Tackling the demon bolt...
 

2 hours and still haven't even budged them... 24" worth of extension with a breaker bar, 14 mm socket and PB blast. Still couldn't even move it. Going to buy some bolt extractors tomorrow and try again.

Ended up spending the last hour trying to get the easier bolts out. Even though they are easier, the space is so tight that it make's it hard to do much.

:mad:

Could you not get off the other 4 bolts? You didn't round off the nut on any of them did you?

here's what i did:

jack up car. spray bolts with PB Blaster. drive car around to heat up exhaust again. jack up car. spray bolt before using a 6 point deep impact socket and breaker bar. tighten bolt first to get it moving. go the other way and losen/remove bolt.

for the two bolts that had to be removed through the engine bay I used a breaker bar and only impact extensions, most of them were swivel extensions. didn't have to remove the Z1 post MAF tubes. for these bolts i placed the impact socket on the bolt first and from under the car and then had someone feed me the extensions so i knew it was flush and wouldn't strip and pressed into the breaker bar with one hand so it stayed flush as i was turning the breaker bar.

used so much force on the top two bolts that i fell once they loosened and wasn't sure what happened at first.

What Critical said. Impact sockets, impact swivel, 1/2 inch extensions and a big big breaker. I wasn't sure if I'd snapped them or loosened them either when they broke loose.

I was able to get the 4 easy bolts moving and out. They weren't a problem at all.

The two demon bolts from the engine is killer though. Will try again after I wake up in the morning. I PB blasted them before I left it alone.

I used a 15" breaker bar with a pipe extension to try and get the demon bolts moving. Still no luck.

As for driving the car to warm it up, that is not an option as the injects have been changed and intake manifold is off right now.

I will update tomorrow if I even get them moving.

Thanks guys

IMPACT swivels are key. They don't bind like normal swivels do. Chances are, if you're using ~20-30" of total breaker bar length, and you aren't getting any movement, it's because your swivels are binding and you're just putting torque on them instead of the nuts.

This is what I have, super cheap and get the job done. 2 Piece Universal Impact Joint Set

1/2" drive is key here! i tried with a 3/8 and just BARELY got it off.

OP, so I just fought with these bolts last week. It took me 3 days to get those demon bolts off trying everything. I tried tons of options ($$$). This is what worked for me.
- 6 sided 14mm socket, 3/8" as otherwise it won't fit
- 1/2" to 3/8" adaptor
- 1/2 ft 1/2" extension + another 1/2" extension to be able to reach out of the engine bay. The key here is to have as few extensions as possible 2x1/2ft would be ideal I guess
- 27" 1/2" breaker bar (the one you can find at harbor freight)
- gallons of pb blaster, wd40 whatever you have
- 3 days
The driver side was what took me longer as it seemed it did not want to come out. Finally it loudly snapped and came off. The passenger side didn't snap, it literally "broke in half" from the torque I applied to it luckily it broke towards the end of the nut stud so I was able to get the cat off.

Side note: the Service manual says those nuts have a torque of 43lb/ft, those demon bolts are NOT like that on this planet.

If you use all impact-rated parts, you can get away with a 3/8th size socket, but good luck finding 3/8ths inch impact rated tools.

I did them all with 1/2 inch drive stuff and didn't have any issue fitting a socket on.

I could literally give you a list of tools I used, as they all came from harbor freight, and you can order all the same stuff.


And the FSM is right about the torque rating... It's the heat that causes corrosion that makes these nuts difficult to get off.

If you drove a car home from the dealer and immediately went to take them off, they'd come right off, no big deal.

I am not even using a swivel. It is a straight shot with the intake manifold off. Does it matter if i use a deep socket or not? Or is that bolt too tall for a regular socket?

Hmm. I'd probably use a deep impact socket anyway, just to be sure.

If you have a straight shot (meaning the socket/extensions are exactly perpendicular to the nut's install plane) and you're using all half inch tools with an impact socket and 24+ inches of breaker and you aren't moving anything...

Man up, eat some wheaties, something.

:bowrofl:

(I'm just teasing. Just put more PB on them and keep trying.)

use a deep impact socket. there's no way you're staying flush with the bolt not having swivel extensions, nor having a deep impact socket.

I have bolt extractors and deep impact sockets. I think the bolts are stripped because the deep impacm sockets won't lock on. If I turn the wrench it slips.

Sent from my Nexus One using Tapatalk 2

You rounded them off because you didn't use a deep impact or swivels sounds like

oh the threading is stripped? you're using this?

Sears.com

idk man...

If the threads are stripped, you gotta cut the nut. Usually you can cut it through on one side and then you can get the nut to grip the threads again.

Had to do this the other day on one of my front sway bar studs.