We've all run into it. That one bolt that you need to get off to replace something, and you just can't do it. You blame yourself for being weak, throw your tools all over the garage, and give up. Well no more of that! Here are a few tips on how to remove severely seized bolts.
Rule 1: Never crank on a rusted bolt too hard. If it won't go, stop trying. Old rusted bolts have a tendency to just crack, and if you crack the head off a large bolt, you've got other things to worry about How To Remove Loosen Bolt Nut Washer Screw Auto Dealers.
Tip 1: WD40 is useless. WD40 is a lubricating oil. It is great for light rust, along with it's other uses, but it does nothing in terms of seized bolts.
Tip 2: The best thing you can buy for a seized bolt is penetrating oil. The most common product is a spray called "PB Blaster". There are generics out there, and I have used those without a problem. Penetrating oil usually comes pretty cheap and a bottle lasts for a long time, so it's definitely a good investment. If you have a severely seized bolt, spray penetrating oil onto it so that it may drip down into the part where the nut is covering the tread. Sometimes just doing it once won't work. I recently worked on my front pipe exhaust and I sprayed PB Blaster on it for 1 week straight, daily. It still didn't let go after that and I had to use a different method.
Tip 3: Freezing products. The ideology behind this is that it causes the metal to contract, thus breaking the bonds of the rust. I haven't personally used any of these products but I have heard good things. These are more expensive than the PB Blaster, therefore I recommend trying that first.
Tip 4: Only do this if you have tried the other options above. If your bolt is so old and rusted that the other options didn't work, torch it. Yes, torch it. Like with a Propane torcher. I recently did this with my exhaust pipe and it came off with ease. When metal get's hot it expands and breaks the bonds on the rust. The downside of this is that if you torch it too hot, it is easy to crack the head of the bolt off. That would be bad.
When you torch the bolt, you should only torch it long enough for the bolt head to start glowing red. As Mr. Car Guy suggested, you can try heating it then cooling it with cold water, than using penetrating oil.
That's it for now. If those options don't work for you, then a pneumatic wrench is about the only thing left. You do run a high risk of cracking the bolt head that way though.
No comments:
Post a Comment