I'm in the process of changing an inlet manifold in its entirety along with fuel rail and injectors as the car runs as rough as anything, in fact it barely even runs. MES throws up "inlet manifold air seepage" and "pressure sensor value" errors.

I've changed the MAP sensor and the vacuum sensor but no difference whatsoever. General consensus is an air leak somewhere within the plastic housing of the inlet manifold so I'm changing the entire thing.

I've come up against a hurdle with a nut. The nut in the picture won't undo. You have limited space, so only a spanner will go on. I'm sure it turned a smidge but now I cannot get the spanner on it. A socket isn't deep enough because of the stud and a long reach is too long. I can't get to it from the side, and I dont think underneath will be any use either.

I've ordered all sorts of funky spanners on Amazon tonight but short of taking a saw to the manifold and cutting the plastic to give me more room I'm out of ideas.

Anyone got any ideas how I might get this undone.

Shorten a 'deep'socket... the ones that the nut disappears into are too long anyway

Ratchet ringspanners are handy too..
But can be a bit bulky..

The nut looks a little 'worn'. Best bet is a single-hex spanner or socket, not a bi-hex. Many these days claim to put pressure on teh flank, not the hex tips, so should be better for this.
Often cheap sockets can work in these situations, as they can offer different lengths.
The stud does not seem to protrude too far, so a normal socket should fit ok, might need to find a 1/4" drive to gain better access, or a 3/8" may work, but a 1/2" will be too big.

Worst case, a hacksaw blade, without the handle, and cut across the nut, close to the stud. Will take ages, with much cussing required, but you need a new nut anyway.

portland_bill said:

Worst case, a hacksaw blade, without the handle, and cut across the nut, close to the stud. Will take ages, with much cussing required, but you need a new nut anyway

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Same idea, but faster. Try taking the side off the nut using a rotary abrasive cutting disc in a dremel, taking great care not to damage the stud threads.

An alternative is to locknut another nut onto the stud and extract both nut and stud together; success depends how tightly the stud is secured.

A sharp pointed punch and a hammer (use with care!) on the flats may also help, perhaps in combination with cutting away part of the nut.

Got to agree with Bill, the nut is rounding off, likely due to using an open ended spanner and the nut being very soft (it only holds a plastic part on).

You need a ring spanner or maybe a 1/4 inch ratchet socket set will fit, you can get 1/4 ratchets with very small heads that should fit in the gap.

If there's little room to swing one, perhaps a ratchet ring key spanner like these might fit.
https://www.toolstation.com/draper-black-ratchet-spanner-set/p40277

Or a Flex head like this
https://uk.rs-online.com/web/p/sock...Fp_JYzxasCAtaIMdQ4BoC7isQAvD_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds

Before butchering the nut/stud with hammers, hacksaws and punches, I would be tempted to cut away the plastic manifold first to get better access with a ring key or socket.
Give up with the open ended spanner, you'll just make it worse.

Soak it in PlusGas (surprised no-one else has mentioned penetrating lube), wait 24 hours, a good 6-sided socket ought to do it

If all fails, try a nut splitter tool. From the pic, it looks as if one could fit.

Eklipze3k said:

Soak it in PlusGas (surprised no-one else has mentioned penetrating lube), wait 24 hours, a good 6-sided socket ought to do it

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Its great stuff..
But he thought it was already turning..

( might just be the nut deforming though..)

I've some Sealy impact sockets they're great(especially if rusty being hex head and a large hole down the centre as long as you can get a extension and ratchet on?

Thanks everyone for your suggestions. Cuttingn it scares me a little bit. I don't want to damage the stud.

I have got some PlusGas. I'll whack some of that on.

I had toyed with the idea of cutting the plastic of the manifold to allow me to get a socket in there. I've got a 1/4 inch drive set which goes in but wih the length of the stud it won't fit over the nut. I could try the suggestion of cutting down a long reach one, that might work.

I've tried ratchet spanners, like a conventional spanner it just won't go over the nut at all.

Pretty sure this is what I have, https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Sealey-A...795014&hash=item20e1b85fe3:g:504AAOSwPwxe7bDs

https://www.screwfix.com/p/hilka-pr...fmaPpHLGcIDjzDOpY4BoCRuQQAvD_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds

Should do the job without damaging the stud

Eklipze3k said:

https://tite-reach.com/

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Oh I do like that, shame it’s American. Not sure it would fit through the hole though.

typecastboy said:

Oh I do like that, shame it’s American. Not sure it would fit through the hole though.

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With teh damaged nut, it is imperative that any socket is held on it properly. Whilst that tool looks wonderful, trying to keep the socket on the nut, whilst juggling the rest of it, and turning the ratchet, looks like it needs at least three hands.

AndyRKett said:

Should do the job without damaging the stud

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The principle is great but that particular example is rubbish quality.

What about cutting one of these down?
https://www.eurocarparts.com/p/am-t...sM5fFIDzbmvcoiWgV5FzOZCyB7JiwzARoCuoUQAvD_BwE

If the hole for the bar isn't in the right place to get a good swing on it, you could always drill another.

My experience of tube: box spanners is they are poorly toleranced..


A worn nut and a slack fitting tool dont work well..
although you could invent the
'LOCK Washer'

Try an imperial socket on it may be a better fit

varesecrazy said:

My experience of tube: box spanners is they are poorly toleranced..


A worn nut and a slack fitting tool dont work well..
(

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I agree, but I can't see that nut being winged up mega tight as the part it's holding on is plastic.

I think it's just a soft metal nut that's been heated and cooled repeatedly and is now starting to round off due to a open ended spanner not fitting it plumb when first tackled as it slipped off due to limited access.
The thread of the stud even looks good, no muck or rust.

If you got a reasonable all round fit (socket/box/flex head) on the nut with a bit of leverage I reckon it'll undo fairly easily.

It's just a matter of finding/making the right tool to get the fit and the leverage.

You could make your own box spanner, if you can get a normal 1/2" drive socket to fit the nut you could drill through that and put a bar in the hole to lever it around.