Rusted broken screw in the license plate spot.?

Question

I have an 06 Scion tC. On the back where the plate is screwed in, the left screw rusted and snapped in half. The plate dangles off balance now, and the other half of the screw is still twisted in place, but there's no way to grab it to undo it. It sits perfectly in the hole. It's not a huge problem, like I don't get pulled over for it or anything, but my car is in nice shape and it looks terrible with that on the back. I also want to put a plate frame around it and I can't because of that. Last thing I wanna do is bring it back to the mechanic for him to work on it for 2 hours and charge me a ton when I can just do something at home.

Answer 1

The easy (and correct) way is also the long way. The right way to do this would be to remove the rear bumper cover completely and get at the screw from behind with a pair of vice grips. Most bumper covers come off very easily if you know how to do it. All models have specific ways to do this, but typically there is a bolt or screw in each wheel well holding the bumper in place which must be removed, sometimes you have to remove the tail lights, sometimes there are bolts behind the tail lights, sometimes there will be a few bolts or screws on the top of the bumper (sometimes hidden behind little pop out panels), sometimes you'll have a few bolts or screws underneath, sometimes you might find push pin retainers, you'll have to look at your vehicle and maybe do a little research online to find specific instructions. Try googling "2006 scion tc bumper cover removal", you should be able to find something. Once you get all the retainers removed they pop right off. I can remove a bumper cover from just about anything in about 5 minutes. And it's really the best way to get a broken license plate screw.



In the future, head to the hardware store and get the same size screws in stainless steel for your license plate. They only cost 10 or 15 cents each, and stainless won't rust on you.

Answer 2

They make a device called an easy out. You fit it into your drill like a drill bit. It bites into the broken screw and will, back the screw out, provided the drill is rotating in the unscrew direction. You might want to put a little penetrating oil on it to help the process.

Answer 3

letmepicyou gave an answer that is not even REMOTELY easy OR correct. IF you can access the screw from behind, you can do so WITHOUT removing the bumper cover. If you can't remove the screw in the manner GA41 described, the OVERKILL letmepicyou describes won't work either.

Answer 4

This is not a hard thing to fix. Go to the shop and have the broken screw removed.

Answer 5

JUST DRILL A NEW HOLE AND PUT IN A SHEET METAL SCREW ,ANY WHERE NEAR THE BROKEN ONE,RIGHT THROUGH THE PLATE