If anyone could help, I’d greatly appreciate it. I’m looking for a “window glass socket” for my Saturn, part number SA9148B. I checked with my local dealership and the local Pep Boys, but neither of them carry this item. I was able to find it on the web at http://www.thetoolwarehouse.net/shop/product1987.html, but they want to charge me $16.95 for shipping and “processing” on top of the $15 for the socket. Anyone out there know a auto parts store that would carry this, or a website that won’t kill me on shipping and handling?
Here’s the tool. Don’t know of any place that sells 'em cheaper, but you might check Harbor Freight to see if they carry it. You might also be able to improvise by using a pin punch by placing it at an angle and tapping it with a hammer.
I don’t know of any sources for the tool. It appears that the lugs on it would engage in two holes. You might be able to get the tips of needlenose pliers into the holes and, while pressing the pliers toward the fastener so they don’t slip out, turn it loose with them (if it’s not terribly tight). If that doesn’t work, you’ll probably need the tool. There’s an outside chance that a tool rental place might have it, or possibly you could find it at a different auto parts store, like Carquest or NAPA.
I would first carefully try Tuckerfan and Gary T’s improvisational methods; there’s a good chance that either of them will work.
You could also drive your car to the Saturn dealer, with the door apart, and see if you could toss a few bucks on the side to one of the mechanics if he’d come outside and turn the bolts for you with his tool… but you gotta figure, you probably need to have him do it twice, once to remove the nuts and another time to put them back on— if you give each mechanic, say, $5-10, that quickly approaches the purchase price of the tool.
The gears in my mind are turning slowly right now, but I’m wondering if you could rig up something like a thin piece of wood or sheet metal. Get two screws, and have them poke through at appropriate intervals. Make a slotted hole in the middle to hold a big flat-blade screwdriver… insert the two screw shafts into the corresponding holes on the Saturn nut and turn.
I used to just use GaryT’s method of removing/installing, with the needlenose pliers and a rag to avoid scratching anything. But it depends on where this “nut” is that you have to move; accessibility may be a problem.
The “HELP” tool racks that Hail Ants talks about may have it; but I don’t recall seeing it there recently (I always look at new stuff when visiting my boyfriend at his workplace–a parts store).
In my experience, if OTC is making it there’s a pretty big chance that the only guys who might manufacture a “specialty” tool other than them would be Snap-On Tools and Mac. And those guys are probably even bigger bucks.
Thanks for the advice, everyone. I checked out Harbor Freight, Snap-On, and Mac Tools on-line, but no luck. The fact that Pep Boys does not carry this (everything but gas? they looked at me like I was crazy when I asked them for this), and I can only find it at ONE on-line store leads me to believe it’s not widely available, but I’ll make some calls to other local parts stores. I’m thinking I’ll end up having to fudge a tool, as suggested. If I can’t pry it off with my teeth or pliers, I guess I’ll have to shell out the $30, which really burns me because the point of doing this work myself is to save money. Add this to the $18 I already paid for the Torx set, and I’m creeping up on the $100 labor charge I was looking to avoid.
I think I’ve seen an adjustable spanner wrench at Harbor Freight. It had an arm about 7-8 inches long and another arm hinged to it about half way up. The hinge allowed for adjustment of the pin spacing. But the pins might not be the right size, or the spacing might be such that the width of the arms keeps the pins from adjusting close enough together.
McMaster-Carr has one in their catalog that looks like the one I saw at Harbor Freight. It’s # 5794A16 and called an “Adjustable Face Spanner Wrench” Price is $6.38. The pins are 1/8" diameter.
Another technique would be the obtain a Grade 3 nut of the correct size, and drill holes perpendicular to the face with the correct spacing in the nut. (Drill press required) You could then insert properly sized hardened roll pins into the holes. You’d want the nut sized so the flat face of the nut matched the hole spacing on the item you are trying to remove.