[rhenier99]

Hi everyone, I was hoping someone could point me in a direction as to how I would remove this damn bolt on the vacuum pump. I'm in the process of replacing my valve cover due to a leak but unfortunately, I've hit a roadblock with the vacuum pump removal.


As you may know there is very limited space to work back there, the other 2 bolts were stubborn, but I did manage to remove them, it's just the one left that's left. The big problem I believe is that whoever worked on this car before me over torqued those bolts, I've seen people take those bolts out and mine went nothing as smooth, I even snapped a 10mm spanner on the open end as I used a 10mm T40 bit, it did work when I tried the other side but I have to really put some force to crack them loose which just adds another layer of complexity.

As you can see on the photo it has a rounded head and I've tried a few things to get it out now, T40 simply does not go in, I also tried T35 but T30 is the biggest that would fit in but slips eventually. The biggest limiting factor is the space so all conventional rounded head bolt removal methods I don't see working... but at this point I'm desperate so any input is appreciated.

Thanks.

[rhenier99]

As an update I ended up hurting the bolt more until it was pretty bad so I called some bolt experts and they managed to get it out so all good, phew. Next time I'm making sure I have the proper tools and I'll be replacing all bolts.