Rear shock absorber advice

[BradH]

Hi. I’m new to the forum so I hope I’ve posted this in the right place. I have a 2010 Audi A3 2.0 tdi S line and I’m currently changing the drivers side rear shock absorber and I’m really struggling to remove the bottom bolt of the shock to remove it (21mm).

Now I’ve sprayed plusgas onto it and I’m going to leave it overnight and try again but I’m just wondering if anyone has had the same issue...because you have to turn it upwards inside the wheel arch you can’t get anything long in there like a breaker bar to get some leverage on it and I don’t have a powerful impact wrench but it’s that tight I doubt even one of them would get it off.

Much appreciated.

[cliffcoggin]

Hello Brad.

I've never done the job on an A3 so I can not visualise it, but I know suspension parts get covered in dirt and water causing severe rusting of the bolts. I have found these tips can sometimes be useful:

- a socket extension may give you a bigger swing on the wrench,

- extreme heat from a blowlamp may break the rust bond, but beware of nearby fuel lines, paint, brake lines, rubber components etc.

- if all else fails I have sometimes resorted to splitting the nut with a hammer and cold chisel.

[BradH]

Hi, thanks for the reply.

Unfortunately there is no nut on the other side of the bolt, it’s just a bolt threaded in. If it won’t release after soaking in the plus-gas overnight then I do have a blowtorch so that might be my only option to heat the bolt up - I’ve done this before with a seized track rod end and it did work. I’ll just have to make sure I clean off the plus-gas first as it’s flammable!

Thanks for your help.

[Magnet]

Hello Brad, 

I think solving your problem rests in ‘.........I don’t have a powerful impact wrench...’ 

If this were mine, I would be getting this to my local trusted friendly garage or tyre retailer, and asking them to put their ‘proper’ impact wrench on the bolt - before you start to damage/ round the corners off bolt head!  These bolts are normally treated with thread lock from new and can be xxxx to undo, so my advice is do not play about trying to remove something which you don’t have the tools to deal with. 

Blowtorch? Little propane burner with a largish flame? Don’t worry about the Plusgass Brad, just worry about the petrol tank/filler. Not really for me to tell you what to do, but don’t do it! Anyway, the heat output (from propane alone) of these burners is unlikely to have much effect on releasing such a bolt from its heat-sink assembly. 

It went in, so it has to come out - with the correct tool. It’s not so much brute force but more about continuous  ‘shock’ rotation. 

Let us know how you get on Brad.

Kind regards,

Gareth. 

[cliffcoggin]

One other risky technique I have used in the past is to put a bottle jack under the wrench and use hydraulic force to raise it. I stress again it is risky. The jack might slip or the socket may come off the bolt. You can imagine the consequences.

[BradH]

Thanks for the reply guys. Tomorrow after work I’m going to have one last go before I take it to a garage (I’ve come this far I’m determined to finish it myself!). By tomorrow afternoon it will have been soaking in the dismantling fluid for a couple of days so I’m hoping it’ll come free, the bolt is still absolutely fine and hasn’t rounded as I’ve been careful nothing has slipped on it.

I will post an update when it’s done! Cheers

[BradH]

So I ended up taking it to a garage, they managed to undo it in a few minutes as up on the ramp you were able to get much better leverage on it than when jacked up on the floor. And they didn’t even charge me a penny for doing so, should’ve gone there in the first place!

All done now, cheers for your help guys.

[Magnet]

Hello Brad,

Glad that suggested route worked out for you.

Yes, I know it’s rewarding if you can do everything yourself, but if you weigh up the time, effort, struggle and frustration you spent on this, you now have to ask yourself why did you bother. Add to this the potential of doing yourself some serious injury, and/or rounding off bolt heads etc. because you just didn’t have the right tools or facilities, and I think it’s lesson well learnt for the future. 

Not for me to suggest what you do re the ‘.......they didn’t even charge me a penny’ bit, but if it were me, I would be quickly returning with a nice box of biscuits to go with their tea. You will then be recognised as the nice appreciative chap from up the road, rather than someone who calls in for a favour for nothing. Such contacts are worth the world. Look after them and they will look after you. 

Kind regards,

Gareth. 

[cliffcoggin]

2 hours ago, Magnet said:

Not for me to suggest what you do re the ‘.......they didn’t even charge me a penny’ bit, but if it were me, I would be quickly returning with a nice box of biscuits to go with their tea. You will then be recognised as the nice appreciative chap from up the road, rather than someone who calls in for a favour for nothing. Such contacts are worth the world. Look after them and they will look after you. 

And slip a tenner into the box while you are at it.