Crusty CV bolt removal?

[Shinnlinger]

Ok, I assume this has been covered, but search doesn't do much for me. Anywho, This is proving to be no fun. Ive done it before with the engine out but with the engine in its a PITA. I tap the star drive thing in and get square on it, but strip city. I'm pretty sure it's the the correct metric star and not Torx or Allen. Vise grips? Torch the bastiges? grinder?

Thanks

Dave

[vwwestyman]

Sometimes you can pound a slightly larger allen bit in there if the triple square has stripped.

I'd also give it a bunch of raps (I once was told approximately 100/minute for about a minute, pausing to spray a bit of PB Blaster or your choice halfway through) with spraying to help break up any corrosion. Just sharp taps with a hammer square on the head, and/or with pounding the allen head in there. You can probably get some Blaster in at the threads from behind on the flange.

I've used that method on lots of nuts and bolts when I'm afraid it won't want to go and have had pretty good luck over the years.

If that doesn't work, do another round of taps and penetrant and clamp down on it with vice grips.

If that doesn't work, hopefully you can get the others out, and grind it off.
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Dave Cook

President, Wild Westerner Club

1978 Champagne Edition Westy, repowered to '97 Jetta TDI
1973 Wild Westerner
My Thing

[busdaddy]

It sounds as if it's much too late now, but step 1 is clean out the socket with a dental pick, not just poke the big chunks out of the way, really get in there and clean until you can see the bottom as well as all the splines. Since you are past that option a few hard hits square on the head with a seriously sized hammer may shock them enough to break loose, if you do it right it'll mash the head slightly and close up the hole so the wrench might just grip when you hammer it into the hole. Cleaning out the socket so the tool can get in as deep as possible also helps.
Vise grips may bite too, but those bolts are pretty hard and slippery, grinding a couple of flat spots on the sides of the heads with a Dremel might help them get a grip.
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[Manfred58sc]

small pipe wrench with a skinny,short cheater bar
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[Wildthings]

Take a look at your triple square tool, they wear with use and eventually get to the point they will not work even with a socket that is in perfect condition.

410 Channellocks do a good job of breaking uncooperating bolts lose.

[raygreenwood]

And...get the shortest triple square socket you can find. When they are about 3" long...only a few degrees of misalignment is a big error and causes poor fit.

Typically I can get a GOOD pair of real vise-grips on some CV joint bolts if you work it around to the right angle. Ray

[busdaddy]

If the tool itself is stripped or worn sometimes you can grind the end off a bit to bring some fresh teeth to the party, grind a little and quench often though, get it too hot and it'll lose it's hardness.
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[cmonSTART]

Or when all else fails cut a slot with a dremel and use a hammer driven impact tool.
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'78 Bus 2.0FI
de K1IGS

[Shinnlinger]

Good tips.

My problem was at first I was being lazy. I'm removing the engine and tranny as a unit so I was keeping the rig on the ground so I wouldn't have to drop the engine that far. I figured I could just reach up in there on the trans side with the air rachet and kinda get it close and let it rip. The first two worked so it gave me false confidence. It wasn't long before I created a bigger problem.

Anywho, I jacked the rig up on blocks so I could get under it and right on top of the wheel side bolts. Spayed with PB blaster and was able to drive the 4 square in square. Broke it loose with a long ratchet before switching back to air. Got the wheel side off, the stripped ones will wait till the tranny is out.

Went to the other side and lo and behold its 6mm hex head and I don't have that size drive bit, so that will wait for another time.

Thanks.

Dave

[Our79Westy]

all great suggestion! here are two real dangerous and effective methods of removing nuts and bolts in the field...attempt at your own risk...

use proper safety equipment please...electrocution may occur... shards and/or sparks may be emitted...protect your eyes!

you can use a screwdriver or chisel and hammer to remove the bolt...lefty loosey..

.put the blade of the screwdriver at an angle on the bolt head so that as you hit the screwdriver with the hammer, the screwdriver blade is biting into the bolt head and driving the bolt head in the direction to loosen the bolt. again, counter clockwise...this method also works to destructively tighten things too...

or...unplug your vw fi brain and get something like a 12mm nut or bolt, some jumper cables and a fire extinguisher...using the jumper cables, weld the bolt to the cv bolt...then remove both together using the head of the 12mm bolt instead...

very carefully...clamp the bolt in the positive jumper cable clamp and attach the other end to the positive side of your battery...hold the 12mm bolt against the cv bolt till they are welded together...then use 12mm wrench to remove the now fused together bolt/cv bolt combo...

your milage may vary...you might need two batteries in series...or better yet a welder... but be very cautious of catching your cv grease on fire or exploding your battery...or touching the jumper cables to any bare metal...or putting yourself in the path of the electricity...welding with car batteries is very dangerous and should be a last resort...but now you know

let us know how you get it out and good luck!
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[BUSBOSS]

[timvw7476]

clean the outside bolt surface of oil & grime,
And a good Vise-Grip will back it out if you set it tight. That bolt metal is soft.

[KentABQ]

[WhirledTraveller]

[Abscate]

Don’t weld with car batteries. Lead acids are not made to deliver sudden , 500 amp loads with all sorts of spikes. The battery exploding is the danger, not electrocution.

A decent welder will weld a socket on for your for a beer. disconnect battery fully before welding.
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[Spike0180]

Drill it with something slightly larger than the hole you stripped out. Itll remove that head and you'll be able to remove the CV. Then you can grab vice vice grips and remove the threaded part without issue, because after you've removed the CV you'll have 2inches of bolt to grab onto. Then buy manual mk4 CV bolts of the same length, they're the same.
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[TomWesty]

410 Channellocks or big ass Square Jaw vise grips. I keep a pair of these vise grips in my toolbox just for cv bolts. The round jaw ones usually just slip around the outside of the head, but the square ones dig in on it. They’ve never failed me on cv bolts yet.
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[ToolBox]

Air hammer with a chisel bit. Blast a notch in it and walk it around.

[jtauxe]

I had an epic battle with the CV joint bolts on the '73 Wild Westerner. I got most of them off using the above methods, but there were 3 that none of that worked for.

The method that ultimately worked for me when all else failed was to saw the heads off with a hack saw. It was a desperate move, but it worked! With the heads off, the rest of the bolt just came off with my fingers.
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John
"Travelling in a fried-out Kombi, on a hippie trail, head full of zombie..." - Colin Hay and Ron Strykert
http://vw.tauxe.net
1969 Transporter, 1971 Westfalia, 1976, 1977, 1976, 1977, 1971, 1973, 1977 Westfalias,
1979 Champagne Sunroof, 1974 Westfalia Automatic, 1979 Transporter, 1972 Sportsmobile, 1973 Transporter Wild Westerner, 1974 Westfalia parts bus, 1975 Mexican single cab *FOR SALE*, 1978 Irish 4-door double cab RHD

[cmonSTART]