Threaded headset won't stay on

[nameused]

Ok so my friends bike has a threaded headset that has been lose for a long time so I told him I'd go fix it for him. When I went out there I tightened the bolt on the top, but for some reason it wouldn't stay tight. I've pulled it out regreased the whole thing and put it back in, but it still won't tighten down. When it's outside of the bike the wedge tightens just fine, but inside it doesn't doesn't work. The handlebars just continue to pop out and swing side to side freely. Any ideas?

Here's some pictures:
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[attachment=1661]

[xerxes]

Are the threads OK on the stem bolt and the wedge?

[cyclerUK]

There looks to be a LOT of corrosion on the stem.

I would advise stripping the fork out of the frame for inspection of the steerer tube..

Or try a spare stem ?

[DaveM]

You might try unscrewing the bolt all the way and sanding/cleaning up the surfaces on the wedge and bottom of the stem that rub against each other. It may be that they're rough enough that the bolt tightens but the wedge doesn't slide well enough to cinch into the steerer. Might not hurt to put a wire brush or something down into the top of the fork to clean any loose rust out of there too.

BTW, that's quite a collection of rusty spoked bikes you got there I was going to ask if you were near the ocean, but then saw that you're in HI, so...yes.

[nameused]

(11-02-2010, 07:39 AM)xerxes Wrote:  Are the threads OK on the stem bolt and the wedge?

I unscrewed the wedge from the bolt and the first two times I did it was a little hard to thread up the bolt, but after that it screwed on.

(11-02-2010, 12:54 PM)cyclerUK Wrote:  There looks to be a LOT of corrosion on the stem.

I would advise stripping the fork out of the frame for inspection of the steerer tube..

Or try a spare stem ?

Yeah I live in Hawaii and bikes tend to rust quickly if left alone for a while. I'll try and pull the fork out today and see if I can find a spare stem somewhere.

(11-02-2010, 01:21 PM)DaveM Wrote:  You might try unscrewing the bolt all the way and sanding/cleaning up the surfaces on the wedge and bottom of the stem that rub against each other. It may be that they're rough enough that the bolt tightens but the wedge doesn't slide well enough to cinch into the steerer. Might not hurt to put a wire brush or something down into the top of the fork to clean any loose rust out of there too.

BTW, that's quite a collection of rusty spoked bikes you got there I was going to ask if you were near the ocean, but then saw that you're in HI, so...yes.

I'll try this too, I tried to clean them but maybe I only cleaned the outside and not the parts rubbing against each other. And yeah I'm going to pull the fork out so I'll check it out when I do that.
Yep Hawaii is very prone to rusty bicycles. Very few bikes don't have rust and my main bike is luckily one of those.

[Bill]

In addition you may want to inspect for cracks on the Wedge nut like this ..... http://forums.bikeride.com/thread-990.html