Stubborn fog lamp screw...

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Nov 5, 2008 | 04:52 AM

Boston Driver

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From: Lexington, MA

Stubborn fog lamp screw...

driver side bulb went the other day. One of the screws that secures the lamp was frozen (rust). Tried liquid wrench, PB blaster, nothing would get that thing to budge. Tried the screw extractor, and the screw sheared about 1/4" from the scerw head, leaving the rest of the screw frozen in place.

Any ideas on how to remove that backing plate? Not sure how it is shaped for 3.8/3.0/2.7T, but the 4.2 backing plate into which the screws are threaded is not flat, so it will not slide out. It has two bends so it looks like a flatened N in profile.

Thoughts??? Is my only option to drill that sucker out and retap the threads?

Nov 5, 2008 | 04:55 AM

JimmyC83

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From: Chowdaah and Red Sox!

3.8 engines FTW! i have 2 extractor sets if you wanna borrow them some time

iirc one set is a drill bit too. (if these would work better than yours) drill that sucker out!

Nov 5, 2008 | 04:59 AM

Boston Driver

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From: Lexington, MA

The only drawback with drilling it out...

...it that right behind the backing plate is plastic resin for the bumper's internals, so the tap would probably not go deep enough to cut the threads.

Regardless, thanks for your offer...I might want to take a look at the extrator sets you have...soon!

Nov 5, 2008 | 05:01 AM

Grapeking

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From: Northern NJ

Can you remove the unit? We could then drill it out on the drill press if you'd like.

Nov 5, 2008 | 05:19 AM

Boston Driver

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From: Lexington, MA

The unit is out...the backing plate (where the screw is stuck) is in the bumper...

...there is a little cavity built into the bumper where the backing plate is located. It is open on the top, but the plate is to long to pull out from the opening up top.

Nov 5, 2008 | 05:44 AM

Kris Hansen

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I wish I had a 3.8..

Nov 5, 2008 | 05:50 AM

Grapeking

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From: Northern NJ

I see. Another idea- if the screw is rusted in place, hitting it with the air hammer vibrates

the heck out of it and can be really effective at loosening rusted fasteners. The air hammer operates at roughly 4500 blows per minute. If you want to do this, swing by. It was very effective at loosening the control arms when I did those - in fact, I had beat on those things to no avail and the air hammer did it in like 5 seconds.