- Tighten the nut. Moving the nut in any direction is progress. Then try to loosen it using a correctly sized wrench.
- Tap with a hammer. Jarring the nut can break its bond to the bolt. ...
- Apply heat. Metal expands slightly when hot, which may be enough to crack the nut free. You can do this with a hair dryer, heat gun, or propane torch. ...
- Soak the nut. If the bolt is covered with orange streaks or crumbly bits of rust, scrub them away with a wire brush and wipe the area dry. ...
How to prevent nuts from loosening?
What Causes Loose Bolts?
- Under-tightening. By definition, an under-tightened bolt is already loose and the joint does not have enough clamp force to hold the individual sections together.
- Embedding. ...
- Gasket creep. ...
- Differential Thermal Expansion. ...
- Shock. ...
How to loosen Rusty Nuts and bolts, without a torch?
How to Remove a Stuck Bolt
- Method 1 of 4: Loosening a Bolt with a Wrench or Pliers. Spray penetrating oil under the bolt head and around the nut. ...
- Method 2 of 4: Heating the Bolt to Loosen It. Heat the bolt with a propane torch if it’s still stuck. ...
- Method 3 of 4: Removing a Rusted Bolt. Remove as much rust as possible with a wire brush. ...
- Method 4 of 4: Destroying a Stuck Bolt. ...
How to loosen nut without damaging toilet shutoff?
Tips for Loosening Nuts, Bolts and Screws
- Heat to the rescue. ...
- Adjustable wrench technique. ...
- Use a cheater bar (and the right socket) Be a cheater by slipping a short length of pipe—a cheater bar—over the end of your tool handle. ...
- Mangled slot (solution 1) If the slot of a roundhead screw or bolt is chewed up beyond hope of gripping it with a screwdriver, file two flat edges on it.
Which way do you turn to loosen a nut?
Method 1 Method 1 of 2: Loosening Lug Nuts
- Park the car on a level surface, and set the parking brake.
- Remove the hubcap (if present) and locate the lug nuts. ...
- Examine the lug nuts. ...
- Use a lug wrench to remove lug nuts. ...
- Begin loosening the lug nuts while the car is still on the ground. ...
- Place the lug wrench on a lug nut and turn it counter-clockwise. ...
- Continue loosening the bolts. ...
How do you loosen a stiff nut?
Spray penetrating oil under the bolt head and around the nut. Penetrating oils like WD-40 will seep beneath the head of the bolt and under the nut and help to lubricate the threading on the bolt. This will make the bolt easier to loosen and will be especially useful if the bolt is rusted in place.
What should you use to loosen a frozen nut or bolt?
So, how do you free a rusted, stuck, or seized bolt? If the bolt is stuck in place because of rust, you can use a bolt loosening spray such as WD-40 Penetrant Spray. This penetrating oil provides deep lubrication to loosen the nut or screw.
Does heating up a nut help loosen it?
Using a flame to loosen the bolt. Now heat the bolt and nut. Put the flame directly over the stuck part, or the part you can get to safely. Heat it for 30 seconds or so and it should free up easily.
How do you loosen a nut that won't budge?
0:032:50How To Remove a Stuck Nut or Bolt - YouTubeYouTubeStart of suggested clipEnd of suggested clipUse a 6-sided wrench or socket. If the bolt still won't break free consider using a tool extender toMoreUse a 6-sided wrench or socket. If the bolt still won't break free consider using a tool extender to added torque just be careful not to break off the head of the bolt.
How long does WD-40 take to work?
Well, when it comes to making your choice of penetrating lubricant, a good product to use is WD-40 Specialist Penetrant. All you need to do is soak the screw with the WD-40 Specialist Penetrant spray and let it work its magic for about fifteen minutes or so.
How do you free up a seized bolt?
2:236:49How To Free Up A Seized Bolt or Nut - YouTubeYouTubeStart of suggested clipEnd of suggested clipYou would actually see that a lot better and now it's ready to use boom. You take that and you dripMoreYou would actually see that a lot better and now it's ready to use boom. You take that and you drip a little bit of that. Like that onto a frozen nut for a frozen bolt.
Will a propane torch loosen bolts?
Turn on your torch and aim the flame directly at the bolt head. Move the flame in a circle around the bolt for 30 seconds. Use a socket wrench to rock the bolt back and forth until it loosens enough to be removed.
How do you remove a nut with heat?
5:006:20How to Remove Stuck Rusted Frozen Bolt by Heating With a TorchYouTubeStart of suggested clipEnd of suggested clipAnd just use a little bit of a fuel flame. To just kind of pre burn the area a little bit make sureMoreAnd just use a little bit of a fuel flame. To just kind of pre burn the area a little bit make sure there's no leftover penetrant or anything that might just flash into a flame.
Torches, screw extractors, oil and other tricks to help you free stuck fasteners. These tips work on any fasteners in your home, automobiles and lawn mowers. So stop dealing with problem nuts, bolts and screws and make life easy on yourself with these time-tested tricks
Torches, screw extractors, oil and other tricks to help you free stuck fasteners. These tips work on any fasteners in your home, automobiles and lawn mowers. So stop dealing with problem nuts, bolts and screws and make life easy on yourself with these time-tested tricks.
Use an Impact Driver When You Can
An impact driver and a set of high-end hex-shaft nut drivers are all you need to loosen small nuts and bolts. For larger nuts and bolts, you'll need an impact gun and a set of six-point, impact-rated (black finish) sockets. Ordinary chrome sockets can't handle impact work and may crack or shatter under the stress.
Stuck Fasteners Can Bite You
When it comes to causing pain, stuck fasteners can get the job done. Right when you're giving a stuck bolt all your muscle, wrenches will slip, bolt heads will snap off and your hands will get smashed against something sharp. So always wear gloves and try to orient tool handles so your hands will be clear if a tool slips.
Lock on to Wrecked Heads
These pliers are best known by the brand name Vise-Grip. Whatever brand you have, they'll get you out of a jam when bolt and nut shoulders are rounded, or when screw slots or Phillips crosses are stripped out. Rounded jaws work best.
Pound a Combo Wrench
Box-end wrenches work better than sockets on stuck heads because they twist in the same plane as the head, rather than being offset by an inch or more. That offset means sockets are likelier to slip off heads and round over shoulders.
Pipe Wrenches Aren't Just For Pipes
When you're dealing with really big stuck bolts, a pipe wrench might be your best option, especially if you don't own a giant set of wrenches or sockets. The long handle and aggressive jaw teeth will loosen the most stubborn bolts. Just make sure you get the jaws tight against the shoulders.
Sacrificing a Tool
It might seem sacrilegious to destroy a tool, but sometimes working in narrow or confined spaces makes it necessary. That's where your grinder comes in. Use it to make wrenches thinner and screwdrivers skinnier and to add tapers to sockets so they fit into tight recesses. But this technique comes with a warning.
Plan Ahead
If you have the luxury of planning a bolt removal in advance, then take advantage of your head start by spraying the bolt with penetrating oil.
Use the Right Tools
When it comes time to remove the bolt, take your 12-point socket and hide it in your sock drawer next to your four-leaf clover —you won’t need either one.
Impact Play
An electric or air-powered impact wrench is the stuck bolt’s arch nemesis. If you’re lucky enough to have one, remember to try to loosen the bolt by hand first—too much torque too fast can spell disaster to a rusted fastener.
Preventative Maintenance
There are several things you can do to help prevent the bolt getting stuck in the first place.
A Lucky Turn?
Hopefully, following these tips has been helpful, and your bolt or nut is lying harmlessly on the cement in front of you.
These tips will show you how to quickly and efficiently loosen all the stuck fasteners around your house
These tips will show you how to quickly and efficiently loosen all the stuck fasteners around your house.
Heat to the rescue
Heat, oil and tapping will unstick most nuts and bolts in metal. Apply only enough heat to cause expansion in the entire bolt—about a minute or so for the average-size bolt.
Adjustable wrench technique
An adjustable wrench isn’t the ideal tool for loosening stuck fasteners because it can round over the head, making matters worse.
Use a cheater bar (and the right socket)
Be a cheater by slipping a short length of pipe—a cheater bar—over the end of your tool handle. The extra length gives you much better leverage. Be careful, though, not to use so much force that you break the tool (voiding the tool warranty) or break the head off the shank of the bolt. And remember to wear eye protection.
Mangled slot (solution 1)
If the slot of a roundhead screw or bolt is chewed up beyond hope of gripping it with a screwdriver, file two flat edges on it. Then turn the head with an adjustable wrench.
Mangled slot (solution 2)
Use a hacksaw to cut a new slot at a right angle to the old one. For big screws, put two blades in your hacksaw, right next to each other, and cut a wider slot so you can use a big screwdriver. This is also a great way to get a grip on the head of a stuck carriage bolt, which has no slot or flats.
Off with its head
When there’s no other solution—when heat, penetrating oil and wrenches have all failed—cut off bolt heads or nuts with a hacksaw, reciprocating saw or a cold chisel. Some smaller fasteners, especially rivets and flathead bolts, may be easier to drill out than to cut.
Step 1: Use Some Muscle
Try a 6-point wrench or socket on your seized nut/bolt. Start by rocking the bolt by tightening then loosing, this may be all you need to break through the rust. Try and avoid 12-point wrenches and sockets as they likely to slip and strip the bolt head.
Step 2: Clean It Up
If using some muscle on the bolt does not allow it to budge don’t be discouraged, as there's a few more ways to get that bolt free.
Step 3: Leverage
Our next step is to use leverage to remove that stubborn bolt. Beware, rusted bolts and cheaper tools could possibly break and really screw you over. The best way to get some leverage is by using what is called a Breaker Bar, a long handled socket wrench without a ratchet mechanism.
Step 4: Heat 'er Up
At this point, the bolt may still not budge. I bet your getting frustrated, Right? Don’t fear, there’s still plenty more things to try!
Step 5: Be Smooth
Since we have the propane torch out, we can also add candle wax to the stuck bolt threads. Apply a paraffin candle to the cool side of the nut, this will allow the paraffin (a lubricating wax) to be drawn toward the heat through the threads allowing you to unscrew the nut hopefully.
Step 6: Home Chemistry
If that has failed, our last attempt to do this without harming the nut and bolt is to treat it with another penetrating agent one last time. However, this time we will mix up our own.
Step 7: Drill a New Hole
If you have been unable to free the bolt by now, we'll have to take drastic measures.