flare nuts - all the fun I never had

Post by **Clemens** » 13 Aug 2016, 15:33

So, I wanted to quickly replace my old left rear brake caliper with the expensive but readily available AC Delco unit.
Put the car on jackstand, removed the wheel, sprayed the flare nut with WD-40 and got my set of metric Craftsman flare nut wrenches...

Hm, someone must have filddled with that before, cuz one corner was rounded off. And obviously the Craftsman 11mm would rather bend and unshape (is that a word) the flarenut than open it. Multiple reciprocating cycles of heat torch (I didn´t want to set the car on fire, so I was careful) and WD-40 didn´t do any goood. The flare nut wrech (damn you, Craftsman, my trust is gone) wouldn´t open the nut. Neither did the regular 11mm wrecheces. Nor the vice grips. Or any other pliers I could find. (And where are the channel locks when you need them? I still don´t know.) By now all corners were rounded off. But didn´t I have a high Quality flare nut wrench I bought a Long time ago. After looking for it for a Long Long time I found it. Turns out it was by high qualitiy tool maker Stahlwille, but it was 3/8 and 7/16 from when I had that 72 Lincoln Continental...

What to do? I though why not try to file down the brass nut to 10mm. Mayber that wrench fits snug. Some filing later I was down to 10, but neither the falre nut or any other 10 could get it open. But wait, that 3/8 is a tad smaller. My phone´s calculator said 3/8 of an Inch ist somewhere like 9,5mm. So back to the file. with some hammering I finally got that 3/8 to fit on the nut snugly. And some more torching and praying finally got that thing open. Altogether this took me 2 and 1/2 hours, but hey, I got the job done...

Just wanted to share with fellow Volvoholics who might enjoy this ordeal cuz it didn´t happen to themselves.

Btw, which brand flare nut wrenches are you happy with? I´d rather spend a few Euro the next time rather than keep on filing till that 3/8 fits again.

Post by **chrafael** » 13 Aug 2016, 16:12

Didn't have luck with any of them. Wound up replacing the lines.

Post by **erikv11** » 13 Aug 2016, 16:42

WD-40 is not a penetrant in any sense of the word, it is meant for Water Displacement (WD) not for penetrating or dissolving corrosion. If you start at the very beginning with a quality product like Liquid Wrench or PB Blaster, spray it on and give it time to work, you might have a very different experience. But great job persevering and triumphing!

I use the Craftsman flare nut wrenches, they haven't let me down yet but there are definitely better ones out there.

Post by **Clemens** » 13 Aug 2016, 16:48

thanks erikv11. I used knock er loose or pb blaster in the states, but can't get that here, so i might have to check my options. I kinda use wd40 for most everything, but always great to learn something new.

Post by **abscate** » 13 Aug 2016, 17:36

Clemens - you can mix ATF or oil with acetone and make the best penetrating oil there is, just mix in roughly equal volumes, right before use. Wear gloves as acetone is bad for your skin and eyes.

Ive released stubborn flare nuts with a high quality Vice Grip (tm) locking pliers - get it really tight to crack the nut.

Its also intuitive to mount the caliper first then reattach the flare nut - in fact, it is much easier to start the threads with the caliper loose so you can juggle the threads to start.

Post by **sleddriver** » 13 Aug 2016, 18:19

Abscate beat me to it. I always use ATF + acetone to loosen stuck________. Tap the fastener a few times while it works its way in.

Post by **scot850** » 13 Aug 2016, 23:00

Still love my Snap on flare wrench. I'll let you know in the next couple of days if I still do after planning to swap out the rear flexi hoses!!

Neil.

Post by **Clemens** » 14 Aug 2016, 00:46

Thanks, guys! Finally some use for that huge can of Acetone after all

Post by **scot850** » 14 Aug 2016, 23:09

Well the brass wire brush, Deep Creak and Snap-On flare wrench worked their magic again today on the rear flexi hoses! A caution if anyone plans to do this, unless you can raise the car 2 ft in the air at the rear (at least) or get it on a hoist, you would find it less painful having hot needles jammed under your nails! I will pay some crazy mechanic at the dealer if I had to do that one again!

Neil.

Post by **Clemens** » 15 Aug 2016, 15:02

thanks for sharing. Always good to know which tools work and which jobs are best to give away to people who need to do the job because you tell them and pay them to do it