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Hi, everyone
Today I started the retrofit of new air conditioning components to my Swedish Beastie, an '87 900T. The compressor clutch was shot and rather than rebuild it and pay an outlandish price for R-12, I decided I'd get a whole new compressor, plus a new filter/drier and evaporator valve, and then refill with R-134a. I got the parts from Sobstory, including a remanufactured compressor, and a kit with the R-134a fittings plus cans of R-134a and oil.
Removing the old compressor was a struggle, as is typical with anything I do on this car, but I did that and mounted the new one. I'll write the detailed procedures another day for everyone to enjoy, but for now, I need some help.
I was putting the hose assembly back onto the new compressor. It's held in place by a single 14mm machine bolt. Using a 3/8" ratchet, extension, and socket, I started to snug the bolt in place. It's important that it's tight so that the seals don't leak, but I wasn't using much torque. In fact, I was holding the ratchet at the head end, not pulling the end of the handle. As I tightened the bolt, it started to get snug... then there was a sickening snap and it went slack.
At first I thought I'd snapped the bolt, and couldn't believe it had let go with such a small amount of torque. (My wife came running into the garage from the house, so I guess I must have been cussing pretty loudly. Something about bolts made of bovine excrement, with a few salty adjectives liberally sprinkled in.) I figured I'd have to use an extractor to get it out and then go buy a replacement bolt.
To my surprise as I removed it, the entire bolt emerged from the hole! On examining the bolt, however, I could see a metallic coil like a spring imbedded in the lower threads. The bolt had stripped out the hole.
So now what? I really don't want to send the compressor back to Sobstory, but I'm thinking that might be an option. In fact, let's number them:
Option 1: Should I return the compressor (major pain in the butt, shipping costs and delays, etc.)?
Option 2: Should I try a tap and die kit and go to a larger diameter bolt?
Option 3: I read about something called a "helicoil" kit once... is that something I should try?
Option 4: Should I look for some sort of self-tapping bolt and use that instead?
Option 5: <your suggestion here> (Moving north is not an option!)
Thanks in advance, guys.
- = M = -
posted by 208.63.21...
, Sun, 7 Apr 2002 23:42:47
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