I busted off my zerk!

Ok.. one of my zerks is pretty much gone..... so.... I wanna replace it, but how do I remove the old pieces left inside? The zerk that was there gut busted off clean on some unnamed rock...

Kejtar

Have you tried using a pic? How much material is above the surface?

Go to the AutoZone/PepBoys.

There's an 'extraction kit' available, based on the size of screw or bolt that's broken.

The kit is a drill bit, a reverse thread tap, and a reverse thread bolt.
Grind the remaining head flat to get a decent surface to drill into, then drill a pilot hole.
Reverse tap the hole; usually, within a few threads the broken fastener will start unthreading and come out.
If it doesn't, you simply continue to fully reverse-thread the hole then use a wrench on the reverse-threaded bolt from the kit.

edit - PS:
If there's enough remaining above the surface, you can spray WD-40 or PB Blaster to free the threads and:
1. Hack-saw a slot to turn it into a slotted screw and back that out; or,
2. File the sides square to take a wrench to it; or,
3. Try Vise-grips.

there is nothing remainng on the surface, I think I will try a pic of sorts or needle nose pliers (Got some small ones), then I will put it in, and open it up and start unscrewing...

Kejtar

sears has a set of "easy-outs" .. they are fat, tapered, reverse cut bits with a square shank on the end like a tap has... if the hole left in the zerk is big enough you can get a pretty small easy out in it and as it seats itself it will "turn" the broken section out....
mike

If you decide to use an easy-out, do not use the round/spiral kind; only use the square type. They are much less prone to breaking. A broken easy-out is a terrible thing.

Tom

Easy outs need to be renamed to 'how to make a bad situation worse'.
Personally I do it like this, broken more than my share on my bikes. I drill two small holes on opposide sides of the broken zerk. Then using a pair of C ring pliers with a variety of tip sizes I treat it like a c ring. Generally works. The zerks are pretty soft aluminum screwed into heavy steel. If you decide to drill for an easy out don't go in too far, you don't want aluminum bits inside that lower joint, they only go in about a 1/4" or so below the surface. Hmmm, Thinking about this, it would not suprise me if Lisle tools does not have a tool for this, the zerk already has a hole it for the grease, they may have a small reverse tap just for that hole but boy I would hate to break it, the tap, off in there.
Once you do get it out by whatever means I would pump a whole lotta grease thru it to get any metal bits out of that joint.
God, I hate extracting broken bolts and stuff and they NEVER seem to break so that I could just cut a slot in them and use a screwdriver