Is it at all possible to remove a screw after it has been stripped?

 

In order;

Curse

larger head screwdriver GENTLY tapped in to the head of the screw with hammer

vise grips (if you have room)

Curse loudly

drill into the center of the head with a small bit, then again with one about half the diameter of the hole, screw into the hole you have made with a self tapping screw and attempt to unscrew the original screw, if this doesnt work, remove self tapping screw, carefully choose a bit just a bit smaller than the diameter of the original screw and drill out screw down the middle - at this point it will lose its structural rigidity and fall in on itself.

Curse loudly and colorfully (in a way that would make a sailor blush)

call up a mechanic (or a BMW, GM, or Fiat owner (they should have plenty of practice with tools and broken things , bribe with beer and pizza to help you, usually will take a tap and die with reverse threads at this point

Good Luck!

 

or go to Sears and get the set of specially made drill bits for reversing out stripped screws.

or go to a hardware store and look for "easy outs"


lastly, do a search.....this topic was covered, the thread I suggest you find even has links to web sites where you can get these trick tools of the trade.

steviej

 

Just wondered what you're gonna do to that stripped out screw once the little b*****d is out? Many years ago while changing the timing chain on my wife's mini, I encountered a bolt that just would not budge. I spent nearly 2 hours in a freezing cold garage with cuts and scratches all over my hands with a variety of tools ranging from vice grips to penetrating oil. In the end, I hammered on a socket 2 sizes too small and put a length of pipe on my wrench handle to get more leverage. Once the bolt was eventually out (stuck inside the socket) I spent about 20 minutes jumping up and down on it while swearing like a rap singer on speed. My wife had to come out to see what all the commotion was about.

 

thanks guys for all the help, im very curious as to how these bits work that pull out a stripped screw, but i am all for it. Would a local mechanic be able to help me out?
no

 

by drilling out the screw what you are really doing is drilling into the screw stem to the point that the head of the screw is no longer attached, allowing you to remove the part being held by the screw. Then you can "drill out" i.e. make shavings of the rest of the shaft if you need to reuse that hole. See what I mean?

You are destroying the screw. there will be shavings everywhere. Make sure you have some magnets handy for cleanup.

I wouldn't bother trying to remove the screw by buying any special tools. Just drill the %$#@$ out of it. Very satisfying.

 

If the screw is in a body panel (i.e. liscense plate screw) have a lexus mechanic remove the screw by drilling it. I had two stripped screws on the liscense plate frfame and a mechaic drilled them out for like 50 bucks and absolutly no harm was done to the vehicle and the holes were reusable.