FastLife91

car, 2006 mk2 ford focus sport 1.8 TDCI.

Been working on this for 2 days taking 12 hours so far.

The top bolt on turbo oil feed pipe is loose and oil is coming out of it, I can loosen it just about but to tighten it past finger tight is an absolute nightmare ! there is the exhaust manifold to the left in the way and a box thing (somebody said it looks like torque something, said does not think it can be removed ?? )

Only solution I can think of is to get a hacksaw and narrow the width of the spanner, then hopefully I may get a turn on it, otherwise the whole EGR manifold and turbo e.t.c. must be removed ! ( a friend of mine tightened the same bolt once took him 15 minutes but cannot remember how he did it ) , the EGR is integral with the exhaust manifold/inlet manifold on these engines.

do you have any tips how I can remove the bolt, is cutting spanner with a hacksaw possible and/or crazy ???

please help !!


edit : just tried with a basic hacksaw ( think this one is compatible with metal) but keeps slipping, was only a cheap one, should I get a better hack saw or is the option of cutting a spanner with a hacksaw a complete no no ??

ray barker

what i would do is when you cut through the spanner with the hacksaw is keep going through the rest of the car might be quicker with a grinder

studabear

Flare nut spanner might be a help, where in North west are you?

studabear

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/BERGEN-Fla...gAAOSwu4BV2a8w

FastLife91

5 miles from Wigan, 15 from Southport, 10 from St Helens.

I live in a town called Skelmersdale , do you know it ?

I will look up flare spanner now, are they thin on either side ?

thank you so much for helping, please respond when possible.

cheers

edit: thanks just saw the pic, that is certainly much better than a regular spanner, will it fir do you tihnk though ? the gap to the right is maybe quarter a centimeter or half at most, bit more of a gap on left but only small gap.

Can I buy these in any local shops as I don't really want to wait several days for Ebay.

thanks a lot !

studabear

I would lend you mine but I'm a bit far away in Blackpool. You would get a set from ebay by Tuesday if you pay for express delivery.

FastLife91

I don't usually admit this but I was close to tears today, it is really getting to me,. disrepair after disrepair, this car was bought with money from my Nan so It feels sentimental in a way, I want to have more use out of it, only had it 18 months, It seems every week something on it fails and I am not exactly a mechanic but lately I have been tackling a lot of repairs myself.
In 5 years since I began driving I've had 4 cars and spent over Ł9,000 repairing them. all of which so far have either been scrapped and one given away in exchange for a job on current car.

I feel very achy, tired and my hands are very sore and scratched, It's like I do one job and something else pops up, absolutely unbelievable.
had the car 18 months and do not feel I have had chance to enjoy it. with the other issues it seems it might be scrapped soon unless I decide to throw another Ł1,000 plus rectifying these faults but seeing as it is an 11 year old focus it may not be worth it.
I just feel I am at breaking point with it, it's really getting to me. I've been stuck on this stupid bolt for over 10 hours in these past 2 days.
My mum who I live with does not know how this makes me feel I have not said anything to her about how It makes me feel but it's good to tell someone.

Somebody here mentioned flare spanner, would that work do you think, I only have a small gap of about half a centimetre on one side, and about a centimeter on other side, would this fit it ?

please respond when possible.

cheers

FastLife91

Thank you so much for the kind offer, much appreciated.

I really want to hope these will work, My hands are very sore/scratched, I feel very tired and achy and it is really getting me upset because I'm having so much bad luck with cars over recent years and I have never had chance to enjoy this car, I really haven't and I really don't know what to do.

The gap to the right is minimal, like half a centimetre but a bit wider on other side (about 1 centimeter), is it likely these may work ? I'm sure it will grip one side (regular spanner almost fits one side, well half fits one side)

these flare spanners certainly seem much much better than the regular spanners, thank you for informing me of them.

please reply when possible.

thanks so much

FastLife91

EDIT: Are the openings of the flare spanners the same width of a regular spanner opening ?

cheers

Caddyshack

My dad used to say "ah, the joys of motoring"

Don't let it get you down buddy, just re frame it in your mind that you are learning as you go.

I sometimes find that not slogging away all day is the solution, going back at it the next day seems to help, especially if you can squirt the area in wd40 to let it soak.

Also, you may find that you can get to it from underneath if you jack up the car.

Yesterday I found a lose engine mount on my car and instead of struggling to get at the bolts I took off the turbo and exhaust manifold to get to it, longer job but made the engine mount a doddle.

Caddyshack

Can you take any pictures to help us see what you are doing. I bet if you spoke to a local ford garage tech they would tell you how they do it.

RichieST

iTrader: (2)

I presume it's a banjo type fitting? If so the reason it is loose is probably because the seals have failed, so if you tighten it up it may continue to leak. In my opinion I would want to be taking the oil line off and changing the seals.

burnzy

If they are copper seals and they aren't all chewed up, you can heat them cherry red and let them cool down naturally and it'll soften them back up and you'll be able to re use them again

cossynut2

Have you asked any mechanics at your nearest Ford Main Dealer Garage for any advice on how to remove it. Sometimes they have a special tool?
The other option is to look at a regular spanner and mark on it with marker pen exactly what needs to be cut so it will fit, and use a small disc cutter with metal disc to cut it. Put it in a vice to do it.
I have done the same thing in the past with success and have a few "modified" spanners in my tools.
I do feel for you as sometimes it looks like its just not possible to do something but its best not to keep trying if its not working and take stock of the situation.
There is always a solution to a mechanical problem and when you find it your sense of satisfaction and relief will be tremendous! Best of luck.

Caddyshack

Cossynut is totally right.

Yesterday I was thinking, a broken arm might be useful to get to the nut under my hart inlet...painful but nice and bendy...

5hane

Could you give your mate a call?

studabear

Can you fit a socket and ratchet in?

155lee

iTrader: (10)

The best thing to do is take a walk,forget about it for ten mins.
If you cannot fix something the more you get worked up about it the less likely you are to be in the right frame of mind to repair it or get it apart.
Post up a pic of the leaking banjo and it may help us to suggest something else.
And don't put a huge negative on the whole car,just take on 1 job at a time and deal with that.
There's a little yellow box with what looks like a mountain above the box you write in,press that and that lets you upload pics to your thread without having to use photobucket.

stevieturbo

angle grinder

gcfcos

Try and put a picture up matey, that way we may be able to suggest a good way of doing it

FastLife91

Thank you. I try not to let it get me down but it is so difficult when one has had such bad luck with cars.
It would be much more difficult if not impossible from underneath, my arms would be nowhere long enough to reach up that high.
I can do it from the top and actually put my fingers around the bolt without any strain. the problem is not enough room on the right side to tighten it. the spanner hits some kind of box thing with wires in it. if that can be removed it would be problem solved but I am not sure it can be removed.

Video below of what I filmed this morning, please watch and share your thoughts.

Thank you for replying.
I am not confident speaking on the phone and I wouldn't be able to explain the problem to them properly unless I spoke face-face because I get anxious on the phone, Ford is about 10 miles away and people are so unreliable so getting up there would be difficult.
Anyway, below is a video of what I filmed on the car this morning, please watch and share your ideas.
Thank you for your response.

I think it is a banjo bolt. It is difficult to loosen but I can loosen the bolt from it's fixing but it is integral with the pipe and won't come loose, however I can only tighten it so much as finger tight, then it needs a spanner to tighten but have no room to tighten.
We made a homemade turbo pipe with reinforced hose and attached the ends to the couple of inches of original metal pipe still attached to the fixings, therefore because we didn't have the egr manifold and other components out the way we could only tighten it so far but since hitting a massive pothole I think the bolt has come loose because of that. So I think it is not the seal/s it's the bolt, we could not tighten it properly
please watch this short video of it I filmed this morning and share you're thoughts .

We made a homemade turbo pipe with reinforced hose and attached the ends to the couple of inches of original metal pipe still attached to the fixings, therefore because we didn't have the egr manifold and other components out the way we could only tighten it so far but since hitting a massive pothole I think the bolt has come loose because of that. So I think it is not the seal/s it's the bolt, we could not tighten it properly
please watch this short video of it I filmed this morning and share you're thoughts .


Thank you for replying.
I am not confident speaking on the phone and I wouldn't be able to explain the problem to them properly unless I spoke face-face because I get anxious on the phone, Ford is about 10 miles away and people are so unreliable so getting up there would be difficult.

I have thought of cutting a spanner but have no disc cutter and no vice. would a local garage (nearest one is a fair distance away) have a vice and disc cutter ?
please watch this short video I filmed of my car from this morning and share your ideas.

thanks.
I agree but I have no disc cutter or vice.
please watch this short video I filmed of my car from this morning and share your ideas.



thanks for replying.

I can't as I think he is away for a while.

please watch this short video I filmed of my car from this morning and share your ideas.

hi, thanks for the response.

No, I believe a socket and ratchet will not fit, the space is too small.
please watch this short video I filmed of my car from this morning and share your ideas.

thank you very much and good advice but when one thinks he has tried everything it is difficult to know what to do, but a brief walk in between is good.

please watch this short video I filmed of my car from this morning and share your ideas.

Thanks for replying.

I have no angle grinder to use though.
please watch this short video I filmed of my car from this morning and share your ideas.


thank you very much.
please watch this short video I filmed of my car from this morning and share your ideas.


I should have shown this in the video but to inform those who do not know much of these engines and what is in the way, to the left it has the EGR integral with the manifold and this is also in the way to get a turn.


I really do not want to have the EGR removed as I believe it to be an absolute pain. all I want is to tighten this bolt a little more

to the right is some sort of box thing with wires out of it, if that can be removed then this would give me 100% access to tighten the bolt, but can it be removed ?


egr

gcfcos

Could u try a crows foot spanner in there?

FastLife91

This has been a nightmare , who'd have thought such a thing like a bolt can cause so much distress and upset, I really hope this is resolved soon and I appreciate everybody here so much who take time out to help me, I really respect that so thanks

FastLife91

thank you

is that a flare spanner ? is the head on a flare spanner thinner than a regular spanner ? I have about a quarter centimetre gap per side, also is the opening wide enough on thee flare spanner as they look more like a c shape ?

I see the flare spanners on ebay, just don't want to wait for a few days just to discover they are the wrong ones, please help and thank you again for your help.

edit: just saw the pic on the link you posted, not sure that will do it as there doe not look enough room imo what about this type ?

155lee

iTrader: (10)

I think a deep socket with a vertical slot cut in it would go over that and alloy you to remove it to see why it's leaking,it looks a bit tight for a spanner.
Use mole grips (rough I know) to turn the socket,think that's what I'd make looking at the video.

FastLife91

thank you so much for replying.

I don't think a deep socket would work, it might but I am not sure , I just don't want to buy a lot of different tools and them not work, but I guess that is the way forwards sometimes isn't it ?

I think I know why it is leaking, the turbo pipe on it was made by a friend of mine as original was leaking, he attached the reinforced hose we made to the remaining inches of the original metal pipe but because we put this on without removing much we could only get a bit of a turn but was tight enough but I hit a big pothole the other night and I think that has loosened the bolt.

Are flare spanners possible for doing this, do they have a thinner head than the usual spanner ? The width on regular spanner on either side is too wide to get a tight turn.

what do you think of these for the job ?




please reply when possible and thanks

155lee

iTrader: (10)

If the pipe has been cut then take it off,cut it right down close to the nut then you will get a deep socket over it,then extend your rubber pipe with a piece that has a 90'c bend at the end.
Shouldn't be too hard to do that if it's basically what you have done already.

FastLife91

Thank you for your response.

I do not think a deep socket would work, the width of the socket all around would be too thick imo to fit into the gap
any other ideas you might have to resolve this problem would be appreciated very much.

gordyshreds

Best bet is going to be modifying a spanner to suit. Either by yourself or take it to someone with a bench grinder that can grind it down. If you are on a mega budget then you could get a coarse metal file and take off material yourself. Wouldn't like it say if them spanners you show will work. Is the bolt head still in good order or is it chewed up now from trying?

FastLife91

I was able to tap the side of the bolt with a screwdriver, had very limited space but got a few turns and it feels tight so when my power pack has charged the car battery I will start it up and see, but I know that if I had better access that the bolt can be turned a fair bit more .
It seems to be in quite tight now but I got it tight last time but still didn't stop oil from leaking, but I think this time it is a bit tighter, I will let you know once the car battery has started the engine then I will be able to see.

Even it is stop leaking from the bolt I still want to somehow tighten it further, I am considering finding somebody to alter a spanner to make it thin enough.

I will keep you updated and thanks

EDIT : Battery charged at last, engine started, oil leaking out worse than before and now battery completely flat again and will probably take another 2 hours to charge it with power pack hooked to it , I am so so so stressed , please please help

rik-rs

these long nose pliers to try and reach it and turn it more?



I know how bad car jobs are, i once launched my trolley jack shot put style, when it wouldnt go under the car..ha..

gcfcos

Was there a seal when u took the union off?

stevieturbo

You'll never grip any nut to tighten it with those. BUT....they are a superb tool to have.

rik-rs

, just an idea,,

FastLife91

Hi, thanks for the reply
when you say seal do you mean like a washer ?

No, I do not think so, in fact I am almost 100 % certain there was no seal.

I am at my absolute tether with it now, really am.

if I decide to go down the route of removing the EGR manifold will that give me the access to get a turn on this nut ? how difficult would this be to remove the egr which also means removing turbo and exhaust manifold ?

thanks

FastLife91

thanks for your reply, however I do not think they will work.

what will I have to remove to get a turn on this bolt if I decide to go down that route ? will the EGR , exhahut manifold, turbo e.t.c need to come off ?
thanks