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04-06-2024, 08:14 PM | #1 |
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Help. Spinning square nut nightmare during headlight removal
Hope some can help me here as I’m in a jam
I’m swapping over rhd to LHD headlights and I’d watched so many videos I was familiar with all the 8mm and T30 etc. got the bumper off in 20 minutes. Happy days. The nightmare started with the under headlight bolt assembly that have a square 10mm nut that is loctite to the torx 30 and just spins I got one off with a long nose pliers but no matter what I do the other one won’t budge. My last idea is to drill off the top of the T30 and then replace the entire nut and bolt assembly. I’m in Germany so not a single shop open on a Sunday. If I had a dremel I’d have it off by now but I’ve only got a standard drill with new drill bits. Photos below show the head of the bolt I want to drill off Thanks. |
04-07-2024, 10:06 AM | #3 | |
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Why these bolts are loctited and so tight I don’t know. Crazy thing is I had wheels, arch liners and front bumper off in 25 mins. And then got stuck for hours on that bolt as I had no long nose pliers. I underestimated how tricky it can be to line up shut line to bonnet but then realised headlights were sitting too low and as outer edges of top part of bumper attach to the headlight the bumper was being dragged down Only niggle is there is something small on the left side of bumper but managed to get it lined up ok. |
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04-07-2024, 01:30 PM | #5 | |
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04-07-2024, 01:42 PM | #6 | |
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Buy when I looks how the bracket hiding the front of the headlight meets the bumper as a mount I loosened off all four headlight bolts and positioned it and then it was much better. Left hand side of bumper is sitting out a touch but I couldn’t take it all again. As the spinning nut nearly broke me. I had to go and bed two different hotel concierge desks for a long nose pliers at 0030! Second hotel was a life saver |
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04-21-2024, 03:25 AM | #8 |
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As the square nut seemed seized to the bolt holding it with long nose pliers was tricky
It worked straight away on right hand side but I must be trying for 30 mins on the left side and was so exasperated I decided to to try to drill out the nut But then I tried to get the head of the 10mm spanner in one last time Up to that point I had used a small drill bit to hack away the plastic on the headlight bracket to help get the spanner in. So it was when I started to flex the headlight with one hand I was able to push in the head of the spanner and it was such a great feeling! Then the next part was very important as breaking the thread lock was the part to focus on. So holding the spanner really secure and square and the ratchet pushing in and towards the nut I built up torque gradually and the boom! It unlocked! Crazy that the longest part of changing the head lights was one square nut. As I’ve never taken off a bumper of headlights. Getting the front bumper panel gap perfect was down to the inner mounting points of the lights. So try to use the previous washer marks as a reference point. Let me know if you need any more help |
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04-21-2024, 06:46 PM | #9 |
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I went at mine when I did my Euro spec Ikon with a hand driven wrench, no issues at all. The lower two bolts have lock tight on them because the lower headlight assemblies have self leveling washers in them.
Meaning: Back the bolt out, the washer extends and pushes the headlight upwards. Tighten the bolt, the washer moves forward lowering the headlight. This is key to leveling the bumper. Do not go at these with a power tool and they should be the first bolts you remove.
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04-21-2024, 10:54 PM | #10 | ||
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04-22-2024, 01:19 AM | #11 |
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04-22-2024, 03:28 AM | #12 | |
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04-22-2024, 05:15 AM | #13 |
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No. The bolts removed without issue. Did you use a hand wrench or a power tool?
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04-22-2024, 05:20 AM | #14 | |
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When trying to get it out for ages I was using a 3/8 inch ratchet with an extension But it’s quite likely that I used the power tool that was so handy removing all the arch liners So given how I was able to build the torque when I finally got the 10mm spanner on it and then it popped and broke the locked thread I can see how a power tool could just make it spin So am I right in thinking that the 3 hours of misery was all self inflicted! |
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04-22-2024, 03:38 PM | #16 |
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Hitting something with a purse usually gets a person in line, but I doubt it would've resolved the OP's issue.
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04-22-2024, 04:42 PM | #17 |
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04-22-2024, 05:21 PM | #18 |
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Never heard of that. In the industrial refrigeration side of mechanics we just say, "you go girl"
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