One Tough Nut To Crack!

While trolling around last night on the internet,  I stumbled across a very cool tool that splits rusted nuts off bolts.  Called:  Wait for it……..The Nut Splitter tool!

I thought that THIS was my solution.   No long extension cord needed,  No propane torch,  no welding, no drilling, no oil, no more cursing….( by me, that is)

After watching several videos, I figured that this was a message from the heavens.  I was so excited to learn that Menards had one in stock that I barely slept last night.   I showed Cheryl the videos and told her how it worked, and  she decided to allow me to have just enough money to purchase one.  ( So now I KNOW this is the right tool!)  You can probably imagine me wagging my tail as I skip down the aisles of Menards, nut splitter in hand, eager to get another crack at the job of replacing the Emission Vent Valve Solenoid.  ( Let’s just call it the vent valve…..I hate looking up and typing the official name of the thing.)

I drop down the Charcoal canister,  Latch on the Nut Splitter, and begin cracking!

Problem:   Where is the rewarding “POP!” of the nut as it fractures?  I can see I have gone through it.    Time to spin it around to the other side. 

Again…no sound….Unlike ALL the videos on You Tube….This nut is flared at the bottom.  I’m doing nothing more than splitting the top part of the hex.    I grab a hammer and screwdriver and begin whacking away.  An Eternity later….The nut looks even LESS like it will ever come off.   Time to whip out the cutting tools.

I barrowed an extension cord from the neighbor and dug out all the Dremel bits and WeCheer accessories I could think of.   I even had the Drill on standby  in the event this did not work. 

I ended up slicing off chunk after chunk until the darn thing finally gave way.  I could hear trumpets in my brain as I FINALLY got the flared part off the bolt.

With the nut and bolt FINALLY off,  it took about 3 minutes to replace the bolt, line up the holes and replace the vent valve with the new one. What should have taken less than 30 minutes took me about two days ( 5 hours total…not counting drive time and shopping for parts….Or research and diagnostic time.) It is not like I had anything else to do with my time…and I actually enjoy solving problems on the Subaru….( as long as I’m able to fix them!)

So, I also replaced the stud on the Charcoal canister and put everything back together.   The Check engine light is off ( for the time being)  Hopefully everything…including the stalling issue at the gas pump, will be remedied.   It will probably take a full week to find out as we were forced to fill up the gas tank this morning, and the problem ( as expected) persisted.