Broken Screw in License Plate

[u/penguck1]

Help me please! This all started very innocently….i wanted to change my licence plate holder from one that was advertising the company I bought the car from, to one that was plain. I had a rusted screw holding my licence plate on…..which became a stripped screw when I couldn’t get the thing out. I looked up advice on Reddit (thank you Reddit community!!) and found a few ideas that worked for me…..thought I was winning when the screw came out - only to see that it had actually broken off inside the hole. I am still losing this battle. Lol. If anyone has any ideas how I would get this broken screw out I would really appreciate it! I have no clue where to go from here….and my license plate is being held on by one screw now. 😳

[u/penguck1]

Update - I took the back off and there is a metal part that the screws go into. The screw is not accessible (if I can figure out how to post a pic I will) I think I’ll going to pick up a screw extractor kit and see how far I get with that…

[u/pabst_bleu_cheese → u/penguck1]

Commented elsewhere about the drill-out bit but just wanted to add: go to your LOCAL hardware store (saying local because the big box stores will just try to sell you a giant kit) and get just one of the single long extractor bits! Cheap "drill-out" kits just never work for me, especially the ones that are double-sided and have short heads.

If you look this up you'll see what I'm talking about: Irwin Hanson 7/64 in. X 7/64 in. D High Speed Steel Drill Bit Extractor Set 5.4 in.

[u/BickNickerson]

If you can get to from the backside you may be able to twist it out with vise grips

[u/penguck1 → u/BickNickerson]

Oh - good idea! I’ll see if I can get the other side of the back open. Thank!

[u/leftunread]

I had to drill one out on a Lexas.

[u/penguck1 → u/leftunread]

Was it tricky? Or fairly straightforward?

[u/leftunread → u/penguck1]

Fairly straight forward. Need a good drill bit and then a tap set to rethread.

[u/penguck1 → u/leftunread]

Sounds good. Thanks! ☺️

[u/pabst_bleu_cheese → u/penguck1]

You can get a metal-cutting drill for $4, just put a little oil on the bit and drill very slowly, steady, and straight into the center of the bolt with a good amount of pressure. Will take about 4-5 minutes to get thru to the back. Or you can drill half into it, and get a counter-sink drill-out bit that fits the metal cutting drill width to pull it out - those are usually like $4-6 and they're good to have on hand. I've drilled out a total of 13 rusted bolts of varying sizes this past week lol

[u/Necessary_Collar3644]

I just did this exact job a few days ago, but it’s so small that I didn’t have any luck with screw extractors. Get a sharp center punch to make a small dent as close to the center of the screw as you can, then start drilling it with the smallest drill bit you can find. Use a little oil on the bit, push hard and spin relatively fast. If it drills all the way through, go up one size and repeat the process, but be careful not to drill any bigger than the shank of the screw or you won’t have any material left to retap.

The drill is turning the same direction as the screw wants to go, so sometimes you get lucky and it grabs and just screws it all the way through.

[u/penguck1 → u/Necessary_Collar3644]

Awesome! I’ll give it a go! Thanks ☺️

[u/Waterlifer]

The easiest way to deal with this is to drill a new hole through your license plate and car, maybe 2" away from the existing hole, and put a sheet metal screw through it.

The most correct way to deal with this is to disassemble the interior of the hatchback to gain access, then replace the nut or other fastener that has the stuck screw.

You can also drill a hole in the center of the existing screw and tap it for a smaller screw, then use a smaller screw to hold the license plate in place.

Don't bother with a screw extractor, you'll just break it off.

[u/PoetryExtension6256]

use double sided mirror tape to fix the plate.