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It's been awhile since I had the coolant system flushed. It seems the bleeder boltjust above therostat housing has become stuck pretty good. I don't want to strip it but it's really hard to move it. Any ideas?
Ended up taking car to a couple very local shops and asking them to take it off for me. First guy, a smaller shop, wouldn't touch it, said he might break the thermostat housing below. Second guy, a larger very established shop, had me pull in---luckily he was in the lobby and recognized me from past visits otherwise his wife charges right away--and he took a 3foot long hollow metal pipe, hammered the correct 17mm 3inch bit over the stripped bolt, then put the pipe over the socket wrench. It took a good push but it came off. He didn't charge a dime. I had already gone to Lexus dealer to purchase the replacement bolt ($10). I will attempt to bleed the system tomorrow after i pick up ordered bolt.
Presently the car's heat is not working and it's overheating...two things it was not doing prior to me draining the water out of the radiator....so I am pretty sure I introduced an air pocket into the system. My plan is get the front end up on jacks then follow the instructions here for bleeding the coolant system even tho few of them mention the bleeder plug. Whereas most of them mention how easy it is to get an air pocket in the system.
in the future never use that 12 point wrench on a large bolt 14mm+
it usually just strips the heads and then makes it difficult to remove.
always use a 6 point socket and a breaker bar or slip a metal pipe over your short socket, and on the first try you usually can get the bolt off without stripping it.
using a 12 point socket can make the job much more difficult they almost always strip the head if the bolt is on tight from age, then you need a new bolt.
with the 6 point and the right amount of force (never can have too long a breaker bar for unbolting stuff) you can get them out without stripping anything.
10-21-15, 08:47 AM
Bleeder bolt stuck!
