kr2015

Turns out the screws holding in my rear license plate are rusted beyond belief. I put in some WD-40 but still no movement. Using a wrench ended up breaking the head off the bolt. Anyone run into this before? Any tips on how to get the rest of the bolt out? Should I just take it in to the dealer?

a1rh3adsz

spray some more fluid and use vise grips. heating it up will help alot also.

unioncorps

Are those the same license plate screws that came with the car? If I'm not mistaken, they should be rust free unless they were changed out.

When I bought my car, I was going to go to Home Depot and get some rust-proof screws to replace the rear license plate screws, but the dealer told me that the ones that come stock on the cars (at least for 2018's) are the rust-proof versions. I may just end up changing them out anyway.

Napalvr

Pittsy

You could drill them out, but be careful, you will probably have to retap that hole. Theres probably a better option than this, but alas it is an option

arentz07

Just go to a dealer or auto parts store. They should have an impact wrench or some other tool that can get it out. I just had to do this last week, and I just stopped by the dealer, who was happy to help me out.

kr2015

Yes, these are the original screws. The back ones were pretty bad where they wouldn't even move. The front screws also have rust on them but I was able to take them out. I ended up getting new ones from Home Depot.

chinox22x

have you tried screw extractors? There are different kinds, this is just an example

Ciggy

iTrader: (1)

My plate is stuck... tried to remove it twice and left it in fear of doing too much damage. I'll get it one day....

Hope you figure it out. It's not so much the head is stripped it's more that it's rusted and seized. WD-40... heat.... not easy.

kr2015

Took it to the dealer and they were able to get it out.

kr2015

Whoa! That would've been cool. Not sure if it would damage the car or if the hole would've needed to be rethreaded (the dealer did that for me)

kr2015

Have you considered taking it to the dealer? I called ahead of time and they told me to just bring it in without an appointment. The tech worked on my car while also servicing another one.

Htony

Soak with penetrating oil, vice grip is good idea. My dealer uses Stainless screws.

kr2015

Didn't realize there was a variant of WD-40 that's a penetrating oil. I assumed the regular WD-40 would work. I did use vise grips. Not sure what it would've been like with penetrating oil but without it, it twisted the screw head off