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

I wanted to keep the stem (poverty) and it wasn't essential to get it out. Otherwise I would have gone for the hacksaw, or the caustic soda...

Glad to hear you won, though.

Alloy quill stem stuck in steel fork.

I've scored some ammonia solution and I'm using that to break the corrosion. I think the stem is the "expander" type, rather than the "wedge", and the hammer trick seems to have just pushed the expander out of reach of the long screw... so I'm using a cork that I chopped up to keep the ammonia soaking. Not sure how long I need to leave the ammonia to do its magic...

Ahh, I had this problem with a 531 frame...after a month of fruitless work and scouring the internet for solutions, I gave up and hack sawed my way through the top of the stem...
Losing the stem wasnt even the worst part - I managed to hit the threads of the forks when clearing out the steerer tube of left over bits of stem...and now forks wont screw into a crown properly..

Banging the half undone bolt with the mallet worked for me.

Banging the half undone bolt with the mallet worked for me.

This only works if it's the expander wedge/bolt that's stuck, not the whole stem. With an alu stem in steel forks, it's the same deal as alu seatpost in a steel frame.

Admitting defeat had started to bug me. So I've been trying get the stem out - without destroying it - for the last couple of days.

No joy as yet. :(

That must be frustrating I imagine. I'd go to the proper vice mechanic with proper tools for the job.
If you are skint, ask around for help. Quite few people on here works in LBS. Perhaps they can help you in exchange for something or your time?

Cheers, but I don't live in London (or the UK). At the moment it's on the roof with the cork in it again, soaking in ammonia. I just like to come on here and vent...

Got a stuck seatpost to look forward to when I get back to Blighty.

Nice. Let us know if this ammonia thing works for you

If youve tryed soaking in oil/ammonia/wd40 ect have you tried extreme heat then cold? Ive used a camping stove to heat up a bolt then a can of compressed air (upside down) so the liquid cools it and it expands and contracts quickly...

(never tried it on forks/stem though)

I struggled for days but would'nt give up - it was a cinelli stem. Sprayed WD40 for 5 or 6 consecutive days, but to avail. Then I saw on a forum that someone recommended coke. Poured some coke down and left it to stand overnight. Then heated it up with a hair-dryer and immediately put it in the freezer. Knocked it with a hammer a few times after that amd it released!

The heat thing generally works, though I've heard only if the stem is made from different material to the fork (usually are, some kind of light alloy vs steel) As they expand and contract at different rates. I used a blowtorch, heated then dunked it into cold water, and kept repeating. Then used a long metal bar for leverage and kept twisting until it budged. Plus a few whacks through the steerer with lump hammer and a steel rod. Took forever a couple of days of various processes but got there in the end. Cracked the stem in half though.

i've had this a few times (handlebar stem and seat post) Its easy to knacker forks trying to twist stem out. Its a nightmare trying to cut a seatpost out. Now I have a pug 531pro frame with stuck seatpost and the forks had stuck stem. This time I dint bat an eyelid I just got the grinder on the cinelli stem and cut the fucker off same with seatpost. Now Ive bought some laboratory bungs to stop the ends up and they are gonna be turned upside down and filled with caustic soda til the aluminium dissolves. (Only works on steel frame and if you care nothing about the stem and paint job)

When I worked in a bike shop many years ago a customer had a similar problem, but it was a seat post stuck in seat tube.

The only solution was to heat the seat post so it melted - being aluminium with a much lower melting point than the frame it wasn't a problem.

The paintwork was buggered though...

I'm another one who has had success with the "hit it with a hammer" technique.

I struggled for days but would'nt give up - it was a cinelli stem. Sprayed WD40 for 5 or 6 consecutive days, but to avail. Then I saw on a forum that someone recommended coke. Poured some coke down and left it to stand overnight. Then heated it up with a hair-dryer and immediately put it in the freezer. Knocked it with a hammer a few times after that amd it released!

Particularly interested in this, as it sounds like you rescued the stem(?) - did you put the whole bike in a chest freezer?

fucking YEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEESSSSSSSSSSS!!

300ml butane lighter refill sprayed down the inside of the stem until everything was really cold (frost forming all over the stem and forks) followed by sustained and furious beating with a rubber hammer finally, fucking finally, moved the stem down by a half mm or so.

I think that we both accepted that it was all over at that point. I just had to hit it as hard as I could for another couple of minutes, until it had moved all the way into the steerer. I mean, it gave a half-hearted show of resistance while I tried to twist it out, which is why I now have frostbitten fingers, but now it's in rusty, separate, unharmed pieces on the floor of my room. Ha!!

Now all I have to do is get the bottom cup out of the headtube.

Hi there,I managed to free a seized seat post aluminium from a steel tommasini monte amiata frame by soaking the seat tube with ammonia for a week then putting seat post in vice and twisting the frame.I hope you manage ok cheers Kermisking.

can anyone help? my stem seems to be stuck in the fork and ive completly loosen'd everything and its still not coming out?

also anyone know if them quill stem adapters are any good? thinking of putting an old bmx stem on for more comfort

thanks

quill stem? bit of wood on top and then whack it with a hammer worked for me

:cough: https://www.lfgss.com/thread22649.html :cough:

glad others are giving the hammer advice too no job too small for a hammer

thanks il give it a try

Can anyone advise me exactly where to beat the shit out of this thing so it pops out?

This:

Has led to this:

Without access to a vice, is it Caustic Soda / Ammonia?

Part of the previously seized bolt is still in the hole, and it'll move up and down a bit. I tried putting a screwdriver in the hole underneath the forks and whacking it upwards but I'm a little scared I'm just fucking it up more.

That^ photo is fucking funny.

I have no answer for you, mind.

Yeha, look how smug he is. Cunt.

Can anyone advise me exactly where to beat the shit out of this thing so it pops out?

Without access to a vice, is it Caustic Soda / Ammonia?

Yes.