Stuck on a rusted exhaust flange, chose heat over soaking it, and it went way better than expected

William Henderson · 2026-10-17T18:15:05.51111+00:00

Last week a 2009 Civic came in with a rusted exhaust flange that would not budge after 40 minutes of soaking in penetrating oil. I had to choose between letting it sit overnight with more oil or hitting it with the oxy-acetylene torch, and I went with the torch. I heated the nuts for about 30 seconds each until they glowed, then they spun off with a hand wrench on the first try. I used to worry about torching near fuel lines, but keeping a wet rag on the closest line and a fire watch made it a non issue. Anyone else switched to heat for exhaust work, or do you still swear by soaking overnight?

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Stuck on a rusted exhaust flange, chose heat over soaking it, and it went way better than expected | Auto Mechanics - Babble Community