freeing up rusted screws

[coonhunter]

What do you use to free up rusted bolts and screws?
Any suggestions? I have an adjustable fan belt pulley stuck and do not want to force it.

[FarmLife]

Soak it with some kind of penetrating oil (I prefer Aero Kroil but PB Blaster or Liquid Wrench does also work), the longer it soaks the better it works. IF that doesn't work put some heat to it and work it back and forth. Patients is the the best way to free anything.

[country53]

If You can soak it in a bucket of water for 20 or 30 hours may help also I've used Coca-cola classic on rusted objects to free them. The water on the rust just softens it up and makes it plyable again and the cocacola has phosfuric acid in it. And if all else fails the Ole Blue wrench(oxy-acetelene torch) does fine.

[Pammark]

The probelm with cooking nuts with Ole Blue is the penetrating oil flashes off. I use soybean oil. It will not burn but will bubble and boil. As soon as the crevise opens up, the capillary action sucks the soybean oil in. It will smell like frying bacon.

The problem with soybean oil, with time it will form a goo as the oil polymerizes. Do not use it as a lubricant. Use it as a torch oil only, then wipe off after the part is free.

Here is a trick I learned from my uncle, an old city bus mechanic. If you have a stud that twisted off, drill a hole inside the stud, not to touch the treads. No, do not get the twisty easyout. Take Ole Blue and cook the stud cherry red in the casting, then walk away. The next day, screw the stud out with your fingers. The heat expands the stud, but the casting does not allow for that. The stud elongates. When it cools, it contracts to a loose stud. The hole is needed to get the heat down the stud length.

I removed a 3/4 inch combine stud that way. I drilled a 3/8 hole for heat penetration.


Mark

[FarmLife]

To go along with what Pammark said, when I strip down engines to do the machine work some of the tapered pipe plugs are terriable to remove. The teacher of my machining class tought me that you heat the plug (or bolt) cherry red then take a block of parafin wax (you can get 4-packs from the local grocery store) and stick it to the bolt to rapidly cool it off. I didn't beleive it would work but even the most stubborn plug will back right out. The only thing you have to watch out for is if the part is hot enough the wax will catch fire for a moment then burn off. It is a very wise idea to do this wearing leather welding gloves and some Safety goggles.

[Lavoy]

The only caveat I would add about heating plug is you have to be careful what it is in. I watched a guy break two track clutch housings in a row by heating the bottom plugs trying to get them out. Ran a crack from the plugs all the way to the nearest edge of the castings. Problem is the hot plug expands faster than the cold casting, and boom! In that situation, heat around the plug, but never the plug itself. The casting will expand slightly, and the plug will come out.

Another trick on drilling a hole down the center of a broken bolt, is to plug weld the hole back shut. When the weld cools, it shrinks and will pull the bolt or stud away from the walls of the hole, just like getting a stuck bearing race out of a hole.
Lavoy

[FarmLife]

That is a great point Lavoy, i didn't even think about the swelling cracking the casting. The welding trick also works great at removing old valve seats, had to do that to remove the seats out of my flat head v-8.

[Stretch]

I refer to PB Blaster as coincidence spray. It is by far the best stuff I have ever used. I work on alot of equipment that stays outside all its life. Needless to say there are a lot of rusted fastners. I tried alot of different penetrating oils over the years, but when I started using PB Blaster just about every bolt or nut would free up. Now I don't know if all the things I did to the fastner before I used PB had it ready to come out or not, but as soon as I sprayed PB on it and let sit for a few minutes it came right out
I buy PB by the case and would never be caught without it now.

Stretch

[DiggerLarry]

Like choosing Coke or Pepsi, everyone has there preferences. I use PB Blaster but for the tough jobs, I use Kroil Oil. I just think it works better for me. It is more expensive but in my opinion, worth it.

Another trick is a couple of good whacks on the top of the bolt with a hammer.

[bulldozerman]

I like PB Blaster the best, just soak it for awhile, every half hour or so and take it easy, use the right wrench and don't snap the head off. If you have the right stuff heating the bolt is the best way to go.

[Ray III]

Great thread, I love trading advice like this. I had never heard of drilling a hole and using heat or welding to shrink something. My father does use a similar method to remove seriously stuck pins by burning a hole through them with an exothermic torch (sometimes a couple feet deep). The pins get so hot they are a smaller diameter upon cooling. The largest pin removed so far was 4" diameter, you should hear the story behind that one. Of course that doesn't work on smallish stuff like studs so this is good to hear.

PB is our preferred penetrating oil, and gets in there much faster when you rattle the hell out of the part with an air hammer (I'd be careful with the pulley though). If PB doesn't get it apart in a reasonable amount of time then the torch comes out. We don't really care if it burns off since penetrating oil is not required with a torch, the idea being to expand the outer part, breaking the rust bond, and providing temporary clearance to separate things before it cools off again.