Frozen Bolts Driving You Nuts? How to remove rusted and sezied fasteners

Nothing can ruin a project faster than a seized bolt. Luckily we are here to help!  If you do run across a frozen bolt or nut don’t try to force it. If you try to force the fastener it will end up broken or striped, leading to more frustration and problems. Here are a few easy steps that should remove 90% of rusted, frozen, stuck and corroded bolts, nuts, and fasteners in about 7 steps. 

Clean – Clean as much debris and rust off the bolt as possible with a wire brush and PB Blaster. The less debris there is the farther the penetrating oil can penetrate. Your tool will also grip a clean fastener better, giving you more torque and decrease the chance of striping.

Soak – Give a generous squirt of PB Blaster and let it soak for about 15 minutes. Let the penetrating oil work its magic on the corrosive bond.

Tap – Strike the bolt head with a heavy hammer, you don’t have to beat it to dust, just a few swift blows. The vibration from the strikes helps loosen the corrosion.

Soak – Give the bolt another generous shot of PB Blaster and let soak for another 15 minutes. Oil will penetrate deeper into the threads than the first time and start breaking down more corrosion.

Heat – Heat the bolt with a torch until it’s near glowing. Make sure to keep electrical wires, plastic components, fuel tanks or anything else that could be ruined/explosive with heat as far away from the torch as possible. If you do have some rather sensitive components near the frozen bolt a heat gun may be a better option. A heat gun will not be as effective as a torch, but some heat is better than no heat. The heat makes the metal expand and loosens the corrosive bond. Heat also helps breakdown bolt dressings such as lock-tite.

Freeze – While the fastener is still hot, spray it with a bolt freezer or cold water. This makes the bolt contract quickly and breaks the corrosive bond.

Tap and Turn – Place your removal tool on the fastener and attempt to loosen it. While you are applying torque tap the bolt or tool with a hammer at the same time. You may need a helper for this. This applies two different forces to the Fastener, torque and vibration and it should break free.

Leverage – If all else fails you can either repeat the above process or get out the breaker bar and use brute force and leverage with out snapping the fastener.

Nuts – In some cases it maybe necessary or just easier to break a nut off. For around $20 you can buy a nut breaking tool that shatters the nut off.

Already Stripped? – Well we do have a few tricks up our sleeves…..

Phillips, Flathead, Hex, Etc – Take a sharp chisel or flat head screw driver, place it in the middle of the head and tap it with a hammer. You should be able to make a new slot and remove it with a Flathead driver.

Bolt & Nuts – Grind down the sides flat to a smaller size, or just make two sides flat and use locking pliers.

If you have any tricks or bits of wisdom please share, we would love to hear your comments.

Full Throttle Repairs LLC