Help please with Car Battery removal.

Dee123_2

Hello!

I have sold an old car of mine and have to deliver it to the new owner tomorrow. It's been sitting for months and after having called the rescue service out (who charged the battery) and driving it on a 30 mile trip,once I got home again and tried to start it again it wouldn't go.

I've been out and bought a new battery but its an old car and the bolt holding the plate has got extremely rusty. I've been trying to loosen it with pliers, different wrench sizes and rubbing some oil on it. Does anyone have any other tips/tools I can rush out and get first thing in the morning? I really dont want to have to pay a fortune for someone to come out and do a five minute job.

I'd really appreciate any advice, thanks

Dee

Wig

Without seeing it (hint: put an image up at imageshack.com) I can't give you proper advice, it might have seized solid and is about to snap, A friends Renault did this, we had to drop the engine from it's mountings to replace it.

But if you think it's just rust and it is turning and you think it will come off eventually....

well put a bit of grease on the rusted thread, if it is a nut which has to come over a bit of a threaded bit.

Don't use pliers you will chew the nut/bolt head use the proper size spanner for the job, and if you have access, use a socket on the end of a bar.

if this is the bolt at the base of the battery holding a small securing plate in place then it might be a 13mm bolt, and your best bet is to use a 13mm socket on an extention with a bar on the top.

gringo2

try soaking it in WD40 .or heat it up with a blow torch if this is possible

trigger_mike

Very common problem and a pain in the !!!!!! as well, normally snap and you end up drilling the stud out and re-threading it again with a tap and tie set, the one on my car is broke and i have a fully floating battery.

vansboy

What car is it??

You might need to pour a kettlefull of boiling water over the bracket & around the battery, to remove any built up corrossion, from battery acid. then the WD40 to spray on & soak in.

You MIGHT be able to lever under the bracket, with old screwdriver & bend it enough to get the battery out.

But do take care, cos if you slip & split/puncture the battery casing, you'll have acid spills to deal with.

VB

Wig

We need a photo.

RightRevBod

You could try penetrating oil. Pour some on and leave it for a few hours / overnight.

Then alternatively try turning the nut each way. It sounds crazy, but you can often loosen a stuck by tightening it a bit before loosening.

The advice to try heating the nut is good, but you need to be careful next to the battery. You might be safer using a freeze spray on the thread. The object is to make the nut hotter than the thread to make the nut expand in relation to the thread. You can do this by heating one, or cooling the other.

Alternatively, get the rescue company back. They should have tested the battery to make sure that it would hold charge when they came out last time.

Spilt_Milk

a friend who is a mechanic once recommended pouring a bit of coke on it - seems a bit crazy but if the stuff can dissolve teeth it might just loosten a rusty nut worth a try - I had the same problem myself a few months back and soakign it in WD40 sorted it out for me

wazza

if the coke or wd40 does not work and u can see the nut and not the bolt then get a nut splitter. it will cut the nut in half. check if you have access for the nut splitter.

here is a typical one in case u r wondering what it is

http://froogle.google.co.uk/froogle?q=nut+splitter&hl=en&hs=IyL&lr=&client=firefox-a&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&sa=N&tab=ff&oi=froogler

scheming_gypsy

can't you just get somebody to jump start you?

tomstickland

Hammer and punch and give it a series of sharp blows on the head. That usually breaks the corrosion. Then a big socket and wrench on it and see what happens. WD40 overnight also works.