Oil pan bolt heat

Joined
Dec 7, 2019
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13
Location
MN
Last month, I was going to change oil on my 2007 Chevy HHR.... It has a lot of miles on it... I have changed oil and worked on cars since 1968 so I am not a novice.... but I suspect that cars running for many more miles, I over time, that there are going to be more oil changes and the oil pan bolts have to be removed many more times thus the possibility of rounding them off.... and yes, it is my fault because I should have used a better wrench when removing it last time..... So... I adapted my brake bleeding tool with a long plastic hose to remove the oil through the filler tube. It worked, but is a pain...... So I got a new drain bolt and now need to remove the old rounded off bolt. I know there are other forums on this but I know what I am doing.... kind of... I borrowed the "rounded off removal socket set" from a friend and will use it and I am confident it will work... but I do have a question.... Is there possibly an advantage to heating the bolt before using the extraction socket on it? Also.... any other advice/suggestions are welcome and appreciated.....
 
I second just the extractor socket. No reason to use heat really at least in my opinion. It gets exposed to enough heat they probably don’t need it to be removed.
 
I have already tried the vise grip but the metal seems so "soft" for some reason. I had a JD tractor that had a rather large oil drain bolt that also rounded to where a wrench or socket would not work but it was a pretty good sized, hefty bolt and we used a pipe wrench on it which worked quite well. I was considering that when I ran across some You Tube videos showing the extractor tool method and decided that I would look at Harbor Freight etc. to find a set and perhaps buy a set..... but honestly, over many many years, I have never had this problem...... That is when I went to work using the brake bleeding system to remove the oil this time to buy more time to look into solutions..... and a friend of mine had a brand new extractor set... I borrowed it two days ago and kidded him that I might even give it back to him someday.... and this week I will use a very clean oil drain pan under the drain plug to catch the relatively new oil..... my plan is to add the socket on to the extractor and tap it in a bit and then use a hefty socket handle to pull... I am probably being a little paranoid about all this..... If that doesn't work... it will be the next step..... remove the battery connections and weld a nut onto the rounded off bolt...... an extreme measure but I have seen this used for removing bolts in an ag. shop..... Yesterday, I decided to rework my old boat trailer... and started in... predictably, most bolts/nuts were corroded so badly, that it was impossible to remove them... I went through two metal grinding disks to cut all of them off..... PS.... I looked online for a new bolt and usually find a pretty good deal.... and in a rare occasion, NAPA had the best deal, although I had to wait a day for them to get it......
 
This is why I have a six point long handle box wrench in every size I need for drain bolts.
Got them each lightly used on eBay … name brands …
I keep them with my filter wrenches etc …
 
This is why I have a six point long handle box wrench in every size I need for drain bolts.
Got them each lightly used on eBay … name brands …
I keep them with my filter wrenches etc …
I bought 6 point combo wrenches in SAE and Metric decades ago for those times when I feared 12 point wrenches would mess something up.
 
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And yes..... I should have used a 6 point socket on it but reached for an el cheapo wrench instead and felt that dreaded feeling when pulling and it was NOT the bolt loosening...... and after this happened, the el cheapo set went into the garbage can....... I also have a gimmicky tool that "tightens" as you pull on it... and it is "universal" (as seen on TV) and I have never tried that but now that I have the extractor set of sockets, I think that is my best bet..... and one other tool I have NEVER EVER regretted owning was the spin on oil filter wrench universal compression tool when I would do an oil change for someone who overtightened the filter, and then rounded off the edges on the filter..... plan B in the old days was to punch the screwdriver through it or if you could get clearnance, use a BF pipe wrench.... but that isn't possible on some and now the filter casings are also so thin and cheap on oil filters that the screwdriver technique just tears them up more..... this new tool grabs tighter as you pulll on the socket handle and is not your cheap tinny metal either..... it has bailed me out several times now..... especially on Subarus who found the need to put the filter up between the crossover pipes...... live and learn....
 
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