Any help? Stem seems to be stuck - Seized quill stems

Interesting comment about Coke (other colas are available). A friend of mine also got his seatpost out using coke.
Coke contains phosphoric acid and whilst not very strong, for some reason it's really good on steel. When I worked at a British Steel lab, they told me that the best acid they had found for dissolving steel samples was a mix of 45/45 hydrochloric / nitric (for strength) and 10% phosphoric acid (to "get the reaction going").

Another victory for the hammer way.
Since it's a carbon frame, neither of the ice+fire and erosive methods are appropriate.
I loosened the bolt for about 1 turn and put all my faith in the strength of the thread, thank god after about 10 blows the stem was loosened and removable by some hard twisting without steel rods. The dropouts were protected by one of those plastic thingy they use in packing bikes in the box.

any tips on removing a quill stem. i've taken the bolt out but it's not budging, is there something i'm missing or will i just need to apply brute force somehow?

Spray some grease in, leave it for a little while and then apply brute force.

screw in the bolt and tap it with a hammer, the expanding wedge often sticks.
I wouldn't try twisting it out without trying this, brute force isn't your friend.

This is probably far wiser than the brute force method, but it may well be needed.

nice one. i'll leave it overnight and give that a go.

paging murts

steel or ally? different corrosion requires different methods.

or

what jambon said. you don't want to lose the wedge part of the quill in the head tube. Screw the bolt back into the wedge and then hammer the top of the bolt with a rubber mallet or suchlike until the quill comes free. (should only take 1 whack)

^this, but depends on how stuck it is. one whack = not stuck at all. I have had to cut the buggers out before now. 30 year old bike though.

you can turn the bike over and lube from the opening in the fork crown as well.

also if worst comes to worster i have managed to get the expanding nut out through this aperture and get a drift in side the stem and beat/tap it out.

http://www.lfgss.com/thread44344.html

http://www.lfgss.com/thread22649.html

http://www.lfgss.com/thread40186.html

http://www.lfgss.com/thread6131.html

Oh you mean really stuck... I got a total bastard out once by turning the bike upside down clingfilming the hell out of the headset/ stem so it was watertight and then pouring coca cola into the headtube and left it overnight. The next day: bingo!

tried the hammer on the bolt and it worked a treat. nice one y'all, really appreciate the help.
now i'm off elsewhere on the forum to ask questions about the right wheel for my drop out spacing. 125mm by my calculations.

so not stuck at all then. oh and quick UTFS

i left a complete 105 groupset in a bucket of coca cola for a week,when i drained it all the grease had blue mildew onit,just wiped it off and it was so shiny i didnt have to polish it

Oh you mean really stuck... I got a total bastard out once by turning the bike upside down clingfilming the hell out of the headset/ stem so it was watertight and then pouring coca cola into the headtube and left it overnight. The next day: bingo!
coke is also great for cleaning your bog! 2 liters of el cheapo lidl coke = shiny pan! :-) all the best tips on LFGSS.

I agree, coke is very useful for corroded steel bits and dirty bogs. One thing you shouldn't do is drink it though..

I've search but couldn't find what i was looking for.

I'm trying to remove my quill stem but i think it is corroded and siezed up against the inside of the steerer. I have managed to free off the wedge and move it down away from the quill but despite trying various things i cannot get the stem to budge.

Has anyone had this happen to them? Is there an easy fix or will i have to sacrifce the stem and cut it off and then try to get the remaining part out of the steerer?

Hit the top of the stem with a hammer? It will obviously push the stem further into the frame but might free it from being seized and allow you to wriggle it back up.

If all else fails hitting stuff with a hammer is an excellent last resort.

I had this before. Found a skip. Put the fork over one of the nobbly bits on the side that they use to pick the skip up. This gave a solid hold on the fork right near the crown, limiting damage from bending. Then put a bar through the clamp of the stem and yanked. Hard. Made some bad noises, but the stem and fork came apart without any damage to anything.

Thanks for the suggestions, i'll keep my eye out for a skip if the hitting it with a hammer doesn't work.

I was actually looking for one of those metal park benches before I found the skip. A suitably sized piece of wood might work just as well. It's all about getting enough leverage in there.

Have you tried turning the bike upside down and squirting some penetrating oil like WD40 up the steerer? It might help.