1979-1993 & 94 Conv [Subscribe to Daily Digest] |
The deal with the bolt:
The car's a 1990. I bought it in Jan '99 with 113k mi on it. It now has 275k mi on it. For the first few years I took it to indy Saab mechanics to have any work done. I gradually started working on the car myself. Then at about 160k mi, when the first crank sensor died, I discovered that the lower alt bracket bolt's head had been snapped off, leaving the shank about 1/4" below the surface of the bracket mounting hole. I have no idea if this was done by one of the mechanics I used, or by the PO.
I couldn't remove the bracket because it hit the motor mount when I tried to slide up & off the lower bolt, but I didn't worry about it because I could still turn the bracket to remove the alt mounting bolt. When I was done, I simply replaced the top bolt & ground strap bolt. And when I replaced the alternator a few years ago, I did the same thing.
But I guess 275k mi of constant vibration/leveraging against the shank of that top bolt weakened it significantly. I don't think I got more than about 20 ft lbs on it when it snapped. So now I was looking at a top bolt sheared at the base & a long-ignored bottom bolt sheared at the head.
I got out the angle grinder, Dremel & file.
I gradually ground away the edge of the motor mount bracket with the angle grinder (using the Dremel to round the underside of the edge), then used the file to chamfer the leading edge of the alt bracket for clearance. When I discovered I didn't have enough room, I repeated the process, each time removing just a bit more. My goal was to remove as little material as possible to gain the necessary clearance.
After about an hour of this I was finally able to coax the bracket past the motor mount. I gave the lower bolt a shot of P.Blaster, & was able to turn it out with pliers.
I figger, since I've gone this far, I should really extract the remains of the top bolt & start using BOTH bolts to hold the alt bracket in place. I fit my drill into the open spot & it looks like it'll fit in there with enough space for a smaller/shorter bit.
More fun than expected, but I guess after 14 yrs with this car I kind of expect that. :-)
posted by 71.211.217...
, Thu, 21 Mar 2013 18:15:48
, Fri, 22 Mar 2013 17:18:49
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