Clutch screw/bolt broke inside crank

[Jerseyrider]

Was riding over the weekend and my the large clutch screw/bolt in the center of the primary clutch sheered off. About 1/2 inch of the screw is still in the crank. It is about 2.5 inches deep inside.

Any good options to getting it out?

Thanks

 

[skibreeze]

EZ out.

 

[Jerseyrider]

The part that is left is about 2.5 inches inside so I am probably gonna need an ez out that is 3 inches long. I think the bolt is hardened steel. You think EZ out will still work

 

[mtnclmr]

You can try letting the sled idle for a bit, I've gotten a couple out this way before. They usually turn pretty easy so you can try turning it with a pick or screw driver. Could put a dab of jb weld on the end of a smaller bolt and stick it to it, just make sure it doesn't drip in there. You could try a reverse drill Bit. If that doesn't do it, drill and easy out.

 

[LoudHandle]

If you have access to a left hand drill bit? Center punch the stub and start drilling it, at some point it will likely catch and back the stub out, if not you have a hole to use the Ez out.

I personally would shy away from the epoxy recommendation above. Not likely to work and a high likelihood of getting some in the threads and making removal even harder.

 

[sw]

Ha Ha! You don't want to dink around with drill bits and ez outs just yet...as mentioned, crank is case hardened, bolt is not, so if anything just get the sled on a stand...goose it a bit in reverse, shut the machine off & finish threading the broken out with a pencil magnet. If you damage, even slightly, the crank threads, then you'll have a project on your hands. Good luck!

 

[Jerseyrider]

I will try the running it on idle and reverse first and let you guys know how it goes.

 

[94fordguy]

I've had the same problem in the past

I had my bolt snap a couple years back while in the back country, a tow out was not realistic so I rode the sled out with nothing but friction holding the clutch on... in the process the tip of the bolt vibrated out and came to rest in the bore of the clutch and I was able to retrieve it with a pencil magnet.


http://www.snowestonline.com/forum/showthread.php?t=215810

 

[Jerseyrider]

How long did you ride it. How much was broken of inside. I ran mine for 10 min and the stub did not move.

 

[Jerseyrider]

I took it to my car mechanic (full body and mecahnical shop), polaris dealer, and a machine shop with a laser and no one could get it out. Gave up. Decided to dropped in a spare engine I had. Up and running.

 

[LoudHandle]

Too bad your 2500 miles away, I like a challenge and have never seen one that could not be extracted / saved. The only crank I've seen totally F-cked is when a inbred redneck grabbed the wrong puller and used an impact to drive it into the taper hub.

I've even extracted Titanium clutch bolts, taps and EZ outs over the years without messing the original threads up. It can be done, persistence and knowledge is the key, and having the proper tools available is always a plus. Hopefully the efforts to date have not made it worse. Pics or describe what has been tried would help. Of course with the distance, my plane fair is more than a new crank. Good luck and glad you had a spare.

 

[94fordguy]

How long did you ride it. How much was broken of inside. I ran mine for 10 min and the stub did not move.

If I recall correctly, it was about 8-10 miles back to the truck... almost 2 miles of it was through the trees. There's more details in the thread I linked. I'm sure you can get it out of there one way or another. Perhaps try cutting the end off of a puller and use water as a filler to pop the clutch off so you can get up close and personal with the bolt tip and crank snub. Be sure to stay out of the way of the clutch incase it pops off with some force.

 

[Jerseyrider]

The clutch is off. The only issue is the stub is still in there.

I took it over to my car mechanic. He broke his EZ out trying to get it out. They took it to a machine shop with a laser and they could not get it.

Loudhandle -- if you want to try I could ship it to you and you could try at your lesiure. It's no good to me the way it is.

 

[mtnclmr]

A dremel tool with the right tip will grind out your easy out. Also use the square easy out instead of the screw type.

 

[LoudHandle]

I'll PM you my address. We have some things here at work that should work, and you can express your gratitude as you deem appropriate upon it's return.