Broken ac compressor bolt

[TuonoV]

Hi,
I had a whiny A/C compressor, so ordered a new bearing for it, unfortunately i snapped the bolt holding the outer plate on while removing. A 2 hour job has just become a saga!

With limited access, i won’t be able to drill the bolt out in situ, so will probably have to remove the compressor.

would it be safe to refit the belt and drive the car a short distance, the compressor clutch is still held on by it’s circlip, or would it be too much of a risk without the outer plate and bolt holding it all together?

ive attached a pic of how it looks at the moment

thanks in advance

[GreenV8S]

TuonoV said:

would it be safe to refit the belt and drive the car a short distance

Whatever that bolt was securing is no longer secured. I'd be happy to drive it for a short distance with the pulley undriven, but I wouldn't want to drive it with the belt fitted. Does the same belt drive anything else that is essential? If it's driving coolant or vacuum pumps then driving it without the belt fitted would also be out of the question.

[s p a c e m a n]

Meh, the answer to the question is to stick the belt back on and bounce the car off of the rev limiter whilst looking at the pulley. The tension of the belt may be enough to keep it on, it may not.

[TuonoV]

GreenV8S said:

Whatever that bolt was securing is no longer secured. I'd be happy to drive it for a short distance with the pulley undriven, but I wouldn't want to drive it with the belt fitted. Does the same belt drive anything else that is essential? If it's driving coolant or vacuum pumps then driving it without the belt fitted would also be out of the question.

The belt is the auxiliary belt, which connects the main pulley, alternator, ac, tensioner and oil pump.

The bolt was holding the flywheel for the AC compressor clutch, if that makes sense. The ac compressor pulley in the pic above would constantly spin with the belt, and when you press the ac button, the magnet would cause the flywheel in front to pull against the pulley and spin the compressor. So at the moment, the circling would be keeping the pulley attached, my question would be whether that would be enough to keep the pulley attached, or whether there’d be forces that cause the pulley to fly off into the distance

[finlo]

TuonoV said:

GreenV8S said:

Whatever that bolt was securing is no longer secured. I'd be happy to drive it for a short distance with the pulley undriven, but I wouldn't want to drive it with the belt fitted. Does the same belt drive anything else that is essential? If it's driving coolant or vacuum pumps then driving it without the belt fitted would also be out of the question.

The belt is the auxiliary belt, which connects the main pulley, alternator, ac, tensioner and oil pump.

The bolt was holding the flywheel for the AC compressor clutch, if that makes sense. The ac compressor pulley in the pic above would constantly spin with the belt, and when you press the ac button, the magnet would cause the flywheel in front to pull against the pulley and spin the compressor. So at the moment, the circling would be keeping the pulley attached, my question would be whether that would be enough to keep the pulley attached, or whether there’d be forces that cause the pulley to fly off into the distance

I think it would be safe to say that it doesn't drive the oil pump.

[TuonoV]

You are probably right, there was one pulley that I couldn’t work out what was doing, but seemed to have some hoses going towards the oil pan, I assumed it was a pump going toward a cooler or something but I didn’t look too closely. It’s not the water pump (that’s electric) so I don’t know what the last pulley is

[sassanach0]

in your first pioture, the circlip shown is the only way the pulley is secured,you could drive it to Scotland and back like that.the bolt holds the clutch plate to the compressor tightly to stop "chatter"on the splines.btw are you sure the centre bolt was a right hand thread?not all are depending on which way the compressor rotates.

[TuonoV]

Thank you, that’s what I was thinking, but just am nervous of the circlip alone holding it in

Yes, definitely right hand thread, when it snapped I tested the remains of the bolt and it was right hand thread. Not sure why it’s seized in place

[markcoznottz]

I know what I’d do. Weld a nut on to the stub, heat - quench, then impact off. I appreciate that might not be feasible. Maybe there is red loctite on the stub or it’s been put back on at some point with a large impact. Did you try and undo the bolt by hand or impact gun?

Edited by markcoznottz on Saturday 17th July 13:49

Edited by markcoznottz on Saturday 17th July 13:49

[TuonoV]

I did it by hand (a long ratchet though). Yes I think that or drilling out will be the only option, however i need to remove the compressor for access, I’ve a mobile ac technician to remove the gas first so I don’t need to drive or anywhere at least