Broken exhaust header stud question

JGL381 · Jul 15, 2013

Hey Guys!!!....I just discovered a broken exhaust stud so i removed the header and found that i still have about 3/8 of an inch of stud left. I was going to try to jam 2 nuts on it, then back it out...but the few threads that are left are damaged to bad to start a nut. A 1/4 SAE will thread on it loosely, but not tight enough to jam 2 together. My next idea is to spot weld the 1/4 nut to the stud, then back it out. My question is...should i disconnect all the electronics (stator,CDI, voltage reg.) before putting all that current thru the bike from the MIG welder?. Im trying to do this without removing the head..of coarse i will remove the gas tank before i do any welding. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated...

alex456123 · Jul 15, 2013

Just remove the ground and positive from the battery and it will be fine.
Remove all the front plastics

MidwayUSA · Jul 16, 2013

I have had good luck welding a nut on broken studs to remove them. The heat sometimes helps in loosening any corrosion in the threads. You should be ok just unhooking the battery. Mig welding doesn't have the same frequencies as tig welding and should not damage anything. Tig is a different story. We fried a computer on our crankshaft balancer one time thinking we could tig weight in the crank without removing it from the machine.

jeffsyfm350x · Jul 16, 2013

JGL381 said:
Hey Guys!!!....I just discovered a broken exhaust stud so i removed the header and found that i still have about 3/8 of an inch of stud left. I was going to try to jam 2 nuts on it, then back it out...but the few threads that are left are damaged to bad to start a nut. A 1/4 SAE will thread on it loosely, but not tight enough to jam 2 together. My next idea is to spot weld the 1/4 nut to the stud, then back it out. My question is...should i disconnect all the electronics (stator,CDI, voltage reg.) before putting all that current thru the bike from the MIG welder?. Im trying to do this without removing the head..of coarse i will remove the gas tank before i do any welding. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated...

Yes all even with a mig!

paintslinga2010 · Jul 16, 2013

I had the same thing happen. I sprayed it with pb blaster. Let it set a few hours. Then smacked the end of the broken stud with a hammer. After than I was able to turn it out with vice grips. Hitting it with a hammer breaks loose the corrosion between the steel stud and aluminum head.