[209SamoanWarrior]

Well I’m finally gonna go through with the exhaust stud replacement I just sprayed all the nuts ….bolts …and stud threads with PB Blaster …I probably gonna spray them every other day till next Tuesday when I go to remove them in hopes they don’t give me too much trouble…

question is in a YouTube video by Bryan when he removes the studs in the rear it looks as if he removed the oil tank and fuel pump section and gas tank for wiggle room … can I get away with just removing oil tank and gas to get this done and are there any other tips to make this job smooth?

 

[Sandytows]

Which exhaust studs are you trying to remove exactly? The ones between the rear pipe and the small 90° header pipe or the ones between the header pipe and the rear jug?
My experience may not exactly match yours but I had a broken stud between the header pipe and the rear jug. In order to remove the broken stud I had to take the head off the rear cylinder and drill it out. I don't remember having to remove the oil tank or the lower fuel tank at any time during the process. I definitely removed the upper tank though.
Removing and reinstalling the head was not that hard at least not compared to drilling out the broken stud. But by recollection there's at least three gaskets involved and some crush washers too.
A week's worth of soaking with PBlaster or aerokroil certainly will help.

 

[209SamoanWarrior]

@Sandytows thats what people on the FB group are telling me to expect a broken bolt …. But I’m hoping with prep work and a slow turn at a time the bike gods will be nice to me … it just seems like a really tight fight to the back yes where the 90 meets the head … the 2 studs in the head … in the YouTube video the guy uses a open end wrench he turns and it comes right off … then again I am aware that YouTube videos are kinda set up before hand and leave out a lot of important details

 

[BlazinWarrior]

Heat Induction tool....see if you can get your hands on one..possibly rent one out from a tool place. You can heat the stud to cherry red and break the rust and thread locker without any open flame. Then using the double nut method it should twist off like butter. The tool itself is kinda pricey if you decide to buy one ($150-$300) its worth not having to pull the head and try and remove a broken stud and deal with that whole process which includes having to buy gaskets, ect. Just my 2 cents. Goodluck

 

[209SamoanWarrior]

@BlazinWarrior like a heat gun ?? I think I can get my hands on one

 

[Sandytows]

Heat induction tool sounds like a good idea.
One of my exhaust studs was broken already that why I had to replace it. But if yours is still good why replace it?

 

[BlazinWarrior]

@BlazinWarrior like a heat gun ?? I think I can get my hands on one

No a heat gun is different. Look up heat induction tool

 

[209SamoanWarrior]

Heat induction tool sounds like a good idea.
One of my exhaust studs was broken already that why I had to replace it. But if yours is still good why replace it?

My bike is a 2007 the stud and bolts nuts in the exhaust area are starting to show age … if I can get these parts fresh in up the bike is starting to looking pretty sweet . The only thing after that would be the clutch and throttle cables cuz they have burned looked to them … I live in Northern California we have rain and it’s cold so I have the time . I’m just trying to take care of it

 

[209SamoanWarrior]

No a heat gun is different. Look up heat induction tool

Ok yea I looked it up …. I’m kinda hoping a buddy has one I can barrow or maybe harbor freight has one it’s really only the rear studs I’m worried about most cuz if anything happens in the front I can get to those if a extraction needs to happen . Thanks for the tips guys

 

[arizonawarrior]

Let the lubricant dry out and wipe the area. Set a bucket of water with a few wet rags nearby, just because it's smart. Remove seats etc. Shove tin foil into all the gaps around the studs, then use a little micro-torch to moderately heat the fastener ends. The next key concept is to apply torque as squarely as possible. You want to create rotation with as little side pressure as possible. Thankfully you only need it to come loose. So slowly increase pressure while controlling the tool to avoid side load. Concentrate on rotation.

A torch with a swivel head might be helpful but not required. These are sold as kitchen tools, bike tools, car tools, cigar lighters. Here's an example, I'm not recommending any particular kind or brand.

Most often, these fasteners come out without damage. They only get like 14 ftlbs torque and I don't recall any thread locker.

For the front jug's header, notice one fastener is blocked by the frame. It's as big a problem.

 

[209SamoanWarrior]

This discussion is definitely bringing my confidence up and I understand what you mean Arizona…. Sucks I have big hands would love to use a stubby ratchet in there

 

[arizonawarrior]

Earlier I chose to purposefully 'not include' thoughts on using a heat induction tool in this specific application. The induction contact coil (the contact head) needs to sit flat on the surface surrounding the steel bolt head. So you're going to need a tool having some method of achieving contact at the needed angle. Also, depending on the tool rating, it might need more electrical power than your home circuit can deliver. Lastly, these tools can heat ferrous in a few seconds to red-hot . . . and the other end of that bolt is in your aluminum head. The female threads can accept the transferred physical heat and get soft (and peel away when bolt is turned). So it's risky to heat a bolt until red hot when it's stuck in aluminum.

On the other hand . . . I don't know the grade of the exhaust head's aluminum but I expect it's extra hard since it survives exhaust flame. Also, aluminum tends to expand more than ferrous metals so the female thread (the exhaust head) should expand more than the male thread (the bolt) providing clearance.

So induction tools should work if the business end can make the needed access angle AND if the pilot makes sure to stop well before the bolt is red hot just in case. These things heat crazy in seconds.

I've seen induction tools used in factory machinery repairs and mining trucks etc. But I have never seen it used in an application where the ferrous bolt lives in aluminum. So if anyone here has personal experience with this exact condition, I for one would really welcome your insight. If it's a safe bet solution I would think many here would benefit.

A post-script: the induction tool uses magnetic field to accomplish much of the work, and aluminum is not magnetic. So it's possible the aluminum may somewhat shield some of the thread length. That might mean the bolt head gets much hotter than the other end of the bolt. This is another aspect that someone here with personal experience could obi-wan us!

 

[FitFrank]

I had a pretty bad experience with exhaust studs - the front ones on my bike got eroded by heat & salt so I took it to this guy who got one out by welding a nut onto the stud and turning it out, I think he used an induction tool on it too, but he couldn't get at the other one, in the end he welded half a stud onto the broken one in place, but that too eroded away, faster than ever, I think it was just a normal bolt, rather than a more heat proof purpose made stud.

Anyhow, at that point he told me to take the head off and send it off to be spark eroded, this would melt out the steel leaving the aluminium intact - didn't turn out that way, when it came back from the spark erosion guy, it had been re-drilled and helicoiled - I wasn't pleased - I hadn't wanted a helicoil - did they even spark erode it as requested or just drill it out? Don't know for sure, but it was a disaster, the helicoil wound itself out every time I took the exhaust off, after about 3 years I threw the towel in and got another used head off eBay, just so I could say goodbye to the helicoils.

My rear cylinder studs are pretty shoddy, gonna have to tackle them sooner or later, but as long as it holds, I'm not keen.

Last time I checked, my front studs are still pretty good, probably cos we had mild winters lately with less salt on the roads. I didn't use any thread locker and was pleased to be still able to move one of them with 2 nuts in place a few months ago, I have a spare pair of OEM studs ready.

Its the front I need to watch, as that's where the salt gets in, the rear one has a fracture and a bit of thread mangled, but it holds for now.

When I googled it (maniacally) people told me to get a good welder to weld a nut on and turn them out easy to do etc, etc, it wasn't that easy in my experience. For years I thought maybe my tech was no good, or the spark erosion process not what it was cranked up to be, but like I said, I'm not even sure they even attempted spark erosion, I had an airscrew stuck in my throttle bodies, took it to this guy who was going to spark erode it out for £25, I thought great! When I got there, he said no need, can drill it out easy! He then proceeded to wreck my throttle body - had to replace that too!

 

[209SamoanWarrior]

Geez thanks horrible…. I guess depending on where you live decides the kinda care you need for bolts and nuts etc…. I’m in California I think the bike may have been from the Bay Area so when I got it at 11000 miles my hope is that this 2007 does not have frozen bolts or nuts but we will see till then I’m gonna use PB blaster every other day till Tuesday then it’s show time

 

[FitFrank]

Good luck - hopefully it will be fine and no probs! I just wanted to say be careful, cos it can turn out difficult! Hopefully not tho!

 

[rumblemonkey]

Never heard of a spark eroder...sorry you had such a bad time!

 

[209SamoanWarrior]

 

[209SamoanWarrior]

Well I got the front studs off wasn’t as bad as I thought it was going to be tho …. The clutch side stud in front was a little tuff to get to back out …the stud seems a little bent and the threads seems a bit damaged I could be wrong the stud hole on the throttle side accepts the new stud the clutch side almost seems like it going to retap as it enters if that makes sense

 

[209SamoanWarrior]

Next week the rears are up so far my spraying with PB blaster lube every other day has saved me from using a Torch or any kinda heat source … so far

 

[arizonawarrior]

Good work! Yep most often these fasteners come out without damage, and your use of a stubby wrench definitely helped avoid side load. Smart.

If you suspect a fastener is bent or damaged, swing by a Yamaha dealer and cough-up for new. A little damage on these creates a lot of hassle when hanging the headers. Grab all 3 new header-to-head gaskets too (2 headers and the 90 bend).

Awesome 👌