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2018 Road King Special-
i was intending to do a cam upgrade .... started stripping it down ... got to the tappet block covers (NOT tappet cuffs) and have 3 bolts that will not come out.
tried heating and muscle ... still nothing
Are you heating the bolt head? Or the engine case where they thread in? You maybe have to take a chisel and break the head of the bolt off, remove the covers and use a vice grip on the rest of the stud.
also are you using an Alan key? Or a hex bit?
Last edited by Kyle Moore; Jun 27, 2020 at 02:06 PM.
Are you heating the bolt head? Or the engine case where they thread in? You maybe have to take a chisel and break the head of the bolt off, remove the covers and use a vice grip on the rest of the stud.
also are you using an Alan key? Or a hex bit?
hey Kyle, thanks for responding
I was heating the case first .... then later tried direct heat to the bolt head... and Im using hex bit
hey Kyle, thanks for responding
I was heating the case first .... then later tried direct heat to the bolt head... and Im using hex bit
well....sometimes you just gotta give er hell. If the head strips out use a drill bit or chisel
to pop the head off. And a vice grips to grab the left overs. You might be able to use a chisel and hammer to turn the bolt too. Theres not really a great answer here. Id definitely put more heat on it and just try pulling a little harder, keep heat on it while youre applying pressure. Heat the engine case not the bolt head.
if you have an impact gun, you could try using like
a 3/8s gun on the medium setting to try and rattle it out too. Try tightening and and loosening it back and forth to free it up.
Last edited by Kyle Moore; Jun 27, 2020 at 03:24 PM.
They use pretty crazy thread lock on these. To soften / melt the thread lock, uniform heat is the key. They will come out pretty easy once the right temp is achieved. You may have to reapply heat as your removing these. Use the same technique for tappet cuff bolts.
2018 Road King Special-
i was intending to do a cam upgrade .... started stripping it down ... got to the tappet block covers (NOT tappet cuffs) and have 3 bolts that will not come out.
tried heating and muscle ... still nothing
thank goodness I havent twisted any off yet.
ANY ideas on how to get them out?
any input would help
Depending on what point your at now you could leave them alone. If your doing a cam you can take the lifter out from the bottom once the cam is out. Then you just slide the new ones in first, then the cam. Saves lots of trouble that way!
They use pretty crazy thread lock on these. To soften / melt the thread lock, uniform heat is the key. They will come out pretty easy once the right temp is achieved. You may have to reapply heat as your removing these. Use the same technique for tappet cuff bolts.
You can also put the tip of a soldering iron inside the hex head portion of the bolt and let it sit for several minutes. The heat will transfer through the length of the bolt and heat up the locktite along the bolt threads. However, it may take awhile, as the engine case will act as a heat sink and initially keep pulling the heat away.
Once it's good and hot, you may want to attempt to tighten the bolt first (slightly) to help break free the crud free before then going the other direction and removing the bolt.
Heat helps.. If the moved at all, try moving them back and forth a few times when they start to get tight. WD40 will help. I replaced the lifters in my bike and it probably took an hour to get all the screws out. Would go so far and the screw would get tight so backed off and worked back and forth until it got noticeable looser and continued to unscrew. It took more than one try on many of the screws.
Heat helps.. If the moved at all, try moving them back and forth a few times when they start to get tight. WD40 will help. I replaced the lifters in my bike and it probably took an hour to get all the screws out. Would go so far and the screw would get tight so backed off and worked back and forth until it got noticeable looser and continued to unscrew. It took more than one try on many of the screws.
Thats exactly what happens .... Ill just keep working at it. Thanks Max!
And thanks everyone for the comments!
seems the key is heat and patience ....
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2018 M8 - Tappet BLOCK bolts will not come out
