Yes, another cam gear bolt thread

[mookzx]

Hey guys,

Before you all beat me down with posts like, "Use the search button" or "Google is your friend," I have done endless searching over the past 2 days.

So, that out of they way, we have another failed attempt with cam gear bolt removal.

I have seen methods posted such as, get the ST, use a 1000ft lb impact gun, drill them out, and cheater bar. I have tried all of these and of course I removed the timing belt not thinking of how much easier it would be. So far drilling them is only slightly working as my bits suck ***.

I got the driver side gear off by grinding the bolt head off. However, the other gears are not the same shape and my grinder wont make it down inside without nicking up the gear.

Has anyone come up with any other method of gear removal over the past few months?

By the way, the heads are AVCS so I don't have those convenient flat-spots on the cams to make the job easier. FML!

Any input would be greatly appreciated.

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[slowmike]

If you have the engine out of the car, use cobalt drill bits with lots of pressure and slow drill bit speed

[deagles007]

I'm having same trouble. Is your bolt inside stripped too bad to use hex bit?

I Haven't tried using an impact yet (my 10 mm hex was too long), so I ordered an extra short Snap-on Industrial Brand JH Williams 37922 hex bit...I'll let you know if this is a good quality bit and works for me...I'm getting worried though cause i've already partly stripped the inside of the intake cam bolt using my breaker bar/long bit.

If this doesn't work i'm giong to try out Irwin 53226 hex head multi spline remover (fit inside the bolt). Or possibly Craftsman bolt-out remover for outside of the bolt (works on rounded bolts, of course the cam bolt is perfectly round; but I figure it might work anyways.

[EROCS04SBRUSTI]

I seen people even weld a larger nut to it and back it right out also.

[mookzx]

I will try the larger nut welding technique if I can get my hands on a welder.

[deagles007]

Let me know how it goes. I'm in same boat as you now. After endlessly going at it with the impact and "impact grade" the bit sheared off and is now stuck in the bolt. Suppose I will try my bolt out and see if I can get a good grip on it...somehow I don't think it's going to work though.

[mookzx]

Who wants to loan me a mig?

I will tackle it again tomorrow. Im just thinking about drlling em all out.

[wrxgrumble]

Wow seems like a lot of us are in the same boat. I think I'm just going to put the timing belt back on and give it a go. The impact and breaker bar are not doing the job.

[deagles007]

Originally Posted by wrxgrumble

Wow seems like a lot of us are in the same boat. I think I'm just going to put the timing belt back on and give it a go. The impact and breaker bar are not doing the job.

Let me know how that works. Looks like I"m going to be trying griding it off before I resort to any welding....by the time i'm done there wont' be anything left to weld on to lol.

[deagles007]

hah!! I got it off. Craftsman Impact grade Lug-out (model # 47392) worked like a champ! The 17mm (6-sided) part worked perfect for me first time. I used it with a 3'' 1/2'' impact extension. Just be sure that it indeed uses the 1/2'' sockets and not the 3/8'' one (like their other bolt-out removers; I bought the 3/8'' version yesterday and ended up shearing off a couple of 3/8'' sockets! The tool is designed for removing stripped or rounded wheel lugs (or bolts). Guess what? The outside of the cam bolt is perfectly round; no problem for the lug-out tool.

Just had to hammer it on for 3-5 minutes with a solid 5lb hammer (radiator needs to be out), and use my 26'' breaker bar didn't even take that much force. And of course i'm using the S/T (got mine from www.company23.com) to hold the sprockets during all this. Just make sure its hammered on it real good. No grinding or drilling needed! I'ts even made in the USA. THe only Tricky part is going to be seperating the bolt from the socket now may need to invest in a good vice.

[mookzx]

Ya mind letting me borrow those? Hahaha. Jut kidding. Sears sells those but they are special order. As far as the ST, I'm not spending $80+ to use them once ya know?
I'll have a friend wear gloves and hold em. Haha.

On a side note, I am buying a new bare shortblock to install my new build parts into so if you guys or anybody else is interested in an OEM used EJ257 shortblock with 112k miles, I will let everything including the oem stuff go for a fair price. Cylinder 4 was low in compression so it will need a rebuild. Let me know.

Also, not on the classifieds yet, but I have a coated EWG up pipe with tial 38mm ewg and dump tube and all gaskets with 2k almost 3k miles I am getting rid of for 700 total for hardware, extra springs, and gaskets included. The wastegate has Tial's "water-cooling" option. I'm going rotated with my new build hence why I'm getting rid of it.

I'll have it up on classifieds once my heads are off my block so I can provide pictures.

[deagles007]

no problem. haha. yea there was just one left in my sears just lucky it was on the shelf...probably wouldn't have special ordered it without knowing if it would work. yea it's definitely not the cheapest solution, but seems to be one of the cleanest and simplest at least. Also, the exhaust cam bolt is ~ 0.5mm wider than the intake so it was tough to get the 17 mm lugout to fit onto the ~ 18mm exhaust cam bolt. And the 19 mm socket was way too big.

And also, after just removing 2 cam bolts, the lug out socket is showing serious signs of wear. May work a few timse more...who knows how much more after that. But for a $50 socket set, that I can use for other problems (doubt it, but you never know), i'm fairly happy with this overall. It does come with a lifetime warranty so I could bring it back if needed.

I'm sure that you could use this socket along with the timing belt trick if you didn't want to order the S/T. But ST makes it 100x easier I would say. THe intake one is $60 w/ shipping from the site I mentioned. Got the exhaust one on ebay for about $58 w/ shipping.

[mookzx]

Yeah that's all money I cant be spending. Haha. Gotta get my baby running on what I have. I think my LGT is just cursed with bolts that don't want to come out. Hahaha.

[deagles007]

Gotcha. Curious, this block your replacing/selling; what do you think is the cause of the low compression on cylinder 4...bad rings?

[mookzx]

Yes bad rings because I was getting excessive amounts of blowby through the exhaust. The heads are fine. We got the bolts out a little bit ago and there is no valve damage so it's bad rings.

Here's a healthy tip that a friend showed me today to get the bolts off. Heat up the bolt head with a propane torch, let it sit for about a minute or so to heat soak the bolt. The heat has to sink to take pressure off. Stick your 100mm allen socket in the bolt head then gently tap on it to send what he called "shockwaves" through the bolt and threads, then take your impact gun and fire em off. They may take about 30 seconds or so of impacting so be patient. (MAKE SURE YOU HAVE SOMETHING SECURING THE CAM GEARS. Such as your timing belt.)

[mookzx]

And as a second reply to the compression question, i figured that since the Subaru community is into a lot of builds and boring and such, I figured it's basically like recycling in a sense because instead of somebody buying a bare block for 1000, they can just buy mine with everything for 800 obo and since they're boring cylinders to meet the bigger piston requirements anyway, it all works out. Ya know what I mean? I want to buy a brand new shortblock so that I don't have to hone and ship my stock size pistons back to get bigger ones.

[deagles007]

that's a great tip. I'll try this next time. I thought about heating it too. How long did you heat it for...30 secs or so? It shouldn't take long since it's metal I guess.

[mookzx]

I heated it for about 45 seconds to a minute. It wont turn red so don't be looking for that. The seal might turn red but the bolt wont.

[salvi]

I've removed them by welding an axle nut to them and using a breaker bar

[teesutt]

Im sure your advice is helpful 7 months later.

[salvi]

lol at u...

[Paidfor]

From the dead to the top biatches lol
just had too lol sorry

[gsxr0383]

I welded a 6 foot bar of square tubing to it and it came right out. Replaced the bolt.

[neb_subi]

I had drilled the insides out and used and extractor