I was changing the front brakes and rotors on a 2003 Ford Taurus. Driver side went well but on the passenger side did not. I removed the 2 bolts holding the caliper in place but 1 of the 2 bolts holding the rotor in place (don't know the name of it) gave me a lot of trouble.
I was using my socket wrench to remove the bolt but it would not budge. I used my hammer to try and get it to give but the socket ended up stripping the bolt head. Any ideas on how to remove a stripped bolt?How to remove a stripped bolt?Jordan's answer is the best one.
In future, purchase a longer-handled socket wrench (sears sells a VERY handy %26quot;extendible%26quot; socket wrench, that I have and love http://www.sears.com/shc/s/p_10153_12605 , or use a %26quot;breaker bar%26quot; which will increase your leverage on the socket. Basically, a breaker bar is just a long steel pipe that slips onto the handle of the socket wrench to increase your leverage.How to remove a stripped bolt?Were you using a full hex socket, if your were not then try to find one it may come out with that.
Failing that snap on and the like make flank drive sockets that drive on the sides of the nut/bolt head and not the corners.
Before trying again get a large punch on the head and belt it with a hammer to shock the bolt this can be used to good effect to help loosen the bolt.How to remove a stripped bolt?Try the vice grip, but make sure the head is all the way down in the bottom of the jaws. Adjust the grip as tight as you can make it and still get it closed. Spray some W9-40 on the threads (not the head) and let it soak a while. You won't hurt the head any more than you already have. You should replace it anyway or it will give you trouble the next time too.How to remove a stripped bolt?you could by a bolt out kit from craftsman or it you take a hammer and a chisel, you can make a good notch in the edge of the bolt head, and then once you have done that angle the chisel so that when you hit it, it is going to turn the bolt out. this works really when, when done correctly because of the force. it is better than the bolt out. or you could try a vice grips.
good luckHow to remove a stripped bolt?6%26quot; pipe wrench, if you can get at it,
grind/cut head off
grind/cut slot in head for screw driver
tack weld another bolt to it, then use that with wrench.
in any case, you need to use heat/and-or/penetrating oil to break loose. else youll just keep getting pxxssed off.How to remove a stripped bolt?soak it in PB Blaster and give the vice grips a try- or one of those sockets designed to grip stripped bolts.
if you stripped it with a socket that means you had the wrong sized socket on it. be more careful, but sometimes these things are unavoidable.How to remove a stripped bolt?The first thing you should do is call the Ford dealer and make sure they have one (or 4) of those bolts in stock. If not, get it ordered.
WD40 is not a penetrating oil. Get some good penetrating oil and soak it several times over a day or so. I'm guessing you want to be able to drive the car soon, but the longer and more often you can soak the bolt, the better. While you're at the parts store, get some anti-seize thread compound so this doesn't happen with the new bolt.
If there is nothing heat-sensitive around/behind this bolt, sometimes a good heating with a propane torch helps break rusty bolts free. But if this is on a brake rotor, it's already seen a lot of heating and cooling cycles in its life, so I would probably skip the torch.
Vice grips suck. If you couldn't budge it with a proper socket and ratchet, the vice grips are just going to make it worse.
If the corners are just rounded off a bit, I would stick to using sockets. If your old socket was a 12-point, get one that's 6-sided. And get the proper size. For an '03 Taurus, it should be metric. I don't know which bolts you're talking about, so I can't guess the size. Maybe take the new bolt from the dealership to the store and get the socket to fit. If it won't go on anymore due to the stripped corners, pound it on with the hammer. Just don't hit it so hard that you'll damage the socket.
If it really won't come out, Sears sells those fluted bolt remover sockets. Honestly my experiences have been mixed with them, but sometimes they work.
Assuming the bolt head is still intact after all this, do you know anybody with a welder? You can weld a larger nut to the bolt head, then use a socket on that nut to turn the bolt.
