Stuck thermostat bolts

Asked by Core Apr 24, 2023 at 05:43 PM about the 2002 Pontiac Grand Prix GT

Question type: Maintenance & Repair

Tried everything to loosen the bolts to change out my
thermostat and nothing is working and I'm out of ideas

3 Answers

307,235

Have you tried spraying it down with some diesel fuel? Let it sit overnight.

38,925

If you repeatedly apply torque and back off or go back and forth with the bolt it creates stress on the binding threads and can eventually come lose , you have to go easy . One other option is the hot wrench , they sell an O2 - MAPP gas combo torch set that can get things red hot . But in your case I'm thinking there's not much room and the flame will snuff out . Many times just a little heat does the trick ..

1 people found this helpful.
202,345

I think that all us old guys have done this in the past; sorry GA and BUC, I know you're a bit younger than me..... I've used hot-cold effectively, and I've preceded this with Diesel/Kerosene or Liquid Wrench, then apply the tighten/loosen carefully. Always worked for me.

1 people found this helpful.

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