How can I remove a broken plastic piece from a coolant box?

Question

A little piece attached to a hose broke inside some coolant box Related question. The thing is plastic and the box is metal, I have seeing some questions and videos on how to remove headless bolts and the like, seems to require drills and special tools. But this being plastic I assume it should be easier. Its a little hard to reach I already tried with some plier pincers with no success.

I though about heat and let the plastic melt, but it has remanents of coolant and I dont want to set the whole thing on fire.

What can I do?

Answer 1

You need to treat it like any other broken bolt. To get a metal bolt out, you'd need a drill and easy out. Since this already has a hole in it, 1/2 the work is already done. You just need something which you can use to wedge against the inside of the piece so you can turn it. I'd suggest you use something like a flat file ... the end which fits into the handle. Wedge it inside of it and turn it. The right size chisel would most likely do it as well. You could also think about splitting it, but you'd run the risk of messing up the threads, so you'd have to be careful.