Help Removing Seized Bolt


 
John-NY

John-NY

TVWBB Super Fan
These bolts are seized (Phillips head in the photo below). They are the bolts holding on the control panel in front of the manifold. I soaked them in penetrating oil all day yesterday, then tried a manual impact screwdriver with a sledge hammer today with no luck.

I’m thinking I’ll have to cut the heads off and “drill them out”.
Problem is, I’ve never done this before. Conceptually I know what to do, but want to do it “correctly” without having to tap new threads…because I don’t have the tools to tap them.

Is this video instruction accurate? I do have all the tools in this video.
Or is it possible that the screws are so “welded” stuck that the easy-out bit in this video could still fail to unscrew it? In that case, would my only final option be to drill them out and tap new threads?


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Drilling out screws is not for the faint of heart. So easy to walk the bit off center. Honestly before I took such a drastic measure, I would work it with penetrant more. Old mechanic standby is PBlaster hit it with that for a couple days. Then heat. Heck even a MAP Gas plumber's torch will help. Stick with the manual impact screwdriver. Don't use a sledge though. Use a smaller thing like a ball peen or machinist hammer. 19oz or so is all you will need. Too large and heavy a hammer in my experience makes it deflect and bounce. Too hard to concentrate the "blow" correctly.
Bottom line do everything humanely possible to avoid a drill
 
I'm in the camp of more penetrating oil (I would use PB Blaster, Kroil, or Liquid Wrench) and wait some more.
Also, based on the photo, it looks like the bit you used might not have been a tight fit in the head. I have used manual impact drivers with success almost every time. If the phillips drive gets ruined, I would cut a big slot in the head and continue with the impact driver.
 
I am not a restorer. I repair grills to get them back in service. Your dilemma is common on grills made after 2007

What I do is before removing a frozen fastener

1. Leave fasteners in place
2. Drill and tap a new hole or drill a new through hole where there is some meat for a new fastener.
3. Make sure your new fastener will work in the new hole and remove.
4. Remove head off frozen fastener and remove part.
5. Reassemble using new hole and fastener.
 
One more for more time and more penetrating oil. Me, while I've used PBBlaster for decades, I've been using a 50/50 acetone & ATF mix for the last few years. Yes, even a plumber's torch will help. Another old trick is to heat it up, and wick in some beeswax by touching a candle to it.
 
Well, if you do have to drill it out, at least the phillips slot will help you center the drill bit. In that case, I probably would not cut the head off to start.
 
And if you start applying heat to that stuck bolt, make sure you remove the hex bolt to the right and the plastic washer before you do.
 
Thanks all, this gives me plenty to think about and attempt.

When you say to apply heat, should I just stand there with a blowtorch for 30 seconds then try the impact again?
 
John-NY said:
Thanks all, this gives me plenty to think about and attempt.

When you say to apply heat, should I just stand there with a blowtorch for 30 seconds then try the impact again?
Click to expand...
Heat the area surrounding the screw not the screw. If you heat the screw it will actually expand and tighten further. Heat what it's screwed into. The hole with the rust will loosen and sure use the manual impact again
 
Looks like you might have enough meat sticking up where you can try a needle nose or small vice grip.
 
My friend (who ran a military truck parts yard) used to heat up the head of the bolt (pointing a compact oxy-acetelene flame right down square on the head). He'd get it red hot and then let it cool off slowly. Then carefully try it with a wrench. This usually would release the bolt without breaking.

On badly damaged bolts (hex stripped off) or head broken off he'd weld a hex nut to the bolt. The welding would get the threads pretty hot and when it cooled he'd wrench it out. If there wasn't enough room to weld a nut (head broken flush off) he'd weld a washer to the bolt stump (weld inside the hole). Then he'd weld a nut onto the washer.

These two pictures show a little bolt removed (using my friend's method) from the aluminum steering knuckle on my Prius. The bolt had a 10mm head on it which had broken off, leaving barely anything sticking up. First, we welded a washer to the bolt stump. Then a hex nut to the washer. You can see on the underside of the washer there was some blow-through but a good enough bond to hold. The nut was big enough and fairly flat (a jam nut) so it could be welded on the inside.
 

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I found that an electric impact driver will release most of the stuck bolts.
Somehow the many small impacts works better than one big blow. My $0.02
 
Yah, I have a battery powered Ridgid 1/4" impact and use it all the time on my grills. It is great at removing stuck/rusted bolts, especially the 5/16" screws holding the slide rails for the grease pans on the bottom of the cook box.
 
Exactly Larry.
You certainly don't want to put the impact on the bolt and give it hell. It will twist the bolt off at full power easily. But if used with a little finesse, they do a great job. And they can always be used in conjunction with penetrating oils and heat as well.
 
And people need to understand the difference between an "impact" driver and a "power" driver. VERY different animals that sometimes look nearly identical
 
Another confused tool is the Hammer drill, which acts a lot like the impact, but again, is a very different animal.
 
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