Said It Here

How to reach a hidden screw blocked by other car parts

When replacing components like a power steering o-ring, essential mounting screws are often blocked by surrounding assemblies or tight spaces. This leaves DIYers unable to reach the fastener without removing extra parts they aren't comfortable dismantling, forcing them to abandon simple repairs to avoid breaking something else.

Overview
People affected3 accounts across 2 forums
Workarounds found4 items attempted
Community agreement6 total upvotes

What people tried

Every workaround mentioned in the threads below. We haven’t tested any of them — and nobody here is claiming they worked.

Found another way around this?

Share your steps and trade-offs so fellow engineers don't have to reinvent the wheel. No account required.

  1. 1
    asking for help online
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  2. 2
    wiggling or using pry tools
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  3. 3
    Taking the vehicle to a professional shop
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  4. 4
    Removing adjacent parts like the pump to reach the fastener
    Did this help you?
Tried another approach not listed above?+ Share your workaround ↑

In their words

Unedited, grouped by where they were said, most upvoted first within each place, each linked to the thread it came from.

r/AskMechanics2 people · September 2026

“I have the top screw undone but cannot seem to find where to loosen the bottom screw just enough to pull it up and out.”source ↗

GlumCardiologist9620 · r/AskMechanics · 1 upvotes

“one of the bolts for the oil cooler is being blocked by the gearbox so my question is, do I need to remove the gearbox to remove the oil cooler?”source ↗

superpaddy1200 · r/AskMechanics · 1 upvotes
r/MechanicAdvice1 person · September 2026

“The screw I need to remove is blocked by a lot of stuff im not comfortable fkin with.”source ↗

pyknictheory · r/MechanicAdvice · 1 upvotes

“Yeah i bought the o ring replacement online for the power steering but the screw is blocked by a lot of stuff. Thought I could save some money doing it myself.”source ↗

pyknictheory · r/MechanicAdvice · 1 upvotes

“I shouldve said its the power steering o ring. I believe its the one next to the belt but its hard to get to”source ↗

pyknictheory · r/MechanicAdvice · 1 upvotes

“How to I remove the end of the steering pump hose? Its kinda blocked.”source ↗

pyknictheory · r/MechanicAdvice · 1 upvotes

Where this came up

People with this problem also raised