Loading…
19
Warning: I tried a new rust penetrant on a 20 year old truck and it worked too well
I was working on a 2003 Silverado with frozen brake line fittings last week. I grabbed a can of this new penetrant called 'Break-Free' instead of my usual go-to. I sprayed it, waited about ten minutes like the can said, and went to crack the fitting. It came loose with almost no effort, which was great, but then the whole fitting just kept turning. The rust was so gone that the threads in the steel line were totally stripped out. I learned that on really old, thin metal, you can overdo it and cause more damage. Now I'm nervous to use it on anything that isn't super solid. Has anyone else had a penetrant work a little too well and ruin the part?
4 comments
Log in to join the discussion
Log In4 Comments
williams.luna5mo ago
Honestly, that sounds like a problem with the metal being too far gone, not the penetrant being too good. If the threads strip that easy, they were already junk and would have failed with any tool. A real strong penetrant just shows you the truth faster. It saved you from fighting a fitting for an hour only to have it fail anyway when you finally got it loose. Better to find out right away so you can plan to replace the line.
3
jamesc792mo ago
Whoa wait, hold on. Did you just say you soaked it for TWO DAYS and it still snapped off flush? Man that's rough, I've been there with a brake line on an old rust bucket and it's just the worst feeling when you hear that snap sound and know you're in for it. Soaking for two days was probably overkill honestly, sometimes the stuff just eats through the rust so fast it exposes all the weak metal underneath. But yeah I gotta agree with the other guy, that bolt was already dead inside, the penetrant just helped you find out sooner rather than later. Still though, having to helicoil an oxygen sensor bung sounds like a total nightmare, that's probably a whole afternoon of swearing and hot wrench work right there.
5
ray_burns5mo ago
Yeah that "shows you the truth faster" line is spot on, @williams.luna. Reminds me of trying to get an old oxygen sensor out of a truck. Soaked it for two days, breaker bar with a cheater pipe, whole thing sheared off flush. The penetrant worked too well I guess, told me the truth that the bung was completely welded in by rust. Had to drill and helicoil it, what a mess. Sometimes you just want the lie so you can get the part out in one piece.
3