8mm Craftsman Allen Head socket breaks apart while trying to remove motor mounts!
 

I took a hammer and drove the business end of an extension attached to a Craftsman 8mm Allen Head socket up into the motor mount bolt on the 1984 300D. I then tried banging on the ratchet with a hammer but it didn't break the bolt loose. I then figure I might need a breaker bar to pop the motor mount bolt loose so I attempt to pull the extension and Craftsman 8mm Allen Head socket out. After I get it out, I look up into the mount and the allen head portion is still stuck in the bolt! It separated from the socket portion of the tool....is this normal? I'm hesitant to use this 8mm Allen Head socket to break loose the motor mount bolts.......

Most of the Craftsman allen sockets I have are just snap in allens and can be pulled out. I would not worry about it, I spray all tough bolts and nuts with DP parts blaster and it really helps with the removal. Good luck!!

Be sure to turn counter clockwise. It's happened even to the best of us...

I had that very same thing happen with a torque converter drain plug. It was a great stroke of luck that I noticed the empty socket before I tried to start the engine. Otherwise, I would probably have been buying a new torque converter.

That would depend on the exact design of your allen socket. Some Craftsman sockets retain the bit with a snap ring; others are "permanently" swaged in.

Gedore ones worked fine for me - is Craftsman cheapo stuff? I bought some Craftsman tools from Sears the last time I visited the US. They got a lifetime warranty on them - I'm collecting the broken stuff to take back the next time I'm in town!

A friend of mine buys broken brand name tools where ever he finds them and swaps out for new. A broken wrench can be had CHEAP.

Salvage (returned items) make it back into circulation & are distributed at fleamarkets. The common sizes are usually what was broken and the cause of the return. Starting price is usually 50% of retail and can be negotiated down.

I've used cheapo allen sockets, and NAPA sockets, even some kobalt... never had one break on me, aside from the end stripping out due to my carelessness, or too big a prybar on the end... like a 6' cheater pipe on the 1/2" breaker bar, with a 1/2-3/8" adapter feeding the allen socket... but I've gotten several where the allen comes apart from the socket. the napa ones have a set screw to hold the allen key in the socket.

I've probably got the same Crafstman set. Yes they pop out, but they're not really supposed to. Banging it in probably didn't help. I've got one in my set that is always loose. Sometimes it sticks in the bolt head and a quick turn the other direction breaks it free if it did.

UPDATE: I went to sears and bought a 6" 1/2" drive extension. I already own a large 1/2" drive breaker bar....then went to track down a 1/2" drive 8mm hex bit socket (found it at a local parts store). When I got the tools together, I used the set-up to break loose the 8mm hex head bolts on the motor mounts (1984 300D). This 1/2" breaker bar 8mm hex bit socket drive set up worked GREAT to break loose the main 8mm motor mount bolts!

Didn't finish tightening the 6mm hex head bolts until late last evening, I had diesel grease all over my face, arms and hands. This repair has been a lot of work! Tonight I am lowering the engine down on the new Lemforder mounts and reinstalling the 8mm hex head bolts; hopefully the engine will line up so the bolts will be easy to install.

don't lower all the way until the bolts are started!

OK, thanks for the advice, I'll post updates as I arm wrestle the engine into submission.....

I'm having a difficult time realigning the engine over the motor mounts so that I can thread the long 8mm bolts. Any ideas on how to realign the engine over the bolt holes?

Grab the valve cover and shake the engine like you mean it. It will move.

There are a few threads on the motor mount repair, and one more/less recent one discussed the bolt alignment problem. I think this may have been the genesis of vstech's advice about lowering. When the motor is raised it may "float" a bit and you can get them started.

I did a cursory search but didn't find the thread. Maybe an advanced search or start a new thread specific for the mount alignment.

take out the engine shocks, and use a prybar in the holes to align the motor...

on mine, I've found the motor tends to sit to one side when lowering, just set that side into the mount, then lower until the other side is almost positioned, then BY HAND!!! thread in the bolt, then jack the motor back up, and thread in the other side!