So I am kind of in a bind now. I'm in the middle of rebuilding my 4.3L when suddenly a wild star bolt appears that has been stripped. Now I am stuck with the camshaft in place and can't remove it.

Any tips on removing the stripped star bolt?

 

special bolt extractor sockets are sold at most parts stores. Or find a socket slightly too small and call it sacrificial and hammer it on the bolt.

 

I would love to do that except the bolt that I need is flush in the block and to top it off its a star head.

I was thinking about taking it to a machine shop to see if they can remove it.

Any other options I might be able to explore at home?

 

Can you post a pic?

 

Is it one of the bolts on the cam retaner?You should be able to get it with a speacility stripped bolt socket.

 

It is on the cam retainer.

Edit:
I said retainer but I believe that I am mistaken. Its that outer ring that just has the two bolts. The one on the left is the one that has been stripped.

Edit Again:
Looks Like its both a retainer or a thrust plate, just depends on who is writing about it.

The pic is attached for the stripped one. I have not yet attempted the unstripped bolt as I don't want to damage it.

 

drill it out with an easy out kit. they are reverse rotation drill bits and extractors. thats one thing that you can do.

the other would be to buy/use a regular 3/8" drive allen socket and hammer it in there. this one has worked more than once for me. this is what im talking about.

i think that you should be able to get another one at the dealer or a hardware store. good luck.

 

X 2 twip

 

I'm in the process of rebuilding the engine in my 98 Blazer with a 4.3 and the same bolt stripped on me. I've tried forcing an allen wrench into it with out any success. Ironically, the other bolt came right out.

 

If you have access to a welder, weld a nut to it. I believe I had to do it to one of mine.