Mashed allen key socket - now what?

[sight-pin]

the threaded bit is internal thread inside the cranks. There's no thread sticking up here. The allen socket is part of the cap so you can (in theory) undo it, not a an allen screw into the cap.

OH! i thought it was an allen screw in the cap...i didn't realize the cap itself was threaded.

 

[Smokin Joe]

Use a screw extractor, available online for pocket money. These have a left hand thread and after drilling a pilot hole they can be screwed in till they bite and then turned either in the drill or with a socket to remove the bolt.

Worked for me when I've used one.

 

[swee'pea99]

I meant drill the head off the screw to remove the cap, then that should leave a bit of thread sticking up you could grab with a pair of mole grips...no! would that not work? I didn't mean drill to deep to be able damage the thread.

Ah, no, there is no screw as such. It's just a single piece of metal, threaded on the outside (to screw into the crack).

 

[swee'pea99]

Use a screw extractor, available online for pocket money. These have a left hand thread and after drilling a pilot hole they can be screwed in till they bite and then turned either in the drill or with a socket to remove the bolt.

Worked for me when I've used one.

Wow...the things you discover when you ask people who know stuff! I'd never heard of these. What a great idea. Definitely one for the backup (I'm staying with PlusGas + brute force for the moment...)

 

[HertzvanRental]

Use a screw extractor, available online for pocket money. These have a left hand thread and after drilling a pilot hole they can be screwed in till they bite and then turned either in the drill or with a socket to remove the bolt.

Worked for me when I've used one.

I like this idea, but ,remember, when undoing it needs to be "felt-out" rather than attack it with a pair of 24`` Stilsons!

 

[Deleted member 26715]

Get a bolt that just fits in the hole, fire up the mig welder & weld it in, get socket on new head of bolt & undo the heat will of also helped.

 

[Profpointy]

Get a bolt that just fits in the hole, fire up the mig welder & weld it in, get socket on new head of bolt & undo the heat will of also helped.

that's even better than my araldite suggestion. A justification for a mig welder - a bit of luck that it was stuck really

 

[adamhearn]

Never had much success with screw extractors. I normally sacrafice a torx bit by using a larger size and inserting it with brute force. Welding it a bolt sounds like a plan if you have the kit.

 

[Profpointy]

Never had much success with screw extractors. I normally sacrafice a torx bit by using a larger size and inserting it with brute force. Welding it a bolt sounds like a plan if you have the kit.

even better - use it as an excuse to get the kit

 

[yello]

Oversized torx, driven in, gets my vote. And it's worked for me in the past.

 

[Deleted member 26715]

It works, used the process on alloy locking wheel nuts on cars

 

[gbb]

The head on that screw looks as though someones already tried a torx bit on it so it may prove impossible to get one in.

I meant drill the head off the screw to remove the cap, then that should leave a bit of thread sticking up you could grab with a pair of mole grips...no! would that not work? I didn't mean drill to deep to be able damage the thread.

This is sometimes the best option. Use a drillbit the same size as the head of the screw. Drill the head OFF, just drill far emough to reach the threads. The cap should then come off leaving, as sight pin says, the threads hopefulily exposed. What sometimes happens is, once the tension is removed (in this case the cap), it releases the tension on the screw and sometimes you can just unwind it by hand. Or molegrips.
Sometimes...but if its rusted in, you can just move the problem to another point.
.

 

[swee'pea99]

Success! I guess the PlusGas did the bidniss - gave it a couple of hours, had another go with the torx, and it came free. Thanks all.

 

[Profpointy]

Success! I guess the PlusGas did the bidniss - gave it a couple of hours, had another go with the torx, and it came free. Thanks all.

Quick, stick the caps back in 'till you've managed to order the welder !

Joking aside, well done. Replace with plastic ones as they can just mangled off if they get stuck - or just leave 'em off