Rear seat bolt being a C U Next Tuesday

[Darren S]

So, I have a couple Torx-40 bit and a ratchet, but this little t**t is refusing to budge.

I've sprayed some WD on it, though I'm really wary that the T-40 bits will just start to chew up the metal.

Is an impact gun the best option? I'll bob by a garage and see if they can zap it loose - unless there are any other options I can try first?

 

[R3k1355]

An impact will annihilate is surely?

 

[Matt Cup]

It’s been a long time since I’ve messed with Clio’s but have you wd40’d underneath the car too as as far as I remember these are exposed and get rusty like the isofix bolts.

 

[Krarl]

You need to get underneath and clean the threads off. When you've got your torx bit in it smack the c**t with a hammer to shock some of the crap off too

 

[Ol’ Tarby]

@DaveDreads

 

[Darren S]

It's strange because the two (zinc?) bolts - one each side of the bar came out pretty easy.

I'll see if I can get under easily enough with WD.

Fecking thing!!

 

[chazza114]

Don't use an impact on it, I made that mistake on mine because I couldn't get the b*****d to budge. The impact pulled the bolt about halfway out before completely stripping the torx thread. I ended up using a hacksaw to cut through the bolt as that's the only way I could get it out

Do as @Chode Lint says, clean it up and then soak some WD-40 through it, and give it a smack. A breaker bar might give you enough leverage to get it to break lose without stripping the top.

This is how mine ended up:

 

[Mr Underhill]

I was just about to say, I snapped one of those on my BG 😂 I could never get the thread out.

 

[JamesBryan]

Snapping the head off and welding a nut to the remaining thread is usually the end game 😔

 

[Darren S]

Begger's belief that Renault used such a bolt there in the first place, made out of cheese.

Granted, it's hardly ever accessed - this is the first time in my car since it was new. But surely a more robust option would have made a lot more sense for the 12.57p cost per unit difference?

 

[Bluebeard]

Plenty of wd40 (or something better like Injector-ex) on the underneath of the bolt.
Don’t use an impact!
If you can’t do it with a normal sized ratchet, get some heat on it. Again, from the underneath.
They’re a complete prick to remove.

 

[Darren S]

Rather than faff about jacking it up, I'll nip round to the garage next to work tomorrow and have a look at the bolt from underneath.

At the very least, I'll get it soaked in WD and maybe the odd thwack from above.

I'll definitely NOT use an impact given the horror results on this thread!

 

[Darren S]

What an absolute t**t this thing is.

Got it soaked in WD on Friday (both above and from underneath) and tried it about an hour ago. Not so much as a millimetre of movement.

1/4" inch socket set is way too weak, so will have got a 1/2" Torx40 bit on the way. Gave top and bottom another soaking of WD again.

Utter s**t design, Why, oh why Renault??!

 

[Matt Cup]

Did you t**t it with a hammer?

 

[Filters]

What an absolute t**t this thing is.

Got it soaked in WD on Friday (both above and from underneath) and tried it about an hour ago. Not so much as a millimetre of movement.

1/4" inch socket set is way too weak, so will have got a 1/2" Torx40 bit on the way. Gave top and bottom another soaking of WD again.

Utter s**t design, Why, oh why Renault??!

Bite the bullet, cut it off and grind it flush 👍

 

[Darren S]

Did you t**t it with a hammer?

That's next on the list!

 

[KitsonRis]

Cut mine off with a grinder the other week.

Positive - there is now not a hole to the outside as it is currently has the threaded from this bolt in like with the other seat mounting bolts.
Negative - I can't get the thread out without welding a nut to it. Will I get around to welding a nut to it to remove, probably not.

 

[Jonnio]

Penetrating Fluid?

Will probably do jack s**t still but surely better than WD40?

 

[Darren S]

The irony with mine is that the bracket that the rear bolt (I assume?) is meant to hold down on the floor tightly - isn't doing so. It wobbles about fairly easy - so is pretty much doing nothing other than being a primordial weapon of the highest order.

Getting slightly addicted to having the majority of the boot innards from out of the car though. It does sound good - though this weekend I'll be driving to Newcastle and will probably want to ram cotton balls in my ears by the time I return.

 

[Darren S]

Penetrating Fluid?

Will probably do jack s**t still but surely better than WD40?

Yeah - tried that. It wasn't up for making any change to it, unfortunately.

 

[Jonnio]

Yeah - tried that. It wasn't up for making any change to it, unfortunately.

Booo!

If there's no rush I guess just keep applying it, tapping it and heating it up for a few months.







Then snap it. 😅

 

[RustyMojo]

trick is to clean the threads up and use proper penetrating fluid before attempting to move the thing. Appreciate this is like shutting the stable door once the horse has bolted now!

They are 20 year old bolts that were never meant to really move on throw away cars. Much like the f**king disgraceful caged beam bolts.

 

[Matt Cup]

trick is to clean the threads up and use proper penetrating fluid before attempting to move the thing. Appreciate this is like shutting the stable door once the horse has bolted now!

They are 20 year old bolts that were never meant to really move on throw away cars. Much like the f**king disgraceful caged beam bolts.

Plus-gas always worked wonders for me. Forgot to mention it in my original post.

 

[Brigsy]

Plus-gas always worked wonders for me. Forgot to mention it in my original post.

Plus gas is great, my go to.

Ive also heard acetone/atf mix is very good if you want home brew penetrating oil.

 

[Darren S]

Plus-gas always worked wonders for me. Forgot to mention it in my original post.

Plus gas is great, my go to.

Ive also heard acetone/atf mix is very good if you want home brew penetrating oil.

Cheers both - nabbed a can of that before I have another go at it over the weekend.

 

[Darren S]

So, twatted the thing repeatedly with a hammer - drowned it from both sides with Plus Gas and ended up with a half inch Torx40 drive on it.

It slipped once then started to move - but as per @chazza114 - it got probably about half way before going rock-solid again. No amount of forward and backward motion helped - it's not going anywhere and started to chew the thread.

Absolutely f**king raging with it. It's in a c**t of a position to begin with. It's clearly not up to the job. It's made of cheese because that saves some pence and I've got the majority of the rear interior out and come to a stop through the s**t design of one f**king bolt.

s**t like this pushes my buttons when 'just one b*****d thing' immediately stops you doing a whole host of others.

Now more time and faffing about will be needed for cutting the f**king thing off. ARGH!!!!!

 

[Bluebeard]

So, twatted the thing repeatedly with a hammer - drowned it from both sides with Plus Gas and ended up with a half inch Torx40 drive on it.

It slipped once then started to move - but as per @chazza114 - it got probably about half way before going rock-solid again. No amount of forward and backward motion helped - it's not going anywhere and started to chew the thread.

Absolutely f**king raging with it. It's in a c**t of a position to begin with. It's clearly not up to the job. It's made of cheese because that saves some pence and I've got the majority of the rear interior out and come to a stop through the s**t design of one f**king bolt.

s**t like this pushes my buttons when 'just one b*****d thing' immediately stops you doing a whole host of others.

Now more time and faffing about will be needed for cutting the f**king thing off. ARGH!!!!!

 

[Krarl]

HTH

 

[Darren S]

View attachment 1657427

Honestly - the more trivial a problem is, the more I lose it.

I just can't abide stupid arse, lazy and incompetent design decisions. What was wrong in using the same bolt that attached the rear rail to floor?

Mongs. The lot of them.