Rusted exhaust bolts

[Canuck]

Hey all,

Been looking over the GZ and realized how rusty my Exhaust Bolts are...

Now what if they were attempted to be removed... and snapped in half... THEY DIDNT but I want them changed to prevent that from happened but I'm worried about snapping them...

Is there any way to treat the bolts and prevent this.. or should i get the shop to see what they can do.. IE using a blow torch to heat up the area? does that work or am i just talking jibberish?

Is there a solvent to spray on and provide some lubrication to relieve them from there position and get them out?


The manual says to tighten.. and mine cannot be tightened any further.. if they were Im sure a negative reaction will take place...

thanks ahead for responses!

[mrlmd1]

You can try and spray them with WD-40 or similar, the problem is to get the stuff down into the threads. A light tap with a hammer can also sometimes help to loosen up the rust bond. It may be that only the heads of the bolts are rusted, not down in the threads themselves, but you'll never know 'till you try and remove them. If in doubt, let the shop break them off or just leave them alone 'till something happens. You can coat the rusty part with a phosphoric acid solution marketed under many rust-off names, found in any auto parts dept., to covert the ferrous oxide (rust) to ferrous sulfite (doesn't rust) and try and preserve what's left of the parts you can see. This turns the rusty part black but will keep it from deteriorating any further.

[patrick_777]

Are you talking about the manifold bots on the cylinder head?

Your first try should be soaking them in WD40 and letting it sit overnight. It's designed to work into the little crevices in the rust and dissolve it. Just soak it down really good and don't forget to put a pan or something under it to catch the drippings.

The bolts are more than likely just rusted on the outside and still have most of their rigid strength. You're right that they may not take the same amount of torque they had originally, but they'll probably actually take as much as you can give them. Once you get them out, soak down the inside threads with WD40 too and let it sit for a while. Then go for some stainless or otherwise rust-proof bolts for the replacement.

[music man]

They make lube that is supposed to "Creep" down into the threads, but before and after you spray them you might want to take a wrench and GENTLY turn the bolts a hair back and forth, then spray again......repeat, until you are satisfied that the lube has worked its way down into the threads, then try to remove them.

And yes using a torch on a bolt that won't break loose works, but should be used as a last resort, and I would not ever do it to the head of an engine, you could easily warp it. I have used that technique many times on Lawnmower blade bolts that won't come off, but the only problem is that you boil all the grease out of the bearings when you do that, so you can only use it on bearing housings that can be re-greased and even then its not a good idea.

Not only that you could just start your bike and run it for 20 minutes and get them hot.

[patrick_777]

Originally Posted by music man

Not only that you could just start your bike and run it for 20 minutes and get them hot.

That very well could be the best plan anyway. I'm not sure about spraying with WD40 before riding your bike for a while though...

:popcorn:

[music man]

[quote=patrick_777]

Originally Posted by "music man":13439jvm

Not only that you could just start your bike and run it for 20 minutes and get them hot.

That very well could be the best plan anyway. I'm not sure about spraying with WD40 before riding your bike for a while though...

:popcorn:[/quote:13439jvm]

No the lube technique and the the running it to get them hot technique should not be tried at the same time, because of the flammable thing, and also because you will just boil the lube out of the threads anyways.

[Easy Rider]

Originally Posted by Canuck

Now what if they were attempted to be removed... and snapped in half... THEY DIDNT but I want them changed to prevent that from happened but I'm worried about snapping them...

Wow, I wish we had "multi-quote" here. Several things in the subsequent posts need to be addressed (ok, well I FEEL a need to do so anyway!).

First, in general, you should NOT mess with things like that unless you really need to for some reason. It IS likely that they will break off and you will end up with a MUCH worse problem than just a little rust. It is likely that the bike will "die" from other causes long before those bolts break off........if you don't mess with them. Look around on here for a recent thread about a broken head bolt that had a little rust on it.

If you really can't live with the rusty bolt heads, take off the loose rust with some steel wool and then put on some high-temp paint.

Second, WD40 is NOT really good for this kind of operation. Too much solvent and not enough of the right kind of oil. A "real" penetrating oil works MUCH better but even that will require multiple applications over several hours (or days) and needs to include heat/cold cycles to help "suck" the oil down into the threads. Running the engine might even be better than a torch for the heat because it is less likely to catch fire.

Third, one probably should not use the Naval Jelly rust remover because it (phosphoric acid) would creep into cracks and crevices and would be almost impossible to remove.......and then would make the problem worse instead of better (corrosion AND rust). The stuff that turns black is used AFTER removing the rust and is called Rust Reformer or something similar. It does not, however, stand up to heat very good.

And lastly, for removing stubborn bolts, a shop will usually use an impact driver set on a really low setting to "jar" it loose......after applying penetrating oil and trying a reasonable hand application. Most home shops don't have such a tool.

Whew. I think that covers it all.
Other opinions welcome but in your heart, you know I'm right !! :popcorn:
:whistle: :biggrin:

[patrick_777]

Thanks for making us all once again look stupid, Easy. :redflip:

Canuck... do what he said.

[alantf]

Originally Posted by patrick_777

Your first try should be soaking them in WD40

A real good alternative to WD40 is good old fashioned Coke. Sounds a bit redneck, I know, but it works just fine.

[music man]

I agree with Easy Rider on the part about you SHOULDN'T mess with them unless its absolutely necessary, but I was just giving you some ideas on the best way to do it, if you chose to do so.