Replacing old cast iron elbow in wall. How do I fix this?

Hi guys. I am not a professional plumber, must say that up front. And I was trying to remove corroded pipe going into the elbow, but the pipe broke off inside the elbow. I was thinking that it would be easier to just replace the elbow rather than attempt to get the pipe out of the elbow. I've tried to wrench out the elbow but either there's nowhere to grasp it, or I don't have the proper tool. I tried loosening the elbow w/ wd-40 and a hammer but I was only able to move it slightly. I need to get this elbow off; and I'm not sure what to do at this point. Any suggestions would be appreciated. Photos included. Thanks!

SH.

You can try heating up the fitting only and then try turning it, or you can try smaking the fitting at the hub with a 2 hammers. I hammer stays stationary behind the fitting and the other hammer to hit it from the opposite side.

It looks like space may be an issue

It doesn't look like you can turn that fitting - it looks like it is too close to the back wall. It was probably installed before the wallboard was installed. To unscrew it, you may need to make a hole in the wallboard of the other room. WD-40 won't loosen the pipe. A penetrating oil based lube might. PB Blaster is a good one. Often, you can peel the old fitting out of the elbow. They make internal pipe wrenchs that would help you turn it out once you loosened it up a little with either heat or a penetrating oil. The other way is to take a hack saw and cut part way through from the inside. You have to be careful not to mess up the threads of the elbow, though. If you do two cuts near each other, and can peel that section out, the rest will come out easily.

Start budgeting for a repipe...the galvanized supply lines are often also going to give you grief. If you can, and have access from below, you might consider just cutting that galvanized stuff out and substituting plastic - pvc or abs for the drains, and copper for the supply lines, depending on where you live (either will work, depends on the supply in your area). Also note that the drain does not have a vent, which won't meet today's code. That fitting should have a vent line coming out the top, not just be an elbow.

I WOULD CUT THAT PIPE OFF WITH RECIPROCATING SAW, AND INSTALL A NEW PIECE WITH A COUPLING

http://www.fernco.com/plumbing/shielded-couplings USE THE PROFLEX COUPLER, AND ADD ETHER PVC OR

ABS SEWER PIPE, THAT REALLY SHOULD BE A TEE WITH A VENT OFF THE TOP ! !

I'm in the boat with Jerry. Sawzall and a fernco

Thanks guys. We know it's not up to code. The sink drain is connected to the bath drain, and they both use the bath vent. When it clogs neither fixture works until I go up on the roof and clean it out. This house is older than me and my wife put together so we have run into many unpleasant plumbing surprises. My wife would like to saw off the elbow completely and install PVC but my father in law said it would be a bad idea to mess with the pipe below. She is not crazy about cutting a hole in the wall on the other side and would rather not do that at all. I am looking for the best, simplest fix I can find so I can install this new sink. We do NOT have easy access to the drain pipes below; it's a crawlspace with very tight plumbing. From reading all this I am leaning towards just cutting the pipe. Are there any things to watch for once the elbow is cut off and it's time to replace with PVC?

It's fairly simple except cutting in a confined space. You want the cut to be low enough so you have a decent stub to attach the no-hub connector on both the metal and a stub of pvc - you also want it to be as straight across as you can make it. Will there be any room above the sink where you could run a vent pipe up and say into th eattic that could connect to the house vent before it goes out the roof? An alternative would be to leave an access panel and use an AAV (it can't be sealed in the wall, it needs access). Some places won't accept an AAV, but it will be better than no vent. The problem with what you have is it is effectively an S-trap, and can get siphoned dry by other things, leaving an open path for sewer gasses, bugs, rodents, etc., that may be crawling through the pipes. Keeping the trap full, stops most of that.

Wouldn't an angle grinder make a nice cut there?

If you like spraying hot sparks in your wood wall.

Sparks won't catch anything on fire. Shove a couple damp towels in there and have a spray bottle to "mist" a little if you're that worried.

What you have looks like a brass solder bushing and you twisted the trap off. If so, cut two slots in the brass close together, remove the piece between the slots and then the rest will come out.