OT: Garage gurus. Removing effed bolts….

[spdrun]

Did you try to heat the suckers? Maybe they’re held in using some insanely strong Loctite.

After that, I’d weld-baby-weld vs drill-baby-drilling.

[moneymaker]

My dad used to heat stuck stuff up with a torch and low and behold out it came. I don’t remember wether he heated the bolts or the thing the bolt was attached to but it sure worked for him. Never tried it myself, I would probably accidently weld the two things together with my luck.Now a lot of engines are made with aluminum alloys so don’t know if it is a good thing to try.

[svelte]

[quote=moneymaker]My dad used to heat stuck stuff up with a torch and low and behold out it came. I don’t remember wether he heated the bolts or the thing the bolt was attached to but it sure worked for him. Never tried it myself, I would probably accidently weld the two things together with my luck.Now a lot of engines are made with aluminum alloys so don’t know if it is a good thing to try.[/quote]

They don’t get to the good stuff until 4:45

A guy in an even worse predicament with the bolt head broken off:

But this may be the best solution for your situation:

[Coronita]

Update….

Dremel grinder + cutter + vice grip + bolt out + breaker bar + hammer + useless weak torch

…Resulted in……

And a big FU to this bugger….

Previous stealership coated this with loctite, when specifically spec says do not use any sort of loctite thing on these…. Jerks…

I ended up slicing and dicing it bit…. Like my pseudo hex-bolt shape with a notch in the middle?

One down, one to go….

Thanks everyone so far for the suggestions….

..Oh and here’s something of an irony…

Here’s a nice german part….

But, looking at the box…. Hey now…..

[moneymaker]

I’m guessing it’s plastic as well. It’s just amazing how much plastic goes into the engine compartment these days.

[CA renter]

Yay, flu!!! 🙂

Kudos to you for taking this on.

[ucodegen]

[quote=spdrun]

Also, unrelated, I had a nice long discussion with my insurance agent about posting social media web review sites and the potential of it exposing oneself to personal liability claims from the business owner when the reviews accuse the business of something shady without proof to back up that claim.

If you’re worried, use a public WiFi or unlocked access point to post the review using a burner Gmail addy. Good luck to them proving who posted it, but it will still affect their rating score.

And you can’t be sued for reporting them to the B.A.R. (assuming you make a true report in a timely manner).[/quote]
Look up SLAPP legislation per state. It depends.
https://www.google.com/search?q=SLAPP+legislation&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8&aq=t&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&client=firefox-a&channel=sb

http://www.dmlp.org/legal-guide/responding-strategic-lawsuits-against-public-participation-slapps

[ucodegen]

[quote flu]Oh… And I did manage to strip/flatten the bolt-outs slightly too.. So they go back to Sears, along with the impact wrench, that didn’t do jack to remove the crank nut too.[/quote]
I have had good luck with the “Husky” high torque 1/2 inch drive impact wrench (Home Depot), model H4480. http://www.homedepot.com/p/Husky-1-2-in-800-ft-lbs-Impact-Wrench-H4480/203458750
It is supposedly rated at 800 ft/lbs or so. It does take the wheel bolts off my 1 ton pickup fairly quickly (torqued to 145). I do like that you can actually limit the amount of torque applied in removing bolts (even though documentation says it doesn’t – you can actually hear, feel, see the diff in the settings when removing). I also like the obviousness of the switch for forward or reverse. The position of the switch matches the direction(in – tighten / back or out is loosen). The impact wrench is also equipped with a muffler. One important thing for impact wrenches is the supply of air and the response of the pressure regulator(pressure drop against airflow). Impact wrenches do drink from the compressor. I run mine off a 29gal Harbor Freight compressor – they actually have a good one – tank may be made in China but the compressor head seems to be Italian, motor is US on mine. http://www.harborfreight.com/air-tools/air-compressors/29-gal-2-hp-150-psi-cast-iron-vertical-air-compressor-61489.html
I checked the quality of the compressor head vs Sears, Lowes(Kobalt), HomeDepot(Husky).. etc. and preferred its design. I re-adjusted the peak pressure down a bit to reduce motor thrashing – single stage compressors start to ‘thrash’ near 140psi due to dead space in the compressor head (gap between top of piston and bottom of reed valves). Two stage compressors work better in the higher pressure ranges. NOTE: I don’t like oil-less compressors. They are noisy and beat themselves to death in a fairly short amount of time.

With air impact wrenches and air ratchets etc, don’t forget to lube them particularly when breaking them in. I start with about 2 drops of oil in the intake air port at the start of when I am using it for the day. After a while you can drop it to about one drop. I don’t use typical air-tool-oil (ie: http://www.homedepot.com/s/air%2520tool%2520oil?NCNI-5 ). I use “Triflow”, which is a light lube containing suspended Teflon.

NOTE: When using impact wrenches, make sure you are using extensions etc for impact wrenches. Don’t use the standard ratchet tools there. Impact sockets, extensions are made out of a different steel for a reason (not just heavier/thicker).

[ucodegen]

Sorry, I’ve been meaning to reply with info but many things came up. Heat cycling does work. My usual tech for removing stubborn bolts in order is;
1) Soak lead in threads (or in your case if you can get to the back – tail threads – drip it down the back of the pulley into the thread holes) in liquid wrench. Overnight.
2) For broken-stripped head bolts: ‘Mount’ the broken bolt remover – I use one that you drive on and it cuts a spline(Lisle) as you drive it on. I’ve seen the Sears removers and was interested, but didn’t like the fact that you could not work the bolt back and forth to help loosen it.
3) Heat up the pulley to ‘toasty’ warm.
4) Hit the back of the bolt ONLY with chip cooler (you are trying to shrink the bolt while having the heat expand the hole it is in). I don’t use Propane(it’s weak), use MAPP gas. Watch the amount of heat though. MAPP gas stands for “methylacetylene-propadiene propane” – note the Acetylene in the name. It is in yellow tanks. Just read that they discontinued production in 2008 8-( They now use LNG with high levels of propylene.
5) Apply torque (not with impact wrench – need smooth torque, not brute force) to loosen. You may need to work it back and forth, including after it breaks loose. May need to rinse-repeat, going back to #1 and repeating. Patience.

In your case, you might want to chase the threads with a tap after you remove the bolts. Remaining threadlock can cause problems because it may start rebonding when the engine gets hot. Watch out for ‘chips’ or debris. Best done with pulley off the vehicle.

If that is threadlock, it looks like the ‘blue’ one, which is not the highest strength (red), but it does look like it was literally soaked in it… unless that is caused by corrosion not threadlock – would need a real high res pic to know. Most threadlock softens with heat.

NOTE: Are the replacement bolts a min of grade 3? or are they HD non-grade bolts. Need min grade 3 there.
PLUG: If you need weird high torque bolts, ABABA QA in El Cahon is a good supply. There used to be a nice place in National city for odd bolts – I think it was called Frank’s Truck supply – Walk in the door and an inventory of 6-71(s) greets you. I don’t see it any more.

Image of Lisle broken/stripped bolt removers:

[img_assist|nid=20403|title=Lisle bolt removers #1|desc=|link=node|align=left|width=100|height=75]
[img_assist|nid=20404|title=Lisle bolt removers, closeup|desc=|link=node|align=left|width=100|height=75]

[spdrun]

^^^

My point is, good luck to them proving exactly who left the bad review.

[Coronita]

Got both bolts off… Now I can double check my timing alignments and make sure my gears are set correctly when I’m at TDC…..

I feel like I won the lottery…

[The-Shoveler]

FLU wins again !!

Working on cars can be a hassle but if feels good when it works.

[svelte]

Congrats Flu!

Now, let’s see if you can get everything back together without having extra parts when you’re done.

“Geez, I have no idea where that should have went…”

ha!

[Coronita]

[quote=svelte]Congrats Flu!

Now, let’s see if you can get everything back together without having extra parts when you’re done.

“Geez, I have no idea where that should have went…”

ha![/quote]

Come on, it’s german. You know they over-engineer these things and have more bolts than are really needed… 🙂

[Coronita]

Yup, this is definitely the maintenance service from hell….

So… I finally had some time to work on finishing up my car… So….in the process of changing the water pump, I noticed that’s my old water pump!

After the stealership incident, I took my car to an shop that noticed a small leak in the water pump. They charged me to replace the entire pump along with a cracked radiator… Well, looks like they didn’t do anything, except maybe loosened it and added some glue… So the stealership ripped me off by charging me for things they didn’t install (and stole)…And this independent shop ripped me off too and charged me for parts they said but didn’t install…

It gets better…The last mechanic must have overtorqued it, because one of the bolts at the bottom right corner stripped :(.. So off I went to get a nice 6mm tap, and was thinking I would have to take the entire thing off and redrill hole, tap it and what a royal PITA.. As a last of the moment thing, I decided, hey I wonder if a longer bolt would work…

[img_assist|nid=20433|title=effed3|desc=|link=node|align=left|width=300]

Heh heh.. Whew! I don’t care anymore for the beaty contest…

Anyway, got most of it done….I would have finished today, except I lost two clamps to the radiator hoses and two frame bolts. And obviously..Audi/VW specific part only, so Monday it will be!..

Thanks everyone for all the suggestions on getting me out of the earlier jam!!!

Timing Belt on..
[img_assist|nid=20435|title=tbelt|desc=|link=node|align=left|width=500]

Rest of belts, pulleys, tensioners on..
[img_assist|nid=20436|title=restofbelts|desc=|link=node|align=left|width=500]

Missing hose clamps bolts….
[img_assist|nid=20437|title=frontendmess|desc=|link=node|align=left|width=500]

…So….I used zip ties temporarily. Lol….
[img_assist|nid=20438|title=ziptied|desc=|link=node|align=left|width=600]

I think I’ll fill it up with coolant and power steering fluid and drive it around the block a few times tomorrow.. I’m sure people are going to be thrilled….

[Author]

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