Bottom Headlight bold spinning

Au2ro

Au2ro

Member
I think that I have mentioned before that my nearside bottom headlight bolt was corroded and I could not take my headlight out any more. This did not really worry me but I decided to try and get it out. I cut a slot in the top of the bolt as there was no way that it would turn with a torx driver as it was so corroded. Well I managed to get it to turn after copious amounts of WD40 and a large screwdriver with mole grips attached. The problem is it is now just spinning and not unscrewing.

Is there any way to get at the other end of this bolt to release it and replace it somehow. If I take the front bumper off will I be able to access it?
 
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How free is the bolt spinning now in the nut? I think there is no access to the nut. Can you tighten the bolt? If you can may be better to cut off the top of the bolt and tighten it through the nut. Also by cutting the bolt you can remove the headlight to give you more room. Chance you may be able to attach the mole grips and lever against the under side of the grips and slacken the remains of the bolt out.
 
A large screwdriver spins the bolt easily by hand. The bolt won't slacken or tighten, it just spins. I could grind or file the head of the bolt off I suppose, then the plastic adjuster should be able to be pulled out and the headlight removed. But, the bolt is spinning the base of the fitting below the plastic adjuster nut so even if I get the bolt out without stripping the threads of the fitting below I suspect a new bolt would still just spin and if you can't get to the underside there would be no way to tighten a new bolt.
 
Rock and a hard place. By cutting the bolt you will be able to gain more access. The plastic adjuster on the headlight under the bolt should be able to stay fitted to the headlight, just remove other bolt and unclip the outer locations. You should also be able to see exactly what is spinning and if anything can be done to lock the nut or what can be used to replace it. By cutting the bolt the headlight can't be secured on that corner, although it is still held in 2 other locations and the top bolt. Personally I would cut the bolt, clean the exposed threads, plenty of WD40 and using the mole grips and wedge method try to get the bolt to move.
 
The bolt screws into a captive rivet nut in the front slam panel which has probably lost bond to the framework and now spins freely

It may be possible to replace with a fresh insert depending on how enlarged the hole becomes during extraction process

Then going forward stainless bolt and plenty of grease / copper slip
Also worth doing as preventative maintenance
 
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