Hey guys,

617 engine - I can't get the 10mm fan bolts off. Two came off fine - Im rounding out the other two - they wont budge. I PB blastered them to no avail. I even ground down a 10mm box end wrench to fit and I can't get grip on it with that without rounding it.

What should I do? Heat it? Anyone else have this problem?

Thanks,
Mike

 

Atwelve point box end doesn't give much grip and can cause rounding. I have only had success with open-end. After the penetrant try tightening the bolt. The motion breaks the rust, more penetrant is applied, and the boltcan beloosened a tiny amount. Repeat tightening, penetrant, and looseninguntil the boltis removed. Yes, the 10mm fan bolt design sucks.

 

let them soak in wd40 for an hour while repraying every 15 minutes and if possible strike them with a hammer. mine were a pain as well. good luck!

 

Got em.

I got a 6 point box end wrench at sears and ground the nose down. That, combined with a soaking in PB blaster overnight allowed me to remove them pretty easily.

Lesson learned: For the fan bolts, you NEED a 6 point box end wrench ground down to get this done right the first time. Soak in PB overnight. Buy new bolts beforehand, you may need them. My car doesnt have any rust - I cant imagine what these things must be like with a little rust in there.


Thanks for the help,
Mike

 

My solution: Honda (and other Japanese brands, I suppose) uses the same thread pitch with a 12mm head, so when I last worked on my fan assembly I replaced the German bolts with 12mm head Honda bolts. But I still used Never-Seez!

 

thanks for mentioning that a six point will work. I thought the clearance was so tight that you'd need to grind off theentire end. Since long pattern box end wrenches are now common itis time to custom bend one for this application.