Hi,

My plan for today was to change the rear bushes in the front wishbone.

I ran into a problem with the 18mm bolt holding the front bush/wishbone.

I can`t for the life of me get it loose. I have drenched it in WD40, og we have been 2 to pull on the wrench.

How do i get it loose? I`m working in a driveway with a couple of supports under the car.

I don`t really have the money to visit a mechanic, so hopefully you have some tips for me.

Thanks in advance.

Impact gun.

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/SNAP-ON-TOOLS-7.2V-CORDLESS-IMPACT-WRENCH-CT561_W0QQitemZ180566364684QQcmdZViewItem?rvr_id=155535567538&rvr_id=155535567538&cguid=28d0ae171270a0aad55405d4ffbde992

Edited 19 October, 201015 yr by cd2010

WD40's not the best, Plusgas would be better.

Can you get a big bar on it? Or a wee drop of heat.

Either way, brute force is required

WD40's not the best, Plusgas would be better.

Can you get a big bar on it? Or a wee drop of heat.

Either way, brute force is required

Forgot about heat, usually works very well but be careful you don't melt anything

Edited 19 October, 201015 yr by cd2010

You might as well pay a garage to do it for the money of that impact gun!

I can only second a longer lever on the wrench - something like this:

http://www.rapidonline.com/1/1/18910-double-end-ring-spanner-extra-long-16mm-x-18mm.html

if you're trying to remove the nut then

1. gently heat it with a low power heat source like a gas powered paint stripper thingy. this should cause the nut to expand & when coolish SHOULD be easier to remove

2. Place a solid chunk of metal over the bolt, say an undersize socket that will clear the protruding bolt & rest against the face of the nut & hit it HARD

3. Try tightening the bolt with a non-ratchet extension arm on the socket & again, hit it HARD

4. Try one of these nut splitters from a tool-hire place http://www.toolstation.com/images/library/stock/webbig/80007.jpg

5. Hacksaw ???

Good Luck

John

Edited 19 October, 201015 yr by cavdad

I generally just grab a bigger bit of scaffold pole!!!!!

Thanks for the replies.

Had a talk with my brother, and he has access to an impact gun.

Will probably have another go on thursday.

I generally just grab a bigger bit of scaffold pole!!!!!

Yup never fails LOL

If all else fails - grind it off.

Usually Plusgas and an impact wrench does it.

What a crappy day.

The impact gun didn`t do anything.

We put a long pole over the wrench - snapped bolt.

Hm, it snapped at a place so we could get alloy console + wishbone out.

Then we had a go with plusgas, plumber wrench, drilling etc. Nothing!

Snapped a few drills and it wouldn`t budge at all.

A mate will try if he can drill it out at work, or else its a new alloy console for £100.

So why has this happened?

Well, i was hit side on 3 years ago, and the garage did a really crappy job with everything.

They have probably tightned this up again with an impact gun or something.

Too late now, but old trick is heat, and run candle wax into the area. That bolt seizes as it's metal into alloy. Cold welds itself due to road salt in the winter.

Too late now, but old trick is heat, and run candle wax into the area. That bolt seizes as it's metal into alloy. Cold welds itself due to road salt in the winter.

Hmm yeah, i guess its more a screw - a large one.

I couldn`t get anything in between and it wasn`t rusty or anything.

I really don`t know what they did when they assembled my car after the accident.

As i said, the other side was easy, so they have done something wrong.

Edited 21 October, 201015 yr by pagh

Probably find if it's been out before the bolt has been cross threaded into the console.

Probably find if it's been out before the bolt has been cross threaded into the console.

Thanks (Lummox?) :-)

This is a common problem with steel bolts in alumium alloy parts. As mentioned in previous post the bolt and alloy "cold weld" together and make it very difficult to break apart.Sometimes hammering on the bolt head will break the corrosion joint but this is not much use in this case .If you can center pop & carefully drill a small hole fairly accurately in the centre of the broken bolt and then open out this hole so that a reasonably large parallel spline bit ( not Torx) can be driven in hard the broken bolt may be removed. The part must be correctly supported whilst the spline bit is driven in, otherwise the part may well get bent ! Do not use the tapered "easy out" bits as they are very hard & brittle and will probably break in the hole. If the spline bit method does not work then its either a new part or a Helicoil insert repair.When bolts are screwed in alloy parts, a thin smear of copper anti-seize paste will prevent the corrosion taking place. Some manufacturers apply special coatings ( sometimes coloured blue) to try to prevent this corrosion but in my experience the copper anti-seize is better - too messy for clean production lines ?.

Imagine the future DIY problems as more manufacturers use more alloy parts to reduce vehicle weight !

Edited 21 October, 201015 yr by vwcabriolet1971