Took me 4 hours to fix a 10 minute problem because of bad YouTube advice

Was trying to replace the thermostat on my 2005 Honda Civic last Saturday. Every video I watched said to pull the coolant hose with pliers, but the clamp was seized and I spent 3 hours fighting it. Finally called my buddy in Phoenix who said just use a flathead screwdriver to pop the clip. Fixed it in 4 minutes. Has anyone else wasted a whole afternoon because you trusted the wrong tutorial?

3 comments

3 Comments

murphy.barbara20d ago

Did you try PB Blaster on the clamp first?

norathomas20d ago

PB Blaster works about half the time for me. The other half it just makes a mess and I still end up cutting the thing off. @murphy.barbara I think you're right to suggest trying it first, but that clamp looks like it's been welded on by a previous owner. I saw one like that on a 98 F150 last month and nothing short of an angle grinder was going to separate it.

the_charlie18d ago

Did your buddy try heat on it? I had a friend who spent three hours fighting a rusted clamp on his Silverado, soaked it in PB, let it sit, still nothing. Finally he just torched the thing off and that worked.