Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: How to remove a broken bolt (Please help)
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Posted by E.Allison on September 30, 1998 at 07:45:37:
In Reply to: Re: Re: Re: Re: How to remove a broken bolt (Please help) posted by Gerald on September 29, 1998 at 15:30:02:
: : : : : I have an aluminum steering gear housing with a bolt broken off in it. The bolt is about a 3/8" x 1 1/2" bolt. I've already drilled the center of the bolt out with about 7/64" drill bit the entire length of the bolt. Only one end of the bolt is visible. I tried to use an easy out but it wasn't budging and I didn't want to break the easy out off in the bolt. : : : : : Can I heat aluminum? Can I try to weld a new bolt head to the bolt? Should I just drill it out completely and use a heli-coil? : : : : : Please comment. : : : : I don't where to get it, but nitric acid will eat the steel bolt and not touch the aluminum. It will also eat flesh, lungs, clothes and the like. : : : : Otherwise penetrations of penetrating oils such as kerosene, wd-40, liquid wrench, and pierce (the best of the lot that I've had succes with, kerosene and WD-40 seem equally ineffective) are more effective if the stuck parts are violently jarred to open up a crack in the corrosion for their entry. But don't peen over the ends of the bolt to make a rivet! : : : : Have you considered retapping the hole in the steel, say for a 5/16" bolt and then put a sleeve around the bolt in the other piece? The heat of drilling and tapping may loosen the stuck bolt or just prove its really stuck. : : : : You can heat aluminum but not violently, it melts before it glows. Aluminum does expand faster than steel so heat is one way to loosen up a stuck bolt. Better with a hot air gun than acetylene or even propane. : : : Have you actuallt tried the nitric acid? It sounds like it might work. I hate to see steel bolts in aluminum, I've spent hours with similar problems, I guess stainless bolts or anti-seize compond cost too much for the people building this stuff. EEA : : The nitric acid should work. The anodizing process uses acid, often chromic, phosphoric, boric or sulfuric acid. I once had some aluminum parts made for a project at work (I'm an engineer in the aerospace industry) and the mechanic who built them thought he could save some time by installing helicoils before he sent them to the anodize shop. When they came back, the helicoils were gone. The acid in the anodize tank ate them clean away. It might be interesting to try this with with muriatic acid, which is not as corrosive as nitric acid, and cheap and easy to find. Better protect any close tolerance areas, though, as the acid may have an effect on bare aluminum surfaces. Maybe you could just send your gear housing out to be anodized? : Merck Chemical index says aluminum "Reacts with diluted muriatic acid, sulfuric acid, pottasium hydroxide, and sodium hydroxide with evolution of hydrogen. So Muriatic would be a BAD idea. But Muriatic acid would eat steel. : Gerald The anodizing process uses the acid + an electric current. If done right will put a protective coating on the aluminum. EEA
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