Every problem gets worse than the last.

[Richey]

I'm so pissed off right now I can't think right. I can't begin to express just how much I hate German Engineering right now.

I was removing the water pump studs from the car. The three that looked kind of bad came out, no issues. Then I get to the one that looks the best and you guessed it. The stud snapped off. But it gets worse. It didn't snap off flush it snapped off deep enough in I can see a thread or two on the block.

I tired drilling it out and of course the GDMFPOS Snap On extractor broke. Every video I can find makes it look soooooo easy but it's become anything but easy.

Any suggestions?

[Tom]

So sorry to hear that. Such a bummer. If I had the power, I would outlaw screw extractors. More often than not they seem to snap off and just make the problem 10 times worse. But we might have a solution for you here on carpokes! Get yourself a cobalt drill bit and watch this video.

[Richey]

Wow, thanks.

I think my problem is that I didn't get enough heat on the faster to release the loctite. I've never put heat like that on a block and was worried about warping the block or damaging the gasket right above it. Should I try to use heat again to loosen the loctite? I think that's why I had an issue backing it out with the extractor.

[Tom]

Wow, thanks.

I think my problem is that I didn't get enough heat on the faster to release the loctite. I've never put heat like that on a block and was worried about warping the block or damaging the gasket right above it. Should I try to use heat again to loosen the loctite? I think that's why I had an issue backing it out with the extractor.

Can you post a picture of where things stand right now?

[Richey]

I used one of my left hand cobalt bits and have a parallel hole drilled next to the original extractor. At that point I stopped.

Screenshot 2026-01-23 at 10.04.48 PM.png (3.26 MiB) Viewed 481 times

Screenshot 2026-01-23 at 10.05.04 PM.png (4.08 MiB) Viewed 481 times

[AudiSport]

BTDT, drilled it out for a time-sert sleeve. https://www.timesert.com/

I've even had to do this for head studs..

[Tom]

Yeah I think you'll have to drill that, and helicoil (or time-sert) it -- unless you can find someone local with an EDM machine. I can print you a drill jig if you want, though you'd need to get the inserts from McMaster...

[Thom]

Sorry to hear that.

The last time I had to drill something really hard in a narrow place (a bearing outer race in a Ferrari engine to release the full timing cover from the block) I used a rather pricey tungsten carbide drill for my Dremel, which worked great. The difficulty here is to align the drill as to not damage the hole in the block.

Good luck.

[Tom]

Sorry to hear that.

The last time I had to drill something really hard in a narrow place (a bearing outer race in a Ferrari engine to release the full timing cover from the block) I used a rather pricey tungsten carbide drill for my Dremel, which worked great. The difficulty here is to align the drill as to not damage the hole in the block.

Good luck.

Exactly! About a million years ago, I helped (watched) @Crazy Eddie drill out this very hole. If memory serves, he took out the radiator and condenser to get a straight shot, but otherwise did it by eye and succeeded. It was that experience that inspired my drill jig many years later. With the extractor broken off inside, this is a difficulty level B situation, so would encourage the use of the jig. The hardened extractor will push the drill bit off center without the jig. An EDM machine would be even better but probably not practical in that location. I guess you could also use a tiny little bit or diamond grinder on a dremel and grind at it. YouTube has endless 'best ways' to deal with this -- including dedicated broken ez-out kits. Of course, another option is to just forget about it, use a little extra sealant, and hope it doesn't leak. The Porsche gods might smite you, but you wouldn't be the first to get away with it.


P.s. good call on tungsten carbide --better than my cobalt suggestion. More expensive but worth it for this!

[Crazy Eddie]

Yep I remember