Brake fluid as a Penetrating fluid

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can brake fluid be used as a penetrating fluid, to relieve rusted up broken studs. ive busted 3out of 4 m8x1.25 bolts that hold up my Toyota Tacomas skid pan and rather not drill and tap them out, I have access to the top of the broken stud and want to screw them right up and out but they are seized pretty good, also I have no access to heat torch. I was thinking of using a double nut jam or just use vise grips to tighten the shaft up and out. any good tips/tools appreciated. also ive used PB Blaster and a WD40 that really didn't penetrate the threads at all.
 
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Originally Posted By: mrsilv04
Brake Fluid tested as a penetrating fluid. Courtesy of Project Farm.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=st8dkGzJWtg
this is the video I watched, it seems the brake fluid had penetrated very well down the threaded shaft compared to generic penetrant fluids
 
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Originally Posted By: fordmanwv
yes my grandfather used brake fluid as penetrating oil. Use new fluid put it on and let it set overnight or longer.
I had new front struts put on my truck and basically all 4 bolts were seized/rusted even after soaking PB Blaster for days all the bolts I broke threads were dry as a bone. I actually used a toothbrush to scrub the remaining broken studs with brake fluid hopefully it does better than PB Blaster did
 
I know you said that you don't have access to a torch, but I'd still recommend that route. A small propane torch is pretty inexpensive and can make a huge difference in getting a frozen bolt loose. Even a small butane torch like you'd use for lighting cigars and such could be used (might not work well if it's not quite designed to be held on for long periods of time).

Plus, there are lots of different uses for a torch!
 
Penetrating oil often takes several days or even a couple of weeks to really penetrate in and do it's work. A good dose of patience is often required. I recently changed the rear and front diff fluid of our 2010 Forester and had quite a time with the front diff drain plug, it was frozen and rusted in pretty good and I did not want to use a cheater bar and round out the torx drain plug. Since the threads point upward and gravity was doing it no favors, I sprayed it really good about every other day or 2 with WD40 and when that ran out I had a can of Johnson penetrating oil, finally after about 3-4 weeks of keeping it sprayed down good, I was able to remove it fairly easily without a cheater bar and without damaging the torx. Not sure about brake fluid, but my grandfather used to use nail polish remover (acetone) along with trans fluid and it worked about as good as liquid wrench or WD40, but still took time to penetrate. Any penetrating oil is certainly going to work better and faster if the head of the bolt/ screw or plug is pointing downward, vs upward or horizontal.
 
Another vote for Aerokroil. If you buy a quart of Kreen, you can get a free can of AeroKroil. Not sure if the moneyback guarantee covers the free spray can, but I just bought my third quart of Kreen.
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All I use anymore is whatever Dexteon came out of whatever tranny I changed. Mix with acetone . So easy to use with a spray bottle . Guess what. ITS ALMOST FREE A LIFETIME SUPPLY just for changing your tranny juice I found it works as good as anything out there but takes time unless you got a torch. P
 
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