Outboard attachment bolts can hardly be turned. What now?

[Franziska]

Hi, on my small 4hp Suzuki, the bolts to fix the outboard on the bracket have been corroded despite all the grease.
Stainless bolts with aluminium casing is always not that great.
With a lot of elbow grease I could turn them enough to get the engine out of the hold. I can hardly turn them at all. WD40 has been used already a lot.

Any thoughts how I can unscrew them and make them turn again. Best would be with onboard tools.
Will a heat gun (up to 650 Centigrade) help?

How would a mechanic approach this, most likely very common, problem?

Thanks Franziska

[liquidice]

Heat gun may help. I like PB blaster spray, other similar ‘oil in a can’ products may work. Spray the shaft and the threaded receptacle. Sometimes if you can let the spray stay on there for a few hours it will penetrate more thoroughly. A vise grip as a temporary handle will make it easier to turn; that pin looks hard to twist and painful on the fingers. I don’t see a lot of crusty build up in the threads, but if there is try to scrape it off with a plastic putty knife. Good luck!

[Franziska]

Hey thanks. WD40 has now soaked for two hours. I'll try the heat gun now on the bolts.
Yep Vicegrib are the way to go.

Luckily the plastic broke as I just had it lose enough :-)

[a64pilot]

Heat and lube, work it slowly back and forth, if you can turn it at all it will clear up, and should be easy to operate.
Now you know you need to exercise them every now and again, or they will seize and be tough to move, it’s not a Suzuki thing, all outboards that have aluminum castings with SS bolts will do this.

Oh, and I’m my opinion throw the WD-40 away, it practically worthless.
I’m enamored with Corrosion-X to prevent corrosion and PB Blaster to free stuck parts.

[Zanshin]

That is the fate of just about every outboard attachment I've seen. The buildup looks like grease, that should have helped keep it from freezing up. I like using something called "PB Blaster", but there are other penetrating lubricants that work better than WD-40 (which is designed for something else). Spray and let sit for as long as possible (overnight is good) and then try turning. Once it moves, I'd clean off everything and put a coat of grease on the threads.

[GordMay]

Originally Posted by a64pilot

Heat and lube, work it slowly back and forth, if you can turn it at all it will clear up, and should be easy to operate ...

Spray some of your favorite penetrating stuff on there, and let it sit for a bit. I’ve never found any of the various products to work noticeably better or worse than any other, and that includes old standbys like Liquid wrench, WD40 and Marvel Mystery Oil, as well as "hi tech" stuff like PB blaster, Kroil, etc. Pick the one you have handy, and don't bother buying one of the others thinking there is some magic there. There is no magic!
I have heard (but cannot personally confirm) that ammonia works to dissolve aluminum oxide. Spray household ammonia on both sides, and let soak (days if possible).
Then attempt to TIGHTEN the bolt. The tiniest fraction of a turn is sufficient, and it will break the seize much easier, and with far less risk of snapping the bolt, than trying to loosen it first. THEN loosen it a bit.
If it binds up, tighten it again and then loosen it - it will turn a bit more this time. Repeat as necessary (tightening then loosening). This will usually do the job, though it may take a lot of tightening-loosening to unscrew it completely without damage.
If you are unable to succeed in the first step, then apply some heat to the AL.

BTW: The penetrating oil will light up.

[Franziska]

Awesome, thanks to the genset and heat gun it worked.
I even managed to band-aid the broken plastic part with some epoxy and carbon fiber.
Not pretty but I'm hopeful it will last.

Horray!

[Franziska]

One more, I used WD40 and Würth Multi Purpose spray, as that was what I have on-board.

I do have some Tefgel as well. Wouldn't that be the best to use here?

[conchaway]

wd40 is of little value (and NEVER use it on firearms!)
Apply a 50/50 mixture of acetone and antifreeze; tap. repeat. If it's really bad, you may have to soak it a while. I read it in a farm magazine, and it's the best thing ever.

[Franziska]

Actually the question regarding Tefgel was about that now that I solved the problem, if that's not the best to try to prevent it from repeating..

[dadster3]

It may be the oil as oil makes aluminum bind. The lube for aluminum is clean water, or something made just for aluminum. Then too if you have steel screws in an aluminum housing, you have two different metals in contact so you will get pitting & corrosion from that alone over time.

[a64pilot]

Originally Posted by Franziska

Actually the question regarding Tefgel was about that now that I solved the problem, if that's not the best to try to prevent it from repeating..

Tefgel that I have used seems to dry up to a hard almost plastic.
I think you want a grease or anti-seize. However if every month or two if you will just loosen one completely and retighten it and use grease you won’t ever have another problem.
Over time the grease will dry up too, I don’t know why but it does.

The poster that said acetone and anti freeze, I believe he meant automatic transmission fluid and not anti freeze.

I disagree with Gord, there is no magic, but some penetrating oils work better than others and none that work well as penetrating oils are very good at corrosion prevention, they are just too thin and often have a lot of solvents that flash off.
WD-40 tries to be a one product that does both and in my opinion does neither very well.

If I wasn’t lazy I’d remove the screws and drill and tap the fitting for a zerk fitting, surprised there isn’t one.

[thomm225]

Originally Posted by Franziska

Awesome, thanks to the genset and heat gun it worked.
I even managed to band-aid the broken plastic part with some epoxy and carbon fiber.
Not pretty but I'm hopeful it will last.
Horray!

If you are talking about the small plastic "handles" that turn the hold down screws after mine broke the first time, I just threw them away.

Since then which was maybe 4 years ago, I just use an adjustable wrench which provides a lot more leverage.

I try to apply 3 and 1 oil when even I tighten or loosen those bolts

[anacapaisland42]

Mouse Milk https://www.mousemilk.com/

Apply daily then use a pipe wrench,(tip given to me by a friend who maintains geological survey aircraft in South America wilderness).

Muscle in a hustle... for speedy help in the removal of rusted and frozen studs. MOUSE MILK frees up cables, slides, linkages and bolts. MOUSE MILK is unequalled wherever a lubricant or penetrant is required.

MOUSE MILK will dissolve rust, relieve friction and resist oxidation.

MOUSE MILK has amazing creeping ability. Frozen nuts and bolts can be easily loosened and removed after allowing MOUSE MILK to creep down the threads and break up the rust and corrosion.

MOUSE MILK is an effective cutting fluid when drilling tapping or turning metals.


Bill,
Who has same issue on a Yamaha 9.9

Originally Posted by Franziska

Hi, on my small 4hp Suzuki, the bolts to fix the outboard on the bracket have been corroded despite all the grease.
Stainless bolts with aluminium casing is always not that great.
With a lot of elbow grease I could turn them enough to get the engine out of the hold. I can hardly turn them at all. WD40 has been used already a lot.

Any thoughts how I can unscrew them and make them turn again. Best would be with onboard tools.
Will a heat gun (up to 650 Centigrade) help?

How would a mechanic approach this, most likely very common, problem?

Thanks Franziska Attachment 194993

[LeeV]

Start with PB Blaster, and after a few hours use a hammer and carefully apply a few blows to solid flat areas to shock it loose. That often does the trick; if not, apply some heat and try the hammer again. Usually works.

Lee