Pedal wont come off

Jackal79

I know this has probably been asked before but I'm trying to change the pedals on my bike and I can't get the right hand one off. No matter how much I try its just not budging. I've tried a 15mm pedal wrench and an allen key and it's not having any of it. Just for my sanity - I'm trying to turn it anti-clockwise, is this right? What else can I try without damaging the crank arm?

schweiz

http://www.parktool.com/blog/repair-hel ... w-5-hcw-16

Soak in WD-40 may help too

ugo.santalucia

Very difficult for pedals to get stuck.... anti clockwise is correct for right side

Put the pedal wrench in place, as horizontal as you can, make sure the crank is facing forward and the rear wheel is on the ground and hammer the pedal wrench until it gets loose... it won't be long before it does

For the future.. no need to torque the pedals at 40 Nm, they are designed to have opposite threads so that they don't come off whilst pedalling

ride_whenever

Or just take it to your lbs and have them deal with the problem... they tend to be pretty good at properly stuck on bits.

RowCycle

I had to use bits of scaffold pole to get the leverage.

Or you could try hitting it with a hammer to get an impulse (I mean the pedal spanner not the bike despite how much you would want to do that - I know)

Yossie

When putting new pedals on slap loads of Copperslip in so that they don't seize into the threads. Also, as above, don't do up to 40Nm, hand tight then half a turn will be fine.

If it turns nto a real bugger, either LBS for laziness sake or take the crank arm off, wrap it in a rag to stop scratching, clamp it in a vice and try from there - easier than trying it whils scrabbling about hitting things with hammers and trying to stop a bike falling on you.

porker33

Had this before on a friends bike where the pedals had not been off for 5 years.

1 came off with brute force and ignorance.....the other no chance.

Then CAREFULLY we used a hot air gun to WARM the crank arm, having removed the plastic part of the pedal and bearings....literally 2 mins of heat and using the torque key, the pedal came off easily...so much easier than the other one.

Apologies for caps,,,but just to make the point you don't want to spoil the finish of the crank or pedal, just warm it.

crankycrank

You can also pour boiling water over the alu around the pedal axle.

Jackal79

Heat, I'd not thought of that one. I forgot to mention that I have a nice hole in the side of my thumb from trying to use force, and slipping onto the unprotected chain ring. There were a few choice words for several minutes.

markos1963

Jackal79 wrote:

Heat, I'd not thought of that one. I forgot to mention that I have a nice hole in the side of my thumb from trying to use force, and slipping onto the unprotected chain ring. There were a few choice words for several minutes.

I was just going to post about making sure you leave the chain on the large ring before attempting any brute force actions!

+1 for heat if you have tried brute force especially as you have the right scenario there with alloy on the outside and steel inside. Hairdryer is good or hot water.

Yossie

Hairdyer rocks as you can't scald yourself in a remedial stylee with a hair dryer as opposed to stupidly hot water.

Jackal79

Still no joy after the heat treatment either. Oh Well, back to the LBS it is then.

geebee2

I had a difficult pedal last night, removed crank arm, took round to friend who had a vice, secured it in vice, then used heavy mallet to tap pedal spanner, and it finally came off. This after pre-soaking in GT-85 and heating.

porker33

Jackal79 wrote:

Still no joy after the heat treatment either. Oh Well, back to the LBS it is then.

Heat will work as i said, but we used a heat gun as you would use for paint stripping etc...

set on medium, not to blister the paint, for a couple of minutes..... a hair dryer is a bit soft, it's for girls hair surely?

Coach H

3" or 4" breaker bar (from Screwfix or Machine Mart) with a good quality socket (Halfords Professional are surprisingly good)

If that doesn't provide enough leverage to get it off its not going to come off without damaging something.

Axel_Knutt

[quote="ugo.santalucia"no need to torque the pedals at 40 Nm, they are designed to have opposite threads so that they don't come off whilst pedalling[/quote]

I've had a pedal unscrew itself almost all the way out, I noticed just in time to avoid standing on it and tearing out the remaining few turns of thread. I've also had pedals come loose even when put in at 50Nm.

I've been searching for ten years to find a torque that will keep them in when you want them in, and come undone when you want them out. No luck yet, even though I keep the threads pristine and liberally greased.

APIII

I have a fairly low threshold when it comes to things like this. I tried heat, soaking in WD40, etc. When the pedal spanner broke, I used the angle grinder to cut the pedal body off. A stout socket wrench on the stub got it out. I was taking it off to replace the pedals though, so not a method I'd recommend normally.

APIII

Axel_Knutt wrote:

[quote="ugo.santalucia"no need to torque the pedals at 40 Nm, they are designed to have opposite threads so that they don't come off whilst pedalling

I've had a pedal unscrew itself almost all the way out, I noticed just in time to avoid standing on it and tearing out the remaining few turns of thread. I've also had pedals come loose even when put in at 50Nm.

I've been searching for ten years to find a torque that will keep them in when you want them in, and come undone when you want them out. No luck yet, even though I keep the threads pristine and liberally greased.[/quote]

I use a bit less effort than I would on a seatpost. (My previous post concerned a shop built bike)

StefanP

I have a scar on my arm from trying to remove 'sticky' pedals. Pedals are fairly easy to remember though; back - off, forward - on. I am crap form those sorts of things normally. Also for allen key ones, get a bit of copper pipe to get some more leverage.. It's normally enough... for.. ahem, future occurences :P

What pedals are they?

mouth

Jackal79 wrote:

Heat, I'd not thought of that one. I forgot to mention that I have a nice hole in the side of my thumb from trying to use force, and slipping onto the unprotected chain ring. There were a few choice words for several minutes.

I'm assuming the choice words must have been something like "Oh deary me. That smarted a little......"

As for getting the pedal off, remove crank arm, remove sensitive bits (bearings and the like), wrap in a carrier bag and place on freezer for a few hours. Then try unscrewing it. This was tried recently by a guy on another forum I read when he got the expander bolt stuck in the quill stem. Here's that forum link: http://beestoncc.myfreeforum.org/I_thin ... t1174.html

Axel_Knutt

APIII wrote:

I used the angle grinder to cut the pedal body off. A stout socket wrench on the stub got it out.

Weekend before last I rounded off the hexagon with an open spanner, so I thought I'd take the pedal off, and then remove the spindle with a ring spanner. First I broke a good pozidriv removing the screws from the pedal cage, then I rounded off a good box spanner trying to get the nut off the end of the spindle. So then I did the same as you. :evil: