A3 cabriolet 2011 droplink removal

[den911]

Hi,i am about change a failed front droplink on my A3 , i took the wheel off a couple of days and sprayed both top and bottom bolts with penetrating spray .
Yesterday i tried to remove the top bolt as that is facing away from the engine and i eventually got it moving without having to put a hex key in the bolt shaft ..When it came to the bottom one my 18mm ratchet spanner would not shift it and i can't get any extra leverage on the spanner ,also there is no room at the back to fit a hex key so plan B is to just grind it off and i have plenty of space to do that ,what i am baffled with is when i put the new one on i would just have to hope that it would not need the hex key to tighten up ,with it being new i doubt it but just strange that you cannot get behind to fit a hex key,when i move the plastic arch trim there is plate behind stopping me fit the key,as anyone come across this before or am i missing something as said top one fine bottom ok to remove with grinder but refitting does not give you room to fit the hex key ...

 

[R0cket]

It’s actually a m6 triple square rather than a hex key.
Have you tried heating the nut up with a blow torch to free it off? Leave the hex key out of it and just work the nut free. Once it’s spinning you can move onto holding the threads still.
It’s likely you’ll need to hold the thread when fitting the new one to get the nut to tighten up enough.

 

[den911]

I have no issue getting the bolts off it's getting the lower one back on as there is no space to get a hex key in to stop it spinning..

 

[NHN]

If its how I know on mine, you need to undo the gearbox mount bolts & jack the box up to get clear space to get the spline bit on the end.

Add pics so can advise better.

 

[den911]

Hi, the convertible as a frame around the the sub frame and gearbox in order to take the full metal undertray thats what was stopping me ,both bolts were spinning and try as a might nothing was working ,so i ended up just grinding them off took a while as i couldnt get in the strut proper to hit it full on,what a nightmare for 2 bolts .When fitting the bottom bolt i was able to hold the bolt back a touch in order to take the hex key once in i used a 18mm ratchet combi spanner and managed to tighten it up ..I am thinking that they have been replaced in the past but not oem as the new bolt thread is not as long ie able to get a hex key in a bit easier ..These bolts are set at 50nm so in theory the hex key should be able to hold while you un bolt but if they are stuck on you have no chance ,i had plusgas and wd40 penatrating fluid on for days before i started the job..Anyway a quick push down on the wing and were before i had a knock now it's gone ..