Undertray allen bolts stripped/frozen

[foosh]

I apologize if this has been dealt with elsewhere, but a search for all the keywords I could think of produced nothing.

I decided to do my own oil change today. The last one was done at the dealer in conjunction with one of the regular checks while the car was under warranty.

I cannot remove either of the two allen head bolts in the undertray near the NACA ducts. They appear slightly stripped and/or over-torqued. Even though they don't need to be removed the allen bolts in the diffuser move just fine.

Does anyone have suggestions? My first instinct is to try to JB Weld an allen wrench into each, and then replace the bolts later. I hate drilling out bolts. Nothing about this car ever seems to be simple.

[RoadDad]

I don't have any allen head bolts anywhere near my undertray .

Are you talking about the two large bolts that hold the tray to the cross-member?

[foosh]

Yes. It is an '05 Elise, and those bolts have allen heads in my car.

[RoadDad]

Nice.

What about something like a screw extractor?

[RoadDad]

You don't have to drill out the screw with these.

Craftsman 7 pc. Drill-Out/Screw-Out Power Extractors - Model 720SR at Sears.com

They bite into the head and as your drill turns in reverse out comes the stripped item. Only problem I foresee is the allen head being too large.

[foosh]

Yeah, that's probably the best solution.

[RoadDad]

I'd swap them for hex head bolts when you get them out. M8 x 1.25 x 25

[BRTHTAKR]

One of my original bolts here stripped too. They are pretty cheesy. I cut a slot into it and removed with a large screw driver. Seems like I used something like a Dremel with a small disc to cut the slot).
Then I replaced them with SS bolts with a much more substantial size allen.
I discovered this during my first oil change.

[Randy Chase]

Same thing. Dremel to make a square bolt head out of it. Removed and replaced.

Oh, use loctite blue when you put the new ones in.

[yelotail]

Just picked up my Elise SC today. Quick questions is there a tool kit that is supposed to come with the car. Car is very cool Chrome Orange, Hard Top, Touring Pkg., Sport Pkg. Believe it or not traded in a 2008 Gallardo Spider left with a big check and a great car.

[Randy Chase]

Originally Posted by yelotail

Just picked up my Elise SC today. Quick questions is there a tool kit that is supposed to come with the car. Car is very cool Chrome Orange, Hard Top, Touring Pkg., Sport Pkg. Believe it or not traded in a 2008 Gallardo Spider left with a big check and a great car.

Not sure now... but the earlier cars came with the tool for removing the lugbolts (splined driver) and a tool for the locking lugs (which was eventually dropped) and two Allen wrenches. This was in a little pouch with velcro in the boot. Also there was a flat-in-a-can back there above the passenger side wheel well.

[yelotail]

thought they would have had the tool to take off the hard top...oh well. What about the tow ring for getting it on a flat bed

[foosh]

Originally Posted by RoadDad

I'd swap them for hex head bolts when you get them out. M8 x 1.25 x 25

Thanks for all the good ideas . As usual, this site is invaluable, and there are plenty of smart, experienced people willing to jump in and help.

Since, I have to destroy those bolts with an extractor/dremel or whatever, I think I'll try the JB Welded allen wrenches first, since that stuff rarely fails me, and then replace them with the bolts above.

If that doesn't work, I'll go get the kit RoadDad suggested from Sears and replace with the hex head bolts above.

You guys are great!

[Randy Chase]

Originally Posted by yelotail

thought they would have had the tool to take off the hard top...oh well. What about the tow ring for getting it on a flat bed

Forgot, it did include the tow ring too.

[yelotail]

thanks I will call the dealer and have them send it all to me. air conditioning is what everyone has been discussing. it somtimes blows so cold then gets warm and then gets cold again...at least it is cold sometimes.

[xxxotic]

I had the same problem with the allen bolt being frozen and the allen wrench opening was stripped. Havent fixed it yet, I just noticed it when I was loosening and retightning the bolts to see if I could locate a rattle. Have to go to Home Depot and get the hex head bolts once I get the bolt out.

I did a search about a month ago and several people reported the same problem. I cant find the thread but the reason was because the top part of the hole where the bolt goes into is uncovered and junk gets in there and freezes up the threads. You should put wd40 on the top area and let it run down to clear out the junk and then make sure the threads are clean. People then put caulk or silicone over the top part to stop junk from getting back in there again.

Here are the links

Undertray bolts... a suggestion

moremonkey.com • View topic - Stuck Diffuser / Engine Tray Bolt Issue...FIX

[foosh]

Thanks. Ace10 was kind enough to PM the link to his thread earlier, which I found extremely useful. I will indeed change the bolts to hex heads when I get them out, seal the hole from the top, and properly lube new bolts and receptacles to prevent the problem in the future.

The biggest issue here is that there is no excuse for putting allen head bolts in that application in my opinion. I take it later cars included hex-head fasteners.

[BRTHTAKR]

Originally Posted by foosh

Thanks. Ace10 was kind enough to PM the link to his thread earlier, which I found extremely useful. I will indeed change the bolts to hex heads when I get them out, seal the hole from the top, and properly lube new bolts and receptacles to prevent the problem in the future.

The biggest issue here is that there is no excuse for putting allen head bolts in that application in my opinion. I take it later cars included hex-head fasteners.

But if you are going to use a hex head in such a location, at least make it substantial enough that you can engage it once the road grundo is chiseled out.

[foosh]

For those interested in this mini-saga, I was able to remove the frozen allen head undertray bolts using 2 methods suggested here.

RoadDad suggested getting a Sears screw/bolt extractor kit which I did. It did a great job of removing one bolt. In the process of removing the second bolt, the same extractor bit broke off inside. Once that happens, you are basically screwed because you can't easily drill through those hard extractor bits.

As a "Hail-Mary" move, I cut a slot with a Dremel cutting wheel almost all the way through the bolt head per Brthtakr's suggestion, hammered a big screw driver into the slot, and attached vice-grips to the screw driver. Rather miraculously, it did back out the recalcitrant bolt, and I think the cutting and drilling may have finally freed the bolt.

Between driving to gather extractors, new bolts, figuring and fiddling, it was only a 7 hour oil change, of course, only 30 minutes was the actual oil change........LOL. Gotta love the Lotus.

[RoadDad]

Originally Posted by foosh

RoadDad suggested getting a Sears screw/bolt extractor kit which I did. It did a great job of removing one bolt.

Originally Posted by foosh

In the process of removing the second bolt, the same extractor bit broke off inside. Once that happens, you are basically screwed because you can't easily drill through those hard extractor bits.

Didn't think that would happen.

Originally Posted by foosh

As a "Hail-Mary" move, I cut a slot with a Dremel cutting wheel almost all the way through the bolt head per Brthtakr's suggestion, hammered a big screw driver into the slot, and attached vice-grips to the screw driver. Rather miraculously, it did back out the recalcitrant bolt, and I think the cutting and drilling may have finally freed the bolt.

Originally Posted by foosh

Between driving to gather extractors, new bolts, figuring and fiddling, it was only a 7 hour oil change, of course, only 30 minutes was the actual oil change........LOL. Gotta love the Lotus.