I am losing my mind. This should not be this hard!

One of the brass hinges on the old toilet seat failed due to a plastic center rod. Okay, bought a new toilet seat. The old hinges are not the type that you flip up a plastic flap and hold the bolt in place with a screw driver as you secure the nut underneath. The hinge and the bolt are all one piece. However, the nut is plastic and it's been on there a long time and it's very tight. I have tried everything to get that nut off and it won't budge; it just keeps stripping so nothing can get a grip on it.

I eventually broke the whole seat off and now have two hinges I cannot remove. I have spent three days and used every tool I have and nothing.

any tricks for this? It's just too stupid to have to replace a whole toilet for this.

 

Dremel tool or Sawzall is my usual way.

 

Even a short cut off saw will work.

 

Thanks for writing back, guys.

Well, I tried a hacksaw blade yesterday, and couldn't get it underneath the hinge head to work on the bolt beneath. Those plastic nuts are really on there. Finally I broke out my Rockwell oscillating tool, but pretty much takes out everything, but it didn't even make a groove.

I've tried every wrench I've got to try to hold that nut in place while I use a big monkey wrench to turn the hinge head from the top. But when I feel underneath, the nut is just turning with the bolt. The plastic nuts are so stripped, nothing really grabs them.

Is this a job only a professional can do? Who uses plastic nuts on brass hinges?
Help!

 

You might want to try a hair dryer, set it on high and soften the plastic. I would use a heat gun but it could get too hot. Get them hot and try unscrewing them or breaking them off the threads "Carefully"!

 

I've used a hammer and chisel to split the plastic/nylon nuts, and then spread them to slide off.

 

I have cut the nut top to bottom (vertically) with a dremel and driven in a flat tip screw driver to split it.

 

Can you try to grip the nut with Vise Grip pliers?

 

Thank you all for trying but I am giving up. I dug out my vice grip wrench and tried that upon your suggestions but still no luck. I can't get any of the wrenches squarely on the nut because it is recessed behind that porcelain lip on the edge of the toilet. I have now done some serious stress to my wrists trying to grip that thing but it still hasn't budged.

Is a plumber the right guy to call for this? I have a couple of other things I could have him do at the same time.

Anyway, thanks for your input.

Aloha,

Tina

 

Grind the head off the bolt and the bolt and nut will fall right out.

 

If you have other things that you need a plumber for then he/she could take care of this too. A plumber will be able to take care of this but plumber's are relatively expensive compared to a handyman. Anybody with the tools and mechanical know-how should be able to take care of this and will be less expensive than a plumber. Can you post a picture of the toilet bolt area so we can see what the situation looks like.