Thread: o-rings fun - not!

Originally Posted by andrew e

I'm trying to work out which screw this is. Is it the one that screws into heater box? or into the heater core tank?

can you get at it with long nose vice grips?

Mabe try a left handed drill, if you can find one.

Andy

It's the screw that clamps the pipes to the heater core. That gunk around the edge looks like glue or gasket goo. I think a previous operation on the o-rings has been done by someone else and they've sealed it up good. There were a few other tell tale signs that the dash had been out before such as several broken plastic clips and one of the bolts that holds the fascia in was missing.

Not enough room to get vice grips or long nose pliers in there unfortunately.

What's a left-handed drill? Are you having a lend of me?

Cheers, Paul.

A left handed drill bit is a bit with the 'spiral' going the opposite way to normal. That way as the drill turns it will exert an unwinding effort on the screw, rather than tightening it further.

Originally Posted by BigJon

A left handed drill bit is a bit with the 'spiral' going the opposite way to normal. That way as the drill turns it will exert an unwinding effort on the screw, rather than tightening it further.

A ha! Thanks BigJon - that sounds like the "screw extractor" set I got today. a normal drill bit for making a deeper hole and a LH threaded extractor bit to try to pull the screw out.
Cheers, Paul.

Originally Posted by PaulP38a

A ha! Thanks BigJon - that sounds like the "screw extractor" set I got today. a normal drill bit for making a deeper hole and a LH threaded extractor bit to try to pull the screw out.
Cheers, Paul.

yes but a left handes drill puts anticlockwise force on the screw as you drill into it. But like i said, they are quite rare to find. (and they are fun to give to the apprentice to sharpen).


Andy

I've hed success with stuffed phillips heads on occasions by shaping a flat screwdriver on the grinder to a v shape and angling the sides so that they dig in. Good luck with it. A good idea is to replace it with an allen keyed screw.

Can you fit a Dremel tool at 90 degrees to it and cut a slot with a cutting wheel?
Or if there is only space above,maybe you could stuff a Dremel in and cut the head off with a cutting wheel
Regards Philip A

It's out!


The extraction tool did the job (sorta) and the head broke off.
Tried replacing it with a hex head bolt but it won't fit between the plastic pipes on the core side.
I've put a flat head screw/bolt in, with a nut on the back side to hold it and a dab of loctite thread locker.

Might run down to SuperCheap to see if I can get a longer allen keyed bolt per parasnoops suggestion.

Thanks all... now to put it all back together...
cheers, Paul.

So .... given that the screw was such a pain ... Was the thread of the screw
..... cross threaded in / seized in / locktite / rusted ... or just fell out??



Mike