tried another bolt. I cleaned the hole and tapped the bit in. To my amazement the bit shattered before the the bolt came loose. I've never seen that before. I'd rather not drill them all out, but I'm headed that way. Just wondering if this is a common problem?

BTW, this engine had the block replaced a few years back because of an intake leak. I'm thinking they torqued the sh@t out of it to keep it from happening again.

 

It's no help, but FWIW, I had to replace my TPI intake manifold gasket last fall. I was worried about having seized bolts, but they all came out very easy.

One of my thermostat housing bolts did seize tight. I had to drill it out and re-tap the hole. It was easy to do with the manifold on the bench.

 

Yeah, happend to me. All came out fine, except the front one , passenger side. Broke a Craftsman T-45, twisted a snap-on T-45. Suspect someone used red loctite try to fix a vacuum leak, Have been repeatedly heating and soaking with PB Blaster, if it don't come out soon will grind the bolt head off. Open to suggestions.

 

i use a 11/16 12 point socket with a 10 inch extension 1/4". tap the socket on to the bolt head with a hammer not to hard or you'll make an inprint of the socket on the intake, make sure the socket is level on the bolt then unthread. i've also used this method on stripped seat belt bolt and seprentine bracket bolts.

 

Thanks, very creative, I'll give it a try!

 

I got them out. I tried the 11/16 12 point trick, but the heads were too small. So I went to a hardware store at lunch to pick up a new T-45. All they had was cheap "Master Mechanic" bits. So I bought one for $5.95. For whatever reason it fit much tighter and deeper than either the Mac or the Craftsman. I got all the bolts out with it, even the one with the semi-stripped head. Weird but true.