too risky. car is beautiful.
not lighter element. thr element isnt in play. its the inner and oughter sleeves thT screw together. ill post a video.
Iām probably not understanding the configuration you are working with. If it is like two pipes, one threaded into the other, the inner one is open inside, and you want to unthread the inner one from the outer but canāt get a grip on the inner , thereās probably some sort of plumbing tool that would work. Look in the plumbing section of the hardware store at the specialty tools. Nipple extractor, etc. Another method might be to glue a third pipe (or dowel) inside the inner pipe, let the glue set for a couple days, then youād have something to grab hold of.
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If I am understanding the situation correctly, the element is frozen to the housing. also, you cannot get behind the dash to unscrew the housing unit.
so, why donāt you put the knob back on the element if you removed it and then turn the knob counterclockwise. you will need to put some red lock-tite on the knob threads to stop the knob from unscrewing. (or just put a vise grip on the knob threads) then you should be able to loosen the nut that holds the housing unit by unscrewing it from the dash. or at least loosen it enough to be able to hold the nut with a finger and unscrew it the rest of the way. unless the nut behind the dash that holds the housing in is rusted to the housing too.
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Here is a really simple idea. leave the lighter unpowered, tape up the power wire and just leave it alone. If you must smoke buy a Zippo.
Itās been a long time but Iāve encountered this before. A lot depends on just how much access you can get to the backside of the socket. Some are tucked way up in the dash and others protrude quite a bit from the backside.
If it were my problem, I would first try to fabricate a tool like the one Tester showed. Then lightly grip the outer housing from the back side with a vice grip while twisting. A fine tip butane torch might allow some heating to break the bond between the parts.
Gripping the bezel part is far too dangerous to damaging the dash since it has a significant curve to it.
If the above didnāt work and depending on access, I might try to slice the threaded portion and pry them apart from the backside. That is thin metal, wonāt take much effort using a cutting disc on a dremel-
That might be enough relief to allow the tool to work from the inner sleeve and twist them apart.
My nuclear option would be to cut the bezel with the dremel around the inner diameter. A proper diameter cutoff wheel that fits into the socket could cut around the inner diameter and separate the partsā¦
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there is no nut actually.
i think this has to be it. i got that lighter removal tool and its still a no go. im going to try and lube it all up again and try again but yah. this is probably how i have to do it. small sawzall maybe. thankfully its aluminum so it should be an easy cut if i can get blade up in there
that outter bezzle just spins freely too.
The nut is shown in the palm of your hand, see the threads on one end? The notches on the base of the ānutā prevent it from rotating while installing or removing, you must rotate the inner part of the socket to loosen and remove.
I think Iām finally beginning to understand the configuration you are dealing with. Itās an interesting puzzle, good on you for sticking with it. First off, suggest to try some rust dissolving thread penetrant rather than just a simple lube product. PB Blaster, Liquid Wrench, or equivalent are the common commercial products and work well. I usually make mine from scratch, 1/3 acetone, 1/3 automatic trans fluid (Mercon 5), and 1/3 WD 40. Takes a little longer to soak in and break the rust bond, but with patience usually does the trick much better than a plain-jane lube. Let it work overnight at least. As far as how to actually unscrew the inner part once the rust bond is broken, maybe your cork idea was a good start. But instead of just shoving the cork into the inner part and twisting on it with a screwdriver, hoping for the best, cut a slot in the cork lengthwise, then once it is inserted in the inner part, drive a small wooden wedge into the slot. Or maybe just insert the screwdriverinto the slot, same idea. The wedge-effect will expand the cork and make it fit very tightly. A wooden dowel might work better than cork btw, wonāt twist as much. Isnāt auto repair fun? ā¦ lol ā¦
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This tread started as a stuck lighter element, but it seems the element has been removed from the socket.
There are slots inside the socket. Insert two flat blade screw drivers into opposing slots, position the screw drivers so they are crossed, then rotate the socket.
wont work. i guess i considered the element to be the part that did the heating. not the part that was heated. maybe thatās the confusion.
ok misunderstood. they are bonded together. i understand what yur saying. with the leverage i have the twist iām doing isnāt strong enuff.
its so stuck that this tool twisted around and deformed
Iād get a Dremel with a metal grinding bit and cut the tube from the bezel.
A saw is back and forth motion that will impart significant motion into the parts. This runs the risk of the bezel moving back and forth as the saw works. The hole is slightly larger than the part that goes into it. This motion could damage the dash paint around the bezel and be visible when the new part is installed. This is why I suggested a rotary cutting wheel. It spins at very high speed and does not vibrate back and forth. Just stick the dremel head with the cutoff wheel into the socket just deep enough to go past the dash and cut in a circle to cut the inner sleeve apart. The bezel comes out the front, the rest falls out the back. Or cut longitudinally across the threads at the back and peel the outer sleeve off the inner sleeve. It would be done by now 
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Do you come from the planet Krypton? ā¦ lol ā¦ You definitely got a perplexing problem there. The ironic thing is that if you wanted those two parts to stick together like that, no matter what you did, they would immediately separate ā¦ lol
One thing after not being able to get something off is to make sure you are turning it the right way. Then check your tool box for plumbing tools like an internal pipe wrench.
Why is this marked solved?
