FML...

[Buford T. JuSStice]

So I (finally) got around to trying to get the Alternator-A/C bracket out to try and repair it or replace it today... everything was going fairly smoothly, all the bolts came out lickety split until I got to the very last one. It's a 1/2 bolt that goes through the center of the bracket into the block... should be no problem, right? Wrong.

Nothing I was using worked... the metal felt like it was soft like pewter... any socket I tried putting on it, 6 sided or 12 chewed that thing up like breakfast. Even after soaking it with deep penetrating oil and letting it sit for a little while it wouldn't budge. It even managed to crack one of my Proto sockets right down the side! Finally I tugged on the bracket itself and it turned; so to make matters worse, it's not even stuck in the threads that are in the block... instead, through electrolysis, or corrosion, whichever, it has managed to bond very tightly to the bracket itself (the bracket seems to be aluminum, while the bolt is steel). I soaked it with more penetrating oil, and I might just soak it tomorrow as well, and keep soaking it over the next couple of days, and hopefully it'll do the trick. If it doesn't I don't know what else I can do other than knock the head of the bolt off and try to take that out with a vice grip afterwards... any other suggestions?

 

[bill]

So I (finally) got around to trying to get the Alternator-A/C bracket out to try and repair it or replace it today... everything was going fairly smoothly, all the bolts came out lickety split until I got to the very last one. It's a 1/2 bolt that goes through the center of the bracket into the block... should be no problem, right? Wrong.

Nothing I was using worked... the metal felt like it was soft like pewter... any socket I tried putting on it, 6 sided or 12 chewed that thing up like breakfast. Even after soaking it with deep penetrating oil and letting it sit for a little while it wouldn't budge. It even managed to crack one of my Proto sockets right down the side! Finally I tugged on the bracket itself and it turned; so to make matters worse, it's not even stuck in the threads that are in the block... instead, through electrolysis, or corrosion, whichever, it has managed to bond very tightly to the bracket itself (the bracket seems to be aluminum, while the bolt is steel). I soaked it with more penetrating oil, and I might just soak it tomorrow as well, and keep soaking it over the next couple of days, and hopefully it'll do the trick. If it doesn't I don't know what else I can do other than knock the head of the bolt off and try to take that out with a vice grip afterwards... any other suggestions?

You can try heating it, or cooling it with propane spray. Try tightening it a bit to see if it will move in that direction first. Tap it with a hammer can help too....its possible that somebody put the wrong threaded bolt in the hole and torqued it down......just my .02

 

[Buford T. JuSStice]

You can try heating it, or cooling it with propane spray. Try tightening it a bit to see if it will move in that direction first. Tap it with a hammer can help too....its possible that somebody put the wrong threaded bolt in the hole and torqued it down......just my .02

I was thinking about heating it too... not sure if the Penetrating oil would be a problem though. The other possibility of somebody putting the wrong sized bolt in is unlikely but it's not impossible. The engine is a rebuilt motor and I had it done at a shop (I spent too much on it... I was young, and stupid, but I love my wagon so I don't regret it) so if the bolt in there is the wrong size, the only time or place it could have been messed up was then. It's also a possibility that the break in the bracket (there's a fracture on the top of the alternator adjustment loop... when you pull up on the alternator in order to tighten up the belt, it separates and you can never truly get the alternator tight, and it vibrates terribly when the car runs so it eats up belts quickly) was caused by them as well, but I'm more prone to believe that was caused by Pep Boys.

Yeah, I'm glad as hell I know more about cars now than I used to. Going to school to learn more about how to work on cars is probably one of the best decisions I've ever made in my life. Now all I need to do is fix all the mistakes made on my cars by other guys and make sure I never do the same to somebody else.