Another 'new' 5 owner

[couch67]

Hello, just bought an 09 today with 60k km on it. Overall its in pretty good shape, but could use a detailing which it will get this weekend.

One thing that needs to be taken care of is the rear license plate bolts. Previous owner snapped the two bolts off while taking off the plate. After some reading here, its been done before (lots of great info on this site btw!).

Not sure if anyone has ever been successful in getting the old bolts out? I took the rear panel off but the molded panel does not allow you to get to the license plate bolts. I'll keep looking for a solution but any suggestions would be appreciated.

thanks
Dave

 

[Talbot]

Welcome to the forums!

 

[icspots]

How much bolt is exposed? A couple of options would be to use a dremel to cut a new slot for a screwdriver. Another would be to use the craftsman screw out tool.

 

[Wishmaster]

Big strips of adhesive backed velcro? Doesn't stop someone from taking your plate... but would people even notice?? Who actually tries?

 

[couch67]

thanks for the replies. the bolts were snapped flush, and no-go with an ez out. I had to resort to drilling two new pilot holes about 1/4" above the old bolts and installing new plate screws. Not the best solution but it did the trick!


Dave

 

[mudgts]

My Protege5 was like that. We have an '08 Mazda5 van that has treated us quite well. We're almost at 100,000km's (60K miles). You should enjoy it.

 

[flcruising]

Too late now, but I would suggest removing the hatch access panel and remove the bolts from inside. Oh, well.

 

[Robotazky]

What kind of idiot does it take to break a license plate off removing it?

 

[flcruising]

Yea, Robotaz, I didn't want to ask the obvious question. Can never figure out some people.

 

[Robotazky]

Lol.

 

[mpvue]

I've had some rusted plate screws that had to be mangled to get out, but I don't think I've ever broken one. in an '09? seriously?

 

[KBrian]

My 07' came with incorrect bolts (wrong thread type) from the BMW dealer we purchased from. I added the correct bolts, but when we moved to the Yukon (one year and 20km later) and changed plates, the bolts had frozen in the threads. I used a remove-it tool because the bolt heads lost their slots, but the threads are screwed up. They are now loose in the panel, and will not allow tightening of the bolts beyond a few foot-lbs before the threads spin in the panel. The plate rattled against the tailgate, so I slipped a pad of duct tape under it to take up the space. So far, so good (?)

 

[Silentnoise713]

Not surprised bc of poor quality bolts that siimply do not last and break at the head. Worst case, drill it out and use a tap and die kit to make a new thread. Not sureif they make helio coil repair kits for small diameter bolts.

 

[flcruising]

This must be about using the correct bolt size/thread. I've can honestly say I've never had an issue with a license plate bolt, simply because they all have been screwed into plastic. And I don't recall a metal bolt or screw ever seizing with plastic.

 

[ajporter03]

Had this problem in my '06, broke one of the bolts off when I noticed the head starting to rust. I wanted to change it and it broke with very little torque. When I picked up my new '10 the first thing I did was switch out the rear license plate bolts for stainless steel ones with a heavy coat of antiseize applied.

 

[daan]

The plate bolts (really just a bolt and a metal clip) rusted together on my 06. I took the hatch apart to get at the back of them, but they were still hidden. I have one bolt holding the plate on, and it rattles a bit. If my kids hadn't tried to remove it the rest of the way, it wouldn't rattle at all... and I'm 100% sure road salt is the culprit here.

 

[KBrian]

This must be about using the correct bolt size/thread. I've can honestly say I've never had an issue with a license plate bolt, simply because they all have been screwed into plastic. And I don't recall a metal bolt or screw ever seizing with plastic.

While the hatch may be plastic, the bolt holders are metal threaded inserts on the hatch of my 5. The bolts froze to the threded insert, which then spun in the hole drilled into the hatch. No easy way to remove the frozen bolt from the threaded insert, or both from the hatch itself.