Removing stuck bolt

[MakaveliX]

Been here for hours trying to remove the nut on the left.
Tried everything including penetrant, breaker bar and impact wrench.
Any ideas ? It’s the bottom bolt of a strut
Pic attached

It loosened a bit. Now it’s stuck.
Didn’t have this issue on the passenger side on Friday

Edited by MakaveliX on Monday 28th October 15:45

[geeks]

Take the tension off the assembly. Gently jack it up from below

[itcaptainslow]

Tried applying some heat to the nut using a blowtorch, heatgun or inductive coil?

Usually works on pretty much any seized nut/bolt for me.

Also - will it tighten or has the nut stuck completely where it is in the picture?

[MakaveliX]

geeks said:

Take the tension off the assembly. Gently jack it up from below

There is no tension it’s halfway out and the bolt wiggles around freely but the nut is effectively glued onto the thread of the bolt

[MakaveliX]

itcaptainslow said:

Tried applying some heat to the nut using a blowtorch, heatgun or inductive coil?

Usually works on pretty much any seized nut/bolt for me.

Also - will it tighten or has the nut stuck completely where it is in the picture?

Nope it won’t tighten or loosen now. I don’t have access to those tools

[E-bmw]

Hacksaw/chisel/angle grinder.

One of them will get in there.

[shirt]

Nut splitter.

[richhead]

so its the nut thats stuck, not the bolt.
Cut the nut off.

[itcaptainslow]

MakaveliX said:

itcaptainslow said:

Tried applying some heat to the nut using a blowtorch, heatgun or inductive coil?

Usually works on pretty much any seized nut/bolt for me.

Also - will it tighten or has the nut stuck completely where it is in the picture?

Nope it won’t tighten or loosen now. I don’t have access to those tools

Given the bolt looks like it'll come out of the housing fairly easily, I'd go brutal and use an angle grinder, or with a long breaker bar until it snaps then drift the remainder of the bolt out, and replace.

The nut is starting to round, and my guess is the thread has picked up and stripped/cross threaded, so you'll be wanting to replace the bolt anyway when it's apart.

[MakaveliX]

richhead said:

so its the nut thats stuck, not the bolt.
Cut the nut off.

Correct. Excuse my error.
I have a nut splitter on the way.
And yes I’ll be replacing the nut and bolt anyway after

[markiii]

alternate blowtorch and freeze release

[Tommo87]

I would use an angry grinder and buy a new bolt.

You might be able to reuse that same bolt temporarily, IF you thread it back down and then grind the end off. The heat from the grinder and the removal of the rust damaged threads may then allow the nut to unwind.

[oakdale]

Tighten the nut back up and clean the rust of the end of the bolt, lube and then try again.
(Use a hacksaw blade and wire brush to clean up the threads).

[MakaveliX]

oakdale said:

Tighten the nut back up and clean the rust of the end of the bolt, lube and then try again.
(Use a hacksaw blade and wire brush to clean up the threads).

It won’t tighten or loosen. I’ve asked on Facebook and someone may be able to use an angle Grindr on it. I’ve never used one before

[geeks]

MakaveliX said:

geeks said:

Take the tension off the assembly. Gently jack it up from below

There is no tension it’s halfway out and the bolt wiggles around freely but the nut is effectively glued onto the thread of the bolt

Ah apologies I misunderstood, get a nut splitter then.

MakaveliX said:

It won’t tighten or loosen. I’ve asked on Facebook and someone may be able to use an angle Grindr on it. I’ve never used one before

A err what now?

[shirt]

Interesting autocorrect

[MakaveliX]

7 hours later

[donkmeister]

Success!

What did you do?

Does the round end have no Tx or hex inset? Realise it's academic now but I'd have tried one of those rounded-off head sockets on the round end with impact on the nut.

[njw1]

MakaveliX said:

7 hours later

Seven hours!! I'd have had the grinder on it within seven minutes! Still, it's off now.

[MakaveliX]

donkmeister said:

Success!

What did you do?

Does the round end have no Tx or hex inset? Realise it's academic now but I'd have tried one of those rounded-off head sockets on the round end with impact on the nut.

Round end has a 12Hex. And yeah I tried all sorts.

I was literally packing away when I tried one last time. Rather than trying to twist the 22mm side, I put more force on the round end (12hex ) with a half inch ratchet and it very very slowly kept turning - with a serious amount of force.

Never had this issue on the other side of the car, that side came off in seconds.
Either way that nut and bolt is going in the bin and I am fitting brand new ones this week when they arrive.

I do not have experience or access to an angle grinder. However a friendly person on facebook was willing to lend me one, thankfully I got it off without having to do that,