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A Mechanics Tips and Tricks


Precise1
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I bet you could even use old style hair spray.

Yes, you can, if you want to clean residue from all sprayed parts... :) Carb cleaners are formulated to quickly dry without residue.

 

Another practical "spray part and find a leak" trick. Now about leak of electricity. Specially for people who has an engine misfire caused by ingnition failures.

Take a household spray bottle, fill with clean water. Tune nozzle to a "fine mist" spraying. Gently spray water on suspected part (plug wires, plug caps or distributor cap) of working engine, to slightly moist it. If this procedure leads to obvious misfire, suspected part must be replaced.

Before use this trick, be sure you can quickly and easily find replacement part if you check your daily-driver car. This trick can irreversible bring faulty electric part out of commission.

Edited by Terrano1992
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  • 3 months later...

Broken studs without ez outs...

 

OK most of my specialty tools are here in NC...while in CA with the truck I had a Warn hub grenade on me shearing 3 of the bolts off in the spindle...I had my drill but didnt want to spend the $ on a new set of EZ outs...since those bolts have no load on them after being sheared they should be pretty easy to get out once i overcame the torque of the locktite...

 

I took a punch and center punched the sheared studs and then drilled in about 1/4"...I first start with a flat head with a tapered head and tap it in so it deforms the stud and try to back it out...if this doesnt work then I also try a phillips head with the same method of hitting it iwth a hammer to make notches for it to grab...you can also step the hole size up to use a larger screwdriver and get more torque...this worked for all of my studs which i was happy about

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for those pesky cam cover plates by the fire wall, that elusive #6 spark plug or other hard to reach items on the back of the engine...

 

Support the tranny with a jack

Unbolt the tanny from the X-member

Jack the tranny up and the engine leans foward giving you more workspace by the firewall.

 

CAUTION; don't force the tranny into the tranny tunnel, only lift it a little.

CAUTION: if you have a BL lifting the tranny too far could tear motor mounts or pull/strain/break hoses, wires and connectors.

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Broken studs without ez outs...

 

OK most of my specialty tools are here in NC...while in CA with the truck I had a Warn hub grenade on me shearing 3 of the bolts off in the spindle...I had my drill but didnt want to spend the $ on a new set of EZ outs...since those bolts have no load on them after being sheared they should be pretty easy to get out once i overcame the torque of the locktite...

 

I took a punch and center punched the sheared studs and then drilled in about 1/4"...I first start with a flat head with a tapered head and tap it in so it deforms the stud and try to back it out...if this doesnt work then I also try a phillips head with the same method of hitting it iwth a hammer to make notches for it to grab...you can also step the hole size up to use a larger screwdriver and get more torque...this worked for all of my studs which i was happy about

I'll go ahead and say that just drilling it out with a left handed drill (ccw cutting) might have backed it out. I make my own LH carbide spade drills that do duty as bolt removers. 140 degree spade bits that work best in a mill but will hold up and do the job with low speed hand drilling.

 

Good job with the creativity!! :aok:

 

B

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I'll go ahead and say that just drilling it out with a left handed drill (ccw cutting) might have backed it out. I make my own LH carbide spade drills that do duty as bolt removers. 140 degree spade bits that work best in a mill but will hold up and do the job with low speed hand drilling.

 

Good job with the creativity!! :aok:

 

B

 

 

for sure...I had no LH drills tho...my tool selection in CA really sucks right now but the trunk of my camry is pretty good here in NC

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  • 1 month later...

The best hand cleaner is Dawn dish soap with some dryed out used coffee grounds sprinkled on your wet/soapy hands. Use some kind of shaker bottle to dispense the grounds. (think crushed red pepper shaker for pizza or bulk spice container). Dry them out, or you'll have a moldy mess. Its cheap, readily available, smells decent, and if you drink coffee regularly you have an unlimited supply of abrasive to clean your hands with. Much easier on your skin than Lava/Goop/Go-Jo. I know it sounds nuts, but it really works!

 

That being said, buy a box of nitrile rubber gloves to keep the nasty chemicals from absorbing into your skin in the first place. They are about $8 USD for a box of 100. Peel them off, and voila!, your hands are clean. They will tear, however, if you get rough with them. If they tear, they are cheap, so put on another one/pair.

 

For rusted fasteners(de rigeur here in the midwest), just remember: Heat, Beat, and Repeat. Oiling between cycles helps too.

 

Use 6-point wrenches and sockets on rusted/damaged bolts/nuts instead of 12points. They grip tightly and are very resistant to slipping off. There is also more steel, so when you use an improvised torque multiplier, you are less likely to suffer an unplanned trip to the store to replace a broken socket or wrench.

 

Offset wrenches, universal joints, ratchet wrenches, and different size drive socket sets with adapters and different size extensions can all provide solutions to get to fasteners that are difficult to reach. Mix and match pieces to "build" the tool you need.

 

Get a folding cosmetic mirror with a couple mirrors, usually one of them is slightly magnifying. If you hold it right, you can see around blind corners, and it saves a lot of time trying to figure out why things aren't lining up properly.

 

Use electrical tape to hold sockets onto extensions or to hold them together(useful for spark plugs)

 

Know when you are getting tired or hungry or thirsty, or if you need a restroom break. It saps your energy, affects your concentration, and slows you down. Take a break, have a bite, and clear your thinking.

 

If a part is in your way, its often easier and faster to remove or loosen it than to waste time working around it, especially if its sharp/brittle/fragile.

 

Be patient. Getting angry only breaks things, and its usually stuff you weren't planning on replacing anyway. Being able to secure a backup ride to work on Monday can do wonders to keep the stress down so you can think clearly.

Edited by RJSquirrel
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Can't figure out what belt is squeaking? Take a wire brush to the side of the belts, one at a time, and the problematic one will instantly go quiet. Not a permanent fix, but it'll at least let you know which belt needs to be replaced.

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if you drill a hole in sheet metal to pass wires/hose etc through, you can make a quick and easy rubber grommet to protect them from sharp metal edges. Just split some rubber vacuum hose down one side, and push it over the inside edge of the hole. continue all the way around the circumference of the hole until your ends meet, then cut off the excess. You can use a bit of silicone to hold it in place, but if you made a straight cut when you split the hose and have the proper length, you shouldn't need any adhesive. Use small hose for small holes and the larger diameter for everything else. don't forget the prime and paint the edges of the hole before you put the rubber tube on! I've used this trick for my snorkel, wiring lights and stereo equipment, and sonars and other electronics on the boat.

Edited by nige
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  • 6 months later...

soak whatever bolts/nuts your removing with Release-all penetrating oil and solvent. I just use 1/2 a can on my manifold studs and exhaust bolts...not one broken and almost all of them came off. Also, if a nut siezes(?) on a stud, there is so much lube in there that the whole stud just comes right out. No more snaooing off at the block.

 

CAUTION: no smoking, and things get a little messy.

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  • 4 weeks later...

I was given a very good suggestion by andreus009 about starting a category of "Tips and Tricks" that we know/use in mechanics, electrical, hydraulic, etc. I can see this becomming its own category, but to get it rolling lets just use posts for now. Please just submit on topic and keep commentary constructive, parallel or expansive. Details, photos, etc much appreciated. :aok:

 

I'll start with removing broken bolts/studs.

 

1) Soak the offender with penetrating oil; This never hurts ! Give it a sharp rap or two with a hammer for good luck (it can actually help).

2) If possible, grind, mill, file, etc the top flat. This makes starting MUCH easier.

3) Use a spot drill or center drill to start the hole you are about to drill in the CENTER of the broken bolt. Make sure you are on center and parallel to the bolt. THIS IS IMPORTANT !! Rig up a guide with a piece of wood and C clamps or something if it helps. (if the item is removable, this is much easier to do on a mill or drill press !) Make the spot hole is slightly larger than the drill size.

4) Selecting drills: this has many nuances so bear with me. Always use quality drills: they work better, last longer and are less prone to breaking. Use left hand (counter clockwise) drills when ever possible. Sometimes due to heat and vibration they will break the bolt loose and unscrew it mid process !! You can use standard right hand (clockwise) drills but they can actually torque the bolt in tighter sometimes. Cobalt drills are harder and may be required for high grade bolts, but dont flex as well as HSS (High Speed Steel) drills so are less forgiving and more likely to break. Standard 118 degree web drills work fine if you spot the hole although they take a little more force and drill hotter. 135 degree split points start and cut much better with little or no spot hole. I make my own 140 degree carbide ccw spade drills that work wonders. I won't explain as if you don't know what this is, you wont have access to them.

5) Drill size is important ! OK, you are trying to remove a 1/4-20 bolt. Minor thread diameter is .196-.207". I like to keep .02" clearance incase you drilling crooked or off center. This means a good drill size for a 1/4-20 bolt would be about .16". It's well worth doing a little homework before you dive in. If you are reading this, you can find the info on the web EASILY.

6) Drilling the hole. USE OIL ! Thicker the better. If you don't have actual 'cutting oil' use gear oil, motor oil, household oil in that order. WD-40 or silicone spray is better than dry, but not much. Hand held drill speed should be 250-700 RPM, the bigger the drill, the slower you go. Pressure should be firm, but 'feel' it. Often you can tell there is a problem before the drill breaks. Dont drill too deep ! If you dont know how deep you can go, play it safe ! You can always drill a little more later. There may be a an oil channel or water jacket nearby ! If you are drilling deeper than 3x the drill diameter, 'clear' the chips by taking the drill out and restarting. The chips can load up the flutes and sieze the drill which=broken drill if you are not used to it.

Ok, you have drilled the hole and the bolt did not break free or back out. You have 2 basic options now.

7) Bolt extractors. EZ-out (spiral ccw bolt extractors) is popular with some, but I dont like them. Too brittle and weak; I have broken a lot of them and I do this stuff for a living. I like the square style, much more durable and if you bell mouth the hole and it doesn't bite any longer, you still have options. You insert them into the hole, tap them in with moderate force then put a wrench on (recommend tap wrench) and unscrew. Hopefully this works. Use feel and sounds to tell whats going on; when in doubt, back off a bit. DO NOT SNAP IT OFF IN THE HOLE !! This means starting over with a x10 dificulty level. Makes for a bad day folks !

Ok, the bolt extractor wont get the bolt out, feels like it will break or bell mouthed the hole and wont grab any longer.

8) Redrilling: If the hole is well centered and you have the #'s for the bolt diameters and a good drill selection, pick a drill much closer to the thread minor diameter and redrill the hole. Repeat if necessary. I have literally drilled out the entire core of bolts and all thats left is just the thread its self. This comes out easy like a helicoil, or you just grab it with needle nose pliers and unwind it out of the hole.

 

Good luck, and just be patient. Odds are, you wont need to get to the last step. In case everything fails, my next write up will be tapping and thread chasing. Enough for today. :takebow:

 

mws, there was a specific request for your grease/piston blind hole bushing removal method writeup. Feel free to cut and paste or elaborate if you wish. ;)

 

B

 

Right on with the left hand drill bits. Everyone who needs to remove exhaust studs broken off need to go buy some. Yes they do exist and the counter rotation of bits with help remove the bolt or stud.

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I have also had luck with cutting a slot in the remains of the broken bolt and backing it out with a flathead apex on a wrench. (still use pb blaster and a few shocks with a hammer)

 

 

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  • 1 month later...

If you haven't got a breaker bar handy and need extra torque...

 

Use a combination wrench (box and open ended) and put the box end on the stubborn bolt. Then slide another combination wrench's box end on the open end of the wrench that's on the bolt. It's a bit hard to explain w/o pictures, but if you try it you'll see what I'm talking about. Be sure to keep the wrenches in line with each other and you'll find that you can apply gobs of force to turn the bolt.

 

And don't buy cheap wrenches if you plan on doing the DIY extension. I've bent more off-brand wrenches in half that anything. As a matter of fact, unless you're ONLY doing small repairs (and in which case you should always be prepared) For goodness sake, save up and get some hand-tools that A. Have an UNLIMITED lifetime warranty, and B. Some that come from a reputable dealer. Blue Point is a subsidiary of Snap-on and I have a LOT of blue point sockets, wrenches and ratchets, and they have with-held my abuse. Also: Air compressors aren't ungodly expensive, I have a 15 gallon that I used for my 1/2 dr air impact, just for the STUBBORN bolts, (Along with P.B. Blaster, which I'll cover in a moment...) and it works just fine. Looks a little trashy, but it gets the job done.

 

Since I'm on the subject of impacts, For the mobile mechanic, get an 18+ V electric Cordless impact from a reputable dealer. I got a Cornwell one (I know, it was cheap :sleep:) and it worked surprisingly well! For my little escort, removing the trans (X-member, whole 9) with rusty mount bolts by HAND TOOLS, would usually take 4-5 hours, with no breaks. I got it out, clutch replaced, in and driving in about 2 hrs with the electric impact and a few wobble sockets.

Here is the link for a lot of Cornwell cordless power tools (Arr arr arr as Tim Allen would say) and these are incredibly inexpensive, and incredibly handy if you're out on the trail, and don't have access to, oh, let's just say, a high capacity air compressor and all that mess. Look for good break-away torque and sustaining torque, as you want to optimize your options if it's a "Walk or sit" kind of incident.

 

NOW, With P.B. Blaster, I can't say enough good things about it. It cleans up hazy headlights, and if you soak, let sit, soak every 30 minutes for I'd say an hour or two, it helps tremendously on parts you can't just apply heat to (Anything bushing related you want to keep). Be careful though, as it advertises on the can that it will eat through a styrofoam cup. Granted, bushings are GENERALLY more durable than a cup.... made of styrofoam.... but, it does do the job of penetrating rust (along with a BFH P... and some elbow grease) and ease up the job at hand by multitudes.

 

Ratchets.... Oh joy. Anyone care to guess how many I've turned the gears to dust in?? DON'T BUT CRAP TOOLS. I know the Missus may be giving you the evil eye when you opt for the 60.00 ratchet over the 19.99 combo set, but in reality, you're liable to spend at least that in replacing that cheap piece of crap when you could have spent 60 bucks.... one time.... and not had to stress out because you got the job 1/4 way in and you're stuck with no tools. You need to have a good set of extensions, I have only snap-on and craftsman extensions in my box. A couple of Bluepoint 1/2" extensions in various sizes as well. If you can swing the extra money, get the locking extensions... Trust me when I say that you do NOT want to loose a 20.00 socket somewhere you can't get it (and even then, get a magnet tool). but if it's un-attainable via the magnet tool, you'll wish you had gotten the locking extensions... take my word on that. Ever lost a socket in an injector hole on a Triton V10 Diesel, on a non-compression stroke piston??? PITA!!! Anyways... Enough about that.

 

Wrenches.... Do some research on wrench metal material, Don't buy that cheap 'Chrome-Vanadium' crap. I can't tell you how many 90* wrenches I have in CV... It's absolute crap, and another one of those 'I'm gonna get a dirty look from my wife, but better to be safe than sorry' kind of instances. Now don't get me wrong... those angled wrenches work pretty well for some things, but for the majority, when the integrity of the metal is compromised, it could very well snap if you are torquing things down with enough force to bend them like me. I got a set of Gear-wrench ratcheting wrenches.... Fairly impressed with them, even though they were a little more expensive than I particularly like.

Craftsman has a decent set of comb. wrenches that fit up to 7 different bolt heads. They are REALLY inexpensive, so look up the reviews on them before you buy them. Here is the link for the 'universal' Combination wrenches. 20.00 isn't half bad for those... Note to self... "Dear Santa..."

 

ANYWAYS.... I was a mechanic in the Army, and after that a certified Ford Technician, so if you have any questions about general automotive tools, I'll try to point you in the right direction. I hope some of this helps out someone.

Edited by JayD
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  • 2 weeks later...

Weak gas struts on a tailgate, rear hatch, front hood???

 

I put a zap-strap (zip-tie) around each chrome piston. Usually it adds just enough resistance so the weight doesn't come crashing down on my head.

Much, much better than propping it up with a hockey stick or something! (Then again, you never know when you're gonna need a hockey stick :popcorn:

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  • 3 months later...

I have a long 1/2" drive Matco breaker bar, second one as I broke the first one, but another thing I use is a 3/4" ratchet with a 3/4 x 1/2 adapter, the ratchet part isn't going to let go on this 3/4" monster, I also cover the handle with a section of rubber hose.

 

Another trick, not sure if it has been covered already is to put a piece of pipe insulation over your floor jack handle, when ever I have to use my jack and there is another car close by, I just slide the insulation so that it extends past the end of the handle that way if I happen to hit the car next to me no damage.

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I have a long 1/2" drive Matco breaker bar, second one as I broke the first one, but another thing I use is a 3/4" ratchet with a 3/4 x 1/2 adapter, the ratchet part isn't going to let go on this 3/4" monster, I also cover the handle with a section of rubber hose.

 

Another trick, not sure if it has been covered already is to put a piece of pipe insulation over your floor jack handle, when ever I have to use my jack and there is another car close by, I just slide the insulation so that it extends past the end of the handle that way if I happen to hit the car next to me no damage.

 

I got a 3/4" ratchet with a metric 3/4" socket set and it's been awesome. Mostly the ratchet with a 1/2" adapter as you suggest, but the big sockets have been useful too sometimes. Of course, with great power comes great responsibility... these things can break stuff pretty easy :)

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Spend a bit more money and spend tools that come with a lifetime warranty!!

 

I know I did, anytime I break something, whether it be by stupidity or sheer dumb luck, all i have to do is go to my nearest Crappy Tire and I get a new tool free! :)

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  • 1 month later...

I'll second that one... and along the same lines I'll add that the box end of a wrench can also be slid over the end of a ratchet handle to give the same effect as a longer ratchet handle.

In this case a bigger wrench is usually best, but space limitations can effect what you can use.

 

Read this thread today and utilized this method at work tonight. Only I slid that bad johnson over a breaker bar handle (too lazy to climb down from the helicopter to get a pipe. Hey, it's quite a climb, especially with tools in your hands!) Those bolts securing the fire control radar to the top of an Apache can be a real pain. Especially when they're caked with sealing compound!

 

EDIT: I reckon I could add some of my own tips and tricks.

 

If you're dealing with a stripped screw or a tight one you worry about stripping use a screwdriver drill bit and fit it into your appropriate socket. That way you can add downward pressure to prevent the bit from jumping. If your still having problems spit on that bit and roll it in some Iraq sand! Or whatever sand you have handy... EZ grip works great too.

 

Also, I keep a some modified sockets on hand for specific jobs. A few that I've shortened with a saw to fit in some hard to reach places and that I've sanded down so the sides are thinner to access recessed hardware.

 

Aside from that I keep my mental toolbox stocked. Cell phone is off, belly's full and regular breaks to let the hands rest and the nerves cool. More often than not when I'm stuck on a task all I need is a short nicotine break, then I quickly solve the problem once I return. Also, an extra pair of eyes can be helpful. Someone else see an approach you never thought of.

Edited by HydroCeramics
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  • 7 months later...

2. Need to cleaning the rust or dirt out of a threaded hole or nut but don't have the right tap? take a dremel tool (or even a small hacksaw) and a bolt that is the right thread and cut three notches axially along the bolt. Wire brush the burrs off and presto, instant thread cleaner.

Can see this one coming in real handy

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  • 5 months later...

Ok, so I am installing some rock sliders I built. The sliders will bolt on, however, I need to weld some tabs onto my frame. I have a 2004 Pathy, and I can't get the grinder up in there to clean off the frame. My frame has a powder coat on it, and then some undercoating spray that is about 5 mils thick on top of that.

What is the easiest way to remove all that, and like I said, I can't get a grinder up in there...

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  • 8 months later...

If you have screws or allens that are not wanting to loosen up. Take a pair of vice grips. Secure them on the handle of the screw driver tightly, 90*. So you can hold the vice grips and tool on the screw. Then tap the top of the handle of the screwdriver as you slowly turn it with the vice grips.

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