Attempted Tune-up leads to Big problem

[ck1995]

Just my luck. Trying to Tune-up including wires etc, got as far as trying to take off ignition rotor.............

I put hex key in first bolt, it turns. Went to 2nd, it slips, or so I thought. So I went to the 3rd bolt and it slips. Then I realized along with the slip, I see metal shavings. 2 out of 3 bolts are stuck with the heads stripped. Anyone have any great ideas. I don't know if it is just me but I have bought 2 different sets of screw extractors in the past with no success. Tried one anyway and got more metal shavings but no turns. Any workable ideas would be greatly appreciated. Did I mention its the E34 listed below.

[nizmainiac]

you could try tapping a bigger size allen bit or failing that a small pair of vice grips done up really tight

[clindahl]

I had the same problem. I ended up using vise grips on each bolt, the are really soft metal!!

[632 Regal]

carefully chisel the old cap off and unscrew them? If the vice grip thing has room do that first

[92E34]

How about a dremel, or a thin metal file?

If you're gonna go with the dremel, make sure you get the cutoff wheels that have the fibers in it. Otherwise you're wasting time.

[Jehu]

[Alexlind123]

nice...

[ck1995]

I must admit, I was very tempted by the laser method suggested but I ended up not going that route. I have a limited tool collection and need to add vice grips but since don't have yet I had already tried pliers to no avail. Suddenly, I remembered the angled pliers in the trunk tool box, about 15 minutes later, I forced the bolts loose. The force actually snapped the old rotor in half during the process.

Just wanted to thank all for their input and report she is back up and running. Could they have made that damn inductive pickup plug any harder to reach......

[Sidney Rough-Diamond]

I had a similar problem on another car, I used a Dremmel with a cutting disc to cut a chunky channel to get a flat blade screwdriver on it. Worked for me.

[632 Regal]

dont really need loose metal particles floating around the distributer and rotor though.

I had a similar problem on another car, I used a Dremmel with a cutting disc to cut a chunky channel to get a flat blade screwdriver on it. Worked for me.