Ditto. Great wrench! I am going to post it on the Ritter-Easley board with proper attribution, of course.

BTW - I have the impact type pin puller if you need it. I'm about 5 miles west of the District.

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Chuck Taylor
Falls Church VA
'66 200, '66 230SL, '96 SL500. Sold: '81 380SL, '86 300E, '72 250C, '95 C220, 3 '84 280SL's '90 420SEL, '72 280SE, '73 280C, '78 280SE, '70 280SL, '77 450SL, '85 380SL, '87 560SL, '85 380SL, '72 350SL, '96 S500 Coupe

I'm still full of myself for having come up with that one.

Thanks, Morris!

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Henry Bofinger
1989 560 SEL (black/black)
2001 Audi TT Roadster (silver/grey)

CTaylor738 -

Thanks for the offer - I'd like to pick you up on that one. You can email me at hbofinger@earthlink.net

Really appreciate it!

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Henry Bofinger
1989 560 SEL (black/black)
2001 Audi TT Roadster (silver/grey)

Congrats on overcoming the biggest challenge with hardware, seizure!!!

Here are a couple of suggestions from my belt of experience with that particular bolt. Use a brass drift (1/2" or larger), place it on the head of the bolt and give it two good blows with a 2.5lb hammer. I use a wrench to see if I can feel the immediate give from the static tension on the bolt. Tighten the bolt just until you feel it give, than try loosening it. You will know if it is going to break free or not.

If the bolt does not break free spray it with Wurth Rost Off than drive the car for a couple of days, than give it another try. If it feels like it is not ready to turn clear the timing cover area from any material that could ignite or catch fire. Use either a propane torch or the handy butane crack pipe torch and while KEEPING AN EYE ON THE FLAME heat the threaded boss area of the timing cover. After 3 to 5 minutes of heating spray it again with Rost Off, tighten first than loosen.

This technique has worked well for me, maybe it will work well for others.

I would HIGHLY recommend getting a new bolt.

I am suprised you didnt shatter the bolt making it really cold like that. Steel doesnt do as well when it is cold vs aluminum. I was sitting in on my friends Mechanics of Materials class last semester and the teacher was explaining how steel is very brittle at lower temperatures, and aluminum has a broader range of where it is flexable, similarly that is why airplanes use a lot of aluminum because they operate in very cold temperatures as well as very hot temperatures (-60 to 60 C or so).

But heed the advice on getting a new bolt.

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Current Stable:
1994 S500 v140, 210k miles, white with grey.

Former Mercedes in the Stable:
1983 300CD Turbo diesel 515k mi sold (rumor has it, that it has 750k miles on it now)
1984 300CD Turbo Diesel 150 k mi sold
1982 300D Turbo Diesel 225 sold
1987 300D Turbo Diesel 255k mi sold
1988 300 CE AMG Hammer 15k mi sold
1986 "300E" Amg Hammer 88k mi sold (it was really a 200, not even an E (124.020)
1992 500E 156k mi sold
etc.

Obviously I never intended to save the bolt - just to get it out. Not just because of strength, but also because of the shape of the head after trying to get it out before!

No - it would not shatter (no room for it to - it would shrink, just as it did). But I do recommend that the coolant be aimed directly at the bolt, and not hit the rest of the block!

By the way, being a pilot myself, I have never seen a prop held in place by aluminum bolts! (I'm not kidding - there is a fictional joke out there about a prop having been attached with fitting bolts from a bicycle shop, and the prop deciding to do a solo away from the airplane at altitude!)

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Henry Bofinger
1989 560 SEL (black/black)
2001 Audi TT Roadster (silver/grey)

Well, when steel gets cold it can shatter.

Im not talking about C182s or anything, Im talking about commercial aircraft that fly very high, transatlantic flights.

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Current Stable:
1994 S500 v140, 210k miles, white with grey.

Former Mercedes in the Stable:
1983 300CD Turbo diesel 515k mi sold (rumor has it, that it has 750k miles on it now)
1984 300CD Turbo Diesel 150 k mi sold
1982 300D Turbo Diesel 225 sold
1987 300D Turbo Diesel 255k mi sold
1988 300 CE AMG Hammer 15k mi sold
1986 "300E" Amg Hammer 88k mi sold (it was really a 200, not even an E (124.020)
1992 500E 156k mi sold
etc.

breaking bolts and plenty of other stuff do to the weakining of steel from intense cold while Repairing equiptment during the building of the pipeline in Alaska was very common.I broke the dis. bolt on my 500SE while doing chain replacement ,I drilled it out,retaped it then put in a stud with red locktite.........
William Rogers......

What I am saying is that I got the bolt out in 20 minutes using this technique. It did not break, but had I not chilled it, I probably would have broken it and had to drill it out. So I saved myself a ton of time.

There are many factors that go into this. Don't forget that as you remove the bolt, once it has unfrozen, the tension is actually released. The idea is to nudge it to the point so it actually turns.

I never re-use a bolt that has given me trouble, for many reasons (even if the head seems ok after pulling it).

Now - for the final issue on the aircraft thing, and so we can lay it to rest - I am sure that the pressurized fuselage of the Cessna 340a I flew last month has aluminium bolts (and rivets) that expand and contract at the same rate as the skin itself while climbing to 30,000 feet and going through the pressurization cycle. I am also sure that the PROPS are NOT held in place by aluminum bolts....

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Henry Bofinger
1989 560 SEL (black/black)
2001 Audi TT Roadster (silver/grey)

Today I was at a the American Service Center in Alexandria, Virginia, getting some parts. This is a purely Mercedes place. I mentioned my frozen bolt technique to the parts person there.

He looked at me and said "You want to know what they do here? They use this stuff..." and he pulled out a can of Wurth Rost Off (I never heard of it before). "They swear by it."

Lo and behold - this stuff is the chiller and the penetrating oil combined! It's basically the same technique - it chills the bolt to -40 degrees Farenheit (not celsius), creating cracks in the bind.

So the good news is that what I did is fine and actually common practice among pros, the bad news is I was not the first one who came up with it!

Here is a link to the product...

http://www.properautocare.com/wuroofficea.html

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Henry Bofinger
1989 560 SEL (black/black)
2001 Audi TT Roadster (silver/grey)