Seized bolt

crasy dash

Howdy all ran into a small problem today,dropped my car into my mechanic to change a CV boot.

He rang me about an hour later telling me there is a bolt that he needs to remove but its seized solid no budge and he was afraid to try too hard in case it shears off without having a replacement at hand.
He mentioned its because one part is aluminium and the other a normal metal.

He has ordered a replacement bolt off vw as he thinks no matter what he does it will shear anyway.

What's the best thing to use to spray onto it over the next few days I reckon wd40 is absolute rubbish.

biko

Penetrating oil. You can get it in any motor factors.

Del2005

Had a sized bolt before. Tried penatrating spray on it for a few days. In the only end brute force and heat shifted it.

porsche boy

Your type of car might help but if it's a vw or Audi I know the bolt he's on about and no amount of wd40 will shift it.

FortySeven

Can't remember the name but it's a common issue when two different metals are used together.

If the new bolt is ordered just wait and then shear it.

crasy dash

porsche boy wrote: »

Your type of car might help but if it's a vw or Audi I know the bolt he's on about and no amount of wd40 will shift it.

That's it exactly Audi a4 2009.
He knows he will probably have to shear it, he has the bolt ordered already will not be in till next Monday though.
If it shears and he cannot remove it ,its has to be dropped off and pressed out.

Bit of a pain for the poor man.
Do you recommend anything bar wd40?

CJhaughey

Plusgas is good enough, but the best is 50/50 Acetone and ATF fluid.
Smells bad but the best stuff always does.
Heat the bolt with an acetylene torch and undo while its still hot, often the heat will break the bond between the dissimilar metals.

crasy dash

Thanks for the reply,feel a bit stupid silly question but I don't know what atf is.

Must look for a local stockists for plusgas I'm.based in north cork if any one can advise would be great

FortySeven

crasy dash wrote: »

Thanks for the reply,feel a bit stupid silly question but I don't know what atf is.

Must look for a local stockists for plusgas I'm.based in north cork if any one can advise would be great

Automatic transmission fluid. Cheap. Any factors will stock it.

tomwaterford

crasy dash wrote: »

That's it exactly Audi a4 2009.
He knows he will probably have to shear it, he has the bolt ordered already will not be in till next Monday though.
If it shears and he cannot remove it ,its has to be dropped off and pressed out.

Bit of a pain for the poor man.
Do you recommend anything bar wd40?

Steel rod??

Weld onto it and work over and back to remove it (assuming it's the bolt is steel not aluminium)

Mycroft H

As a bit of a hack option; I've used kerosene at a pinch as a penetrating fluid

crasy dash

My mechanic is a bit hesitant heat just incase the aluminium goes for a ****e i think if you heat it too much it feks up:o


All this talk and no picture yet heres one:pac:

CJhaughey

With a welding tip on a gas torch you should be able to heat just the head of the pinchbolt, once its hot it will transfer heat along the shank.
Small hammer and some of that atf/acetone mix. Tap and drip, tap and drip.
Keep repeating it and it will break the bond.
I'd personally hit it with a pneumatic gun and a good spanner on the other end, the shock of the gun will nearly always break the seizure before the bolt will crack.
Tip for heating alloy rub some bar soap on it, if the soap goes black then the alloy is close to melting temp.

George Dalton

You don't need to disturb that bolt at all when replacing an A4 CV boot.

crasy dash

Thanks for that George you are the Audi vw expert.
Wouldn't have a clue the job is being done by my mechanic thought he would know what way to approach it.

George Dalton

It can be done by undoing the rearmost bottom balljoint only. It's a tight squeeze but definitely possible.

Renegade Mechanic

George is right. I waged war with a few of them early on, before being shown easier ways around.

Dunno about 2009, but on a lot of the older VAG cars, I was able to unbolt the ring of bolts at the gearbox end of the shaft, then by turning the steering and jacking the suspension a little, I could remove the cv joint back through the hub and I'd have a nice shaft on a bench vice to work away with, without having to touch any suspension components

crasy dash

Thanks as usual guys for the expert advice will call into my mechanic tomorrow evening after work
Might try and convince him it might be easier to go way the George mentioned above;)

Here is a pic of the split its not very bad only a fresh wound on the inside and I have not drove the car much as i dont want grit getting into the cv joint.