Technical Removing stuck bolt

[AnthonyH]

I'm visiting my mother, shes 78, her sausage dog is repeatedly barking at his blanket?!

In car related things, I bought some new springs. I thought as I may be under the car for a while redoing the shock I may as well put springs on. They'll arrive in a day or two.

If you come across any interesting things today let us know!

 

[AnthonyH]

I had another go at the shock with the WD40 penetrant but it still won't budge! I tapped away some more. I can lever behind the mount and wiggle the mount a bit, but I'm wary of yanking too hard in case i break the bolt.

So i'm going on hiatus now until the springs arrive. I'll put the springs on and have another go then. I think the bolt will be ruined and I'll have to get another, if and when i finally remove it...

 

[Pugglt Auld Jock]

I had another go at the shock with the WD40 penetrant but it still won't budge! I tapped away some more. I can lever behind the mount and wiggle the mount a bit, but I'm wary of yanking too hard in case i break the bolt.

So i'm going on hiatus now until the springs arrive. I'll put the springs on and have another go then. I think the bolt will be ruined and I'll have to get another, if and when i finally remove it...

Keep giving it a regular soaking with the releasing fluid - you never know, it might help.

 

[Pugglt Auld Jock]

If you come across any interesting things today let us know!

Yes, came across lots of interesting family stuff and a very nice picture I've never seen before of my mum holding me in my christening robe on the front door step of grandfather's front door. Sorting through all this stuff is very emotional and I'm finding myself absolutely wasted after driving all the way down there, sorting through all this stuff and then driving back again.

 

[AnthonyH]

Yes, came across lots of interesting family stuff and a very nice picture I've never seen before of my mum holding me in my christening robe on the front door step of grandfather's front door. Sorting through all this stuff is very emotional and I'm finding myself absolutely wasted after driving all the way down there, sorting through all this stuff and then driving back again.

I can feel my mood changing as I drive to my mums, i dont live in that frame of mind so much these days. I felt a bit unwell last night, but thats probably all the junk i ate! Her short term memory is really bad, she asks the same questions 3 or 4 times in a row, but physically shes well.

My wife won't go into the loft to sort things through because of all the memories it stirs, and its all her stuff, not someones who passed.

 

[The Panda Nut]

I would be disc cutting the head off the bolt by now, get the mound out of teh way and then get rid of the remaining stud. But I am a philistine.

 

[AnthonyH]

I would be disc cutting the head off the bolt by now, get the mound out of teh way and then get rid of the remaining stud. But I am a philistine.

It may end up there. I have an angle grinder but I'm not sure how it'll go against a shock bolt. The head would come off easily I guess, but how would I get the thread out?

I might try to hit the mount with a big hammer. If the mount is wobbling on the bolt then maybe one big crack will shift it.

I could try heat as well?

 

[The Panda Nut]

It may end up there. I have an angle grinder but I'm not sure how it'll go against a shock bolt. The head would come off easily I guess, but how would I get the thread out?

I might try to hit the mount with a big hammer. If the mount is wobbling on the bolt then maybe one big crack will shift it.

I could try heat as well?

Well access would be better and you could weld something on the end that would spread the load. It rather sounds like your battling with something thats not just rusted but maybe cross threaded as well. Its staggering how when something goes wrong everything possible seems to get you at once.

I make great use of my dremmel with cutting discs for fiddly things like this. Only a week back I had to fall back on ot to get a valve cap off. Even the fibre and reinforced discs seem to slice through even the hardest steel. I usually use as many as required as they are not costly.

With the mount out of the way, maybe you can grip teh thred with a mole grip (narrow jawed typre and use a stud extractor at the same time.

I saw Edd use an induction heater on some bolts he coudnt loosen (wheeler Dealers) the affetcs of this were profound. I dont know if you could hire such a thing to get heat right into the bolt?

 

[AnthonyH]

I'm going to put some new springs on the car tomorrow and have another go at getting that shock bolt off.

I've been too busy with non-car things to get around to this, I wonder what'll go wrong

 

[Pugglt Auld Jock]

I'm going to put some new springs on the car tomorrow and have another go at getting that shock bolt off.

I've been too busy with non-car things to get around to this, I wonder what'll go wrong

Good luck!

 

[AnthonyH]

Typical story...the bolt won't move despite the big hammer treatment...

And I can't get the first spring off. I'll try to remove the shocks on both wheels to see if that releases enough tension for me to move it. Or maybe compress it?

I've not changed the springs on a car before, or the shocks for that matter, so of course I'm making a meal of it...not a very tasty meal either, something like liver caserole lol

 

[PuntoHowTo]

out of curiosity what are you using on the bolt, are you using the correct socket ? or are you using something else that sort of fits as the witness marks on the bolt look like its been mauled about a bit.

You need the right tool and you probably would benefit from a decent length of breaker bar. at a push make sure there is nothing around it that could burn and apply a little heat from a blow torch.

I'd recommend plusgas rather than WD40 I have never had a bolt come out with WD40 but Plusgas always seems to work.

The other thing you can try is 'rocking' bolt so you wind it in a touch then out, in, out and slowly wind it out more each time than you wind it in.


Generally speaking these are very strong bolts you would struggle to shear them off, so you can put huge force on them with a bit breaker bar

 

[AnthonyH]

out of curiosity what are you using on the bolt, are you using the correct socket ? or are you using something else that sort of fits as the witness marks on the bolt look like its been mauled about a bit.

That's a good spot! It appears the bolts are star head, and i've been using just a regular hexagon socket. I've recently bought some sockets and should have got the stars... oh well lol, will have to get some more!

You need the right tool and you probably would benefit from a decent length of breaker bar. at a push make sure there is nothing around it that could burn and apply a little heat from a blow torch.

I've had a breaker bar on it, but not with a star socket, that's the next thing to try. Then some heat.

I'd recommend plusgas rather than WD40 I have never had a bolt come out with WD40 but Plusgas always seems to work.

I found it hard to source Plusgas and ended up with WD40 penetrant formula, its not the usual WD40.

The other thing you can try is 'rocking' bolt so you wind it in a touch then out, in, out and slowly wind it out more each time than you wind it in.

I'll have to hope the star socket gets me some movement, as it wont go in or out at this time.

Generally speaking these are very strong bolts you would struggle to shear them off, so you can put huge force on them with a bit breaker bar

Thanks for the insight! I've since discovered on an Autodoc video that the bolts need greasing before they go back in. If I'd done that the first time, or not rushed it then I wouldn't have this problem.

The haynes manual says both shocks need to be loosened before the springs will come off, so fingers crossed with that

 

[chris3234]

Yes you definitely need at etorx socket for them

I'm amazed you got any of them off using a normal socket frankly

 

[AnthonyH]

Yes you definitely need at etorx socket for them

I've ordered some star sockets/etorx that will arrive tomorrow. I've recalled that my breaker bar was ineffective - it kept slipping on the bolt. I figured the problem was that it was on an extender that was long - but now I've realised I was using the wrong socket.

The rain has defeated me today, so no car things. Instead I went for a slippy, muddy run and got soaked

 

[PuntoHowTo]

That's a good spot! It appears the bolts are star head, and i've been using just a regular hexagon socket. I've recently bought some sockets and should have got the stars... oh well lol, will have to get some more!

Definitely helps to use the right tools.

Hopefully you’ll have better luck when you get the right sockets,

Really if using the right tools there should be no difficulty at all with getting these out as they won’t slip round and shouldn’t shear, so really all it comes down to is getting enough leverage

 

[AnthonyH]

Definitely helps to use the right tools.

Hopefully you’ll have better luck when you get the right sockets,

Really if using the right tools there should be no difficulty at all with getting these out as they won’t slip round and shouldn’t shear, so really all it comes down to is getting enough leverage

I got the bolt off with the right socket! Thank you! It did make me smile

This being mechanic work the E14 star socket has now mysteriously disappeared LOL, its going to turn up, sometime after I send out a bigger search party!

Part of me wonders if I bought dodgy shocks, I can recall on another thread you cautioned me against that. I'll find out soon enough I guess.

 

[AnthonyH]

So the shock went back on but the car is still clanging over bumps. I now need to get the new springs I bought on, and hope that shuts it up. One thing I did notice is that the height of the 2 shocks is different, there's about 1cm in it. Intution says they should be at the same height. Also, the shock I took off was working but didn't feel as strong on pushing as when I put it on a couple of weeks ago.

Possibly I bought rubbish shocks, they were as cheap as you can buy on eBay.

Possibly the rear seats are clanging? How could I check those?

 

[Xynndo]

So the shock went back on but the car is still clanging over bumps. I now need to get the new springs I bought on, and hope that shuts it up. One thing I did notice is that the height of the 2 shocks is different, there's about 1cm in it. Intution says they should be at the same height. Also, the shock I took off was working but didn't feel as strong on pushing as when I put it on a couple of weeks ago.
here my game review
Possibly I bought rubbish shocks, they were as cheap as you can buy on eBay.

Possibly the rear seats are clanging? How could I check those?

Cheap shock absorbers from eBay are always a lottery. Don't forget to check the shock absorber bump stops

 

[AnthonyH]

Cheap shock absorbers from eBay are always a lottery. Don't forget to check the shock absorber bump stops

The bump stops are intact, I have new cheap springs to go on from eBay...