Help - Pedal Frozen in Crank



Stickbug

New Member
Dec 12, 2004
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I have a carbon crank arm that I have been unable to get the pedal out of. I have tried several penetrating oils, even soaked it in motor oil for 2 weeks without success. Any ideas?
 
Stickbug wrote:

> I have a carbon crank arm that I have been unable to get the pedal out
> of. I have tried several penetrating oils, even soaked it in motor oil
> for 2 weeks without success. Any ideas?
>
>

Have you tried a really big pedal spanner (not an allen key)?
 
Stickbug <[email protected]> writes:

> I have a carbon crank arm that I have been unable to get the pedal out
> of. I have tried several penetrating oils, even soaked it in motor oil
> for 2 weeks without success. Any ideas?


Are you loosening in the correct direction? If it's a left side
arm then it should have left-hand threads (loosen clockwise).

--
Michael Fuhr
http://www.fuhr.org/~mfuhr/
 
Not trying to be a wise ass here, but you do know that one side is a LH
thread, right?

Don't ask me how I know this. :)
Lewis.

****************************
 
Stickbug said:
I have a carbon crank arm that I have been unable to get the pedal out of. I have tried several penetrating oils, even soaked it in motor oil for 2 weeks without success. Any ideas?
It's the right side and it's a SPDR pedal that you can only use a allen on. I have already broken two cheap allen sockets trying to brake it loose. I'm beginning to think it's permanent.
 
>From: Stickbug

>It's the right side and it's a SPDR pedal that you can only use a allen
>on. I have already broken two cheap allen sockets trying to brake it
>loose. I'm beginning to think it's >permanent.


(Irresitible force method) Try a longer ratchet handle (reduced 1/2" drive?
cheater?) with no slop, get the crank arm held motionless, and try a better
allen socket (pawn shop? lots of small tools usually available). Plan, then
execute a strong, fairly sudden counterclockwise move, with your hand way out
on the end. Maybe that way it'll loosen "before" the allen breaks or slips.
--TP
 
Stickbug wrote:
>>I have a carbon crank arm that I have been unable to get the pedal out
>>of. I have tried several penetrating oils, even soaked it in motor oil
>>for 2 weeks without success. Any ideas?

> It's the right side and it's a SPDR pedal that you can only use a allen
> on. I have already broken two cheap allen sockets trying to brake it
> loose. I'm beginning to think it's permanent.


Can you disassemble the pedal and hold the shaft in a vise?
With most pedals, you can clamp the shaft without touching
(crushing) the bearing seats.

--
Andrew Muzi
www.yellowjersey.org
Open every day since 1 April, 1971
 
Stickbug wrote:
> Stickbug Wrote:
>
>>I have a carbon crank arm that I have been unable to get the pedal out
>>of. I have tried several penetrating oils, even soaked it in motor oil
>>for 2 weeks without success. Any ideas?

>
> It's the right side and it's a SPDR pedal that you can only use a allen
> on. I have already broken two cheap allen sockets trying to brake it
> loose. I'm beginning to think it's permanent.
>


ok, so to remove this rh thread, you're screwing the allen head /in/ so
the back side comes /out/, correct? that means turning clockwise.
 
On Mon, 13 Dec 2004 14:04:08 +1100, Stickbug
<[email protected]> wrote:

>It's the right side and it's a SPDR pedal that you can only use a allen
>on. I have already broken two cheap allen sockets trying to brake it
>loose. I'm beginning to think it's permanent.


I've had good luck by taking the crankarm off, wrapping in rags, and
putting into pipe holding part of vise. I now have the Pedro's hex
tool with the big handle. Before that, I used a long hex key and a
piece of narrow pipe around it. Certainly, if the pedal has flats,
use a big 15 mm wrench.
 
A Muzi said:
Stickbug wrote:
>>I have a carbon crank arm that I have been unable to get the pedal out
>>of. I have tried several penetrating oils, even soaked it in motor oil
>>for 2 weeks without success. Any ideas?

> It's the right side and it's a SPDR pedal that you can only use a allen
> on. I have already broken two cheap allen sockets trying to brake it
> loose. I'm beginning to think it's permanent.


Can you disassemble the pedal and hold the shaft in a vise?
With most pedals, you can clamp the shaft without touching
(crushing) the bearing seats.

--
Andrew Muzi
www.yellowjersey.org
Open every day since 1 April, 1971
Thanks Andrew. that thought did cross my mind but I didn't think it was possible. I'm off to take a look.
 
Sometimes a little vibration helps the penatrating oil do it's thing. Take a short piece of an allen wrench, stick it in the hole, and tap lightly at first to see if it will let the oil work in. I would try tapping a little harder the second time, but that's up to you.
Good Luck
 
A last resort - try heating the thread briefly with a soldering iron - the (slight) expansion /contraction sometimes unstick threads.
 
Take the pedal apart and gently heat the spindle with a heat gun. Not over 350 F, get a temperature indicating crayon. Let cool, oil and it should come out.
 
Hello Stickbug--

Some suggestions----I presume that your carbon crank arm has a threaded
metal insert to serve as the female part of the pedal-crank joint:

1. Contact Sheldon Brown by email with your question.
[email protected]

2. Contact Peter Chisholm at the address below with your question---he's a
sage and a big time poster on the rec.bicycle.net.
Peter Chisholm
Vecchio's Bicicletteria
1833 Pearl St.
Republic of Boulder
(303)440-3535
http://www.vecchios.com

3. Pour either coke or pepsi on the frozen joint or if you have citric acid
powder--make up an aqueous solution and pour on the joint...let it soak at
least overnite. The phosphoric acid or citric acid should dissolve any
rust related freeze-up. If you can lay your hands on 10-25% phosphoric acid
you may want to try it. Don't go with anything stronger---they can wreak
havoc with steel.

4. There is the possibility that the dissimilar metals have experienced a
galvanic reaction and you have an oxidation type freeze-up. Similar to
rusting but may not be resolvable by the acids in 3 above.

5. Finally, have you tried heating the joint? You could possibly do with
boiling water, heating tape or, IF VERY CAREFUL, with propane torch (use a
sweeping motion and check for joint loosening often)--- these two materials
may have different coefficients of expansion/contraction.

Let me know if you are successful and what worked for you.

good luck.
Adrian

You wrote-----
I have a carbon crank arm that I have been unable to get the pedal out
of. I have tried several penetrating oils, even soaked it in motor oil
for 2 weeks without success. Any ideas?

"Stickbug" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
>
> I have a carbon crank arm that I have been unable to get the pedal out
> of. I have tried several penetrating oils, even soaked it in motor oil
> for 2 weeks without success. Any ideas?
>
>
> --
> Stickbug
>
 
I posted a response to the message below back on 12/15 but don't see it
appearing in the newsgroup. What gives??

"Stickbug" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
>
> I have a carbon crank arm that I have been unable to get the pedal out
> of. I have tried several penetrating oils, even soaked it in motor oil
> for 2 weeks without success. Any ideas?
>
>
> --
> Stickbug
>
 
Adrian Snyder top-posted:

> I posted a response to the message below {deleted} back on 12/15 but

don't
> see it appearing in the newsgroup. What gives??


Your server ate it (never picked it up or dropped it); happens all the time.

It's there (no replies as yet); check Google Groups if compelled to do so...
--
BS (no, really)
 
In descending order of desperateness, here’s what I recommend:

1. After spraying in Liquid Wrench, I rap it (usually the shaft)
smartly several times over the course of removal attempts, w/ a small
hammer. And especially when reefing on the stuck part. I was told 45
yrs ago that it causes the molecules to vibrate which helps the
penetrating oil to advance. This was back in Ohio in my youth. Never
had much confidence in what I heard back there. My lack of confidence
was supported by their presidential vote this last election :-O
However I usually eventually get stuff loose, so I always do it.

2. Buy the absolute best Allen socket or key such as Snap-On. Put the
ratchet drive or Allen key inside a tight fitting pipe. (I don’t know
why but a tight fitting cheater pipe seems to work better that a loose
one). With the crank set installed on the bike & wheels installed
@~25psi & connected by the chain, someone leaning on the seat, have at
it w/ 4 ft long cheater bar.

3. An even better idea would to use the largest drive Allen socket made
(my guess is ½” drive) for the size Allen hole in the pedal. Connect
this to the largest slider “T” bar you can but & adapt it down to the
Allen socket you have. Then put along cheater bar on each side of the
“T” bar. This would balance the load much better.

The ultimate & expensive way to remove the pedal is to take it to a
machine shop & have them drill out the spindle & remove it w/ an easy
out. The spindle is probably to hard to do this @ home.

For future ref; always use antiseze on pedals, freewheels (what are
those?) and anywhere else that might get stuck. It's cheap compared to
ruining expensive parts.
HTH, John