6 replies to this topic

[daryl_crossley]

just got my mini city 1988 back from the garage this morning after having the radius arm replaced..drove home fine but noticed when re-undersealing the car that 1 of the bolts that goes up into the sill has sheared off and the other is brand new...these bolts hold the bracket i think that goes around to where the bolt and grease nipple are

is the bolt that has sheared a major component in the driving of the car or is it just holding on some kind of cover

many thanks for your replies in advance

Edited by daryl_crossley, 03 May 2009 - 02:56 AM.

[Grayedout]

Not sure which bolt you mean. To replace the radius arm they do not need to remove the bolt that holds the subframe to the heelboard on the car but they do need to remove the four that hold the trianglular bracket at the outer end of the arm. These are easy to snap as they become seized and yes they are important. If the work has been done by a garage then I would take it straight back and tell them you need it fixing.

[DaveRob]

personally I would ring the garage and get them to recover it...... under threat of trading standards...... Grayedout is entirely correct in his post..... Ive just replaced every nut and bolt in my subframe..... these bracket bolts are critical and snap off very easilly when changing the Rad arm.....whats more 3 of these nuts per side are on the inside of the subframe and the nuts..... certainly on later cars..... are actually a form of hank bush which means that you cant remove the nut from the outside of the subframe and if you try to use an easy out tap on a typically sheared bolt......then the fixing simply ends up rattling around inside the subframe..... Im currently replaceing all of these but the subframe needs to come out .... Pictures would help here.... as Im guessing that the bolt that is snapped is in the radius arm bracket as this is the part the garage needs to remove....

ring your garage...... get them to fix it as its a very important part of the saftey of your car.... then never use that garage again

Just my thoughts
Rob

[minidaves]

yup as grayedout has said these bolts are important, and yes they snap often when replacing a radus arm, trouble is garages may evan wind in the wrong bolts just to get the job done, rather than spend the time to do it properly, because you as a customer may not want to pay the 4/5/6 hour bill that could come when bolts snap

dave

[MRA]

It's a ten minute job (per bolt) to drill and helicoil the subframe, I have even drilled them out to 3/8" and clearance drilled the bracket to fit allen cap heads........ it's simply that most garages only employ "fitters" and not mechanics who can think, act or take the time to fix a component....

If you took it back they would more than likely drill it for an mate and hammer it it

Contact VOSA they may be interested in taking a look as it is a safety critical item

[daryl_crossley]

ok will get the garage in question called up on tuesday and see if they are going to sort this out....was thinking about drilling and re-tapping it out myself

[MRA]

If you took it back they would more than likely drill it for an mate and hammer it it

That should be M 8 and not Mate !

Also, there's probably quite a few mechanics that are also frustrated by this turn of events, which is mostly down to money, get a car in and get it out ASAP get paid.... its quicker and easier to replace a part.

Also a specialist will (or should) have all the tools to do the job, this being a fairly common issue