I was trying to remove the center muffler by removing the the nuts that are secure to the flange off the cat. converter. Well one of the bolt on the right converter broke off Now, what should I do at this point? Can I remove the broke bolt off the cat. flange? Any suggestion will be greatly appreciated.

John

 

I was able to remove the broken bolt. Thank goodness the bolt is pressed fit and I was able to "Moderately" tapped the bolt out. Off to Homedepot I go to find a non-rusting bolt/nut combo.

John

 

+1, drive the bolt out with a punch and get replacement hardware. If your car is a low mileage garage queen you might get the nuts off. My car had 15000 miles on it and I used PB Blaster 3 times before trying to remove the nuts. The boltd still broke. So, my Tubi cat back will have new stainless bolts and nuts.

 

I find home depot's selection to be blech. If you can wait, I'd suggest ordering from McMaster-Carr. You can find just about any fastener there. Even nice A286 Stainless ones, super strong and won't rust!

 

My car went through 2 winter here in south of Buffalo NY, and the bolts and nuts are rusted. I tried to be careful with the second bolt and guess what, it broke too. The one I am dreading to do is the top bolt which is a pain in the *** to get to. How did you unscrew the top bolt in your installation? I used a long 13mm socket with swivel and 6" extension before but it was tough. Any suggestion will be greatly appreciated.

John

 

I'm glad I found your post here...I just broke 2 of these bolts off removing mine for the tubi install...guess I'l head to Lowes in the morning and finish her up. Gotta love this site.

 

When I installed my Tubi I had several "stretched" bolts. None broke, but clearly would if used again. No one had them. You can get American sizes at ace hardware, but not metric. The guys at napa advised me to call a tow truck company, as they supposedly have metric nuts and bolts ( weird I thought ). I ended up ordering some from Fastenal. Good luck

 

Hi John, I saw your thread about broken cat. converter bolts. I know the nuts are 8mm. in size but since you did this what are the bolt sizes in terms of length, and, I guess they would be 8mm bolts right? Do you just fit these regular bolts through the existing pressed fit bolt holes? Any washers recommended? Sorry this is my first time doing this and am totally frustrated! Anyways sorry to have bothered you, but I know this happened to you and any help would be MUCH appreciated.
Regards, Ron

 

I bought the bolts, nuts and washer from Home Depot. I don't remember the size but I bought slightly longer ones for ease of handling and the diameter is smaller than 8mm so the new bolts can pass through hole. The ones I broke are the 2 on the base of the flange but if I had broke the top one that would be a ***** to tap out. Good luck.

John

 

Thanks for your reply! Will try Home Depot also.

Ron