Tips for removing rusted catalytic nuts.

[mystic]

Trying to install my headers and finding it impossible to remove these nuts that join the exhaust to the cat, I've sprayed nearly half a can of WD40 and they still wont budge! anyone have and good tips?

[vinnY]

longer spanner or use a larger breaker bar?
use shock to crack the nut loose, not constant force

[A-man]

rattle gun...

[John18c]

get a pole and attached it to whatever your using to get more leverage =P

[squish85]

If its really old.. u might wanna accept the fact that they might break.. (get new ones just in case..)

[aaronng]

Rubber mallet.

[soru]

try a can of rost off, its some really good lube better than wd-40. A huge breaker bar and a good strong socket set. Also soak the nut for hours but keep spraying the lube on every half an hour or so.

[chargeR]

I ended up cutting them off, knocking the remining stud out with a hammer and replacing them with stainless hardware although I had to modify the cat heat shield a little to get the new bolts in.

[aaronng]

Good stuff. Make sure you put some antisieze on the threads before doing the nuts up tightly so that they don't fuse together from rust (stainless will still rust eventually)

[bennjamin]

do NOT use mulit-faceted spanners or sockets.....they WILL round these softer rusted nuts quick smart.

Use 6 sided sockets or spanners , as much leverage as possible.

[omgzilla]

try a can of rost off, its some really good lube better than wd-40.

Agreed. 'WURTH: Rost-Off' is the name of it. We usee it at work and it's good stuff! CRC is also pretty good actually and usually cheaper than the WURTH branded stuff. WD-40 is pretty useless for penetrating exhaust bolts/studs in my experience with it.

Let it penetrate for a while then get a single-hex socket and breaker bar onto it. Failing that - you might have to cut them off (maybe a job for an exhaust shop).

Good luck dude! :thumbsup:

[B18cEG]

Inox is another good spray much better than WD40. Also try heat the bolt n nut up with a small blow torch of some sort then let it cool for 5 then heat it up again and wait for it to cool so that the metal and rust can expand and contract from eachother causing a little bit of movement then attempt to undo.

Good luck:thumbsup:

[aaronng]

Inox is good. I use that instead of WD40 because it doesn't damage plastics as bad as WD40

[mystic]

Cheers Guys, breaker bar did the trick. Now next to the next problem after putting everything on. Realized O2 sensors were to short for the mugen header, are there such things as O2 sensor extensions?

[chargeR]

Cheers Guys, breaker bar did the trick. Now next to the next problem after putting everything on. Realized O2 sensors were to short for the mugen header, are there such things as O2 sensor extensions?

This is what you want: LINK (http://www.clubrsx.com/cr/CLU-O2EXT-p-EXO2.html)

No idea where to find one locally.

[bungsai]

Cheers Guys, breaker bar did the trick. Now next to the next problem after putting everything on. Realized O2 sensors were to short for the mugen header, are there such things as O2 sensor extensions?

just extend the wires. solder job.

[mystic]

Guess thats not too hard, just get the right gauge of wire and put some heatshrink over. Now one more hurdle, finding a sway bar that will fit the mugen header.

A JDM CIVIC TYPE R EP3 front sway bar should do the trick?

[bungsai]

yes, solder, heat shrink, then electo tape, then wrap it all.

yes yes yes yes yes yesjdmep3

[Sm0ked]

Old Timers trick. Get a propane torch or welding set which ever you have. Grab a normal wax candle. Heat the bolt/nut as good as you can then quickly while it's hot put the wax candle onto the hot part and let the hot wax flow in and around the bolt head. As the part cools wax is drawn into the threads by capillarity action and is a good lubricant. Let the part cool a bit until it's just warm enough to put your hand on it. Now this sounds strange but it works try turning the bolt/nut like you were trying to TIGHTEN it first just a bit then turn in the proper direction to loosen. Has worked on stubborn bolts for me and like others have said don't just apply force to turn it put your wrench/socket on the part then hit the end of the wrench or breaker bar with a hammer so the shock/impact helps loosening the stuck threads.

One other simple trick if it is a nut bolt combination NOT a stud, get the longest breaker bar, 6 point socket, and long pipe that you have. Then TIGHTEN the nut until you twist off the head of the bolt and then simply get a new set of nuts and bolts.

+1. was going to say that ;) it works.

[mystic]

Another quick question, if I stuff up my secondary o2 sensor ie get the cel light on my dash will that cause any problems while driving? ie is the secondary sensor only for warning?

[B18cEG]

Sorry everyone i should have mentioned why i said use a waterproof plug, you should never!!! And i mean never!!! Solder your o2 sensor wires unless u have more then 30-35cm of wire on it because it will!!! 100% damage the o2 sensor since the wire it uses has to be heated up alot in order to solder to and will damage the o2 sensor internally. If u dont have the length or the water proof plugs get some crimps with heat-shrink over them, trust me about this one because u dont want to be replacing ur sensor over and over again.

[vinnY]

they look like pretty small gauge wires to me, no idea why you'd have to heat it up heaps
lots of flux + solder = too easy

you'd touch the solder on for like 3-4 seconds, i really doubt the heats gonna travel up the wire that quickly to cause the sensor damage

[B18cEG]

Dnt worry i know all about soldering, i work at a car audio place, my soldering skills are way up there lol, anyway most of the people that i have seen solder the sensors dammage them because all of the sensors they used has stainless steel wire strands which heat up really quickly and the heat travels fast in order to solder, just ask a good exhaust or repair place not ur local "joe's exhausts" if they solder O2 sensors.

[mystic]

Getting back to my original question if I totally removed my secondary o2 sensor would that have any impact on the engine? (will be fixing this up later)