Rear Trans mount stripped bolt holes
AintGotNoSol
Wagonist
89 RT4WD, 6-Spd Manual trans
The day I bought my car, I was doing my usual routine of looking over everything before i bought it. I had the engine running and the hood up, and gave it some throttle to listen for funny sounds. Sounded great, but i noticed the engine rocked quite a bit. I realized i could grab the intake manifold and rock the engine a bit, forwards and back. closer inspection revealed that the rear mount on the transmission seemed to be loose or worn out.
So a few days later, I have the car at home, and I start checkin it out. The bolts that hold the mount to the trans casing seemed to be loose. Unfortunately, when I tried to tighten them, they just kept spinning. I haven't pulled them out yet, but from my experience, when threads are stripped, it's usually the internal threads, not the bolt itself. I know that another RT trans wil be very hard to find, so I need to work with what I have.
I need some advice on thread repair.
I will probably first try to clean up the threads with a tap and use a clean set of the original size bolts. But I know this probably won't work.
I could try to re-tap the holes a bit bigger , and find oversized bolts... maybe. That seems like a lot of searching, and trial and error.
I have heard of thread repair kits, such of Helicoil, but have never used them, and don't know much about them. I researched a little bit, enough to know what a Helicoil is and how it works.
Have any of you used Helicoils in the past? Do you have any sort of feedback? Would this solution be sturdy enough to hold up to the rear trans mount, or is there a better alternative?
Thanks!
The day I bought my car, I was doing my usual routine of looking over everything before i bought it. I had the engine running and the hood up, and gave it some throttle to listen for funny sounds. Sounded great, but i noticed the engine rocked quite a bit. I realized i could grab the intake manifold and rock the engine a bit, forwards and back. closer inspection revealed that the rear mount on the transmission seemed to be loose or worn out.
So a few days later, I have the car at home, and I start checkin it out. The bolts that hold the mount to the trans casing seemed to be loose. Unfortunately, when I tried to tighten them, they just kept spinning. I haven't pulled them out yet, but from my experience, when threads are stripped, it's usually the internal threads, not the bolt itself. I know that another RT trans wil be very hard to find, so I need to work with what I have.
I need some advice on thread repair.
I will probably first try to clean up the threads with a tap and use a clean set of the original size bolts. But I know this probably won't work.
I could try to re-tap the holes a bit bigger , and find oversized bolts... maybe. That seems like a lot of searching, and trial and error.
I have heard of thread repair kits, such of Helicoil, but have never used them, and don't know much about them. I researched a little bit, enough to know what a Helicoil is and how it works.
Have any of you used Helicoils in the past? Do you have any sort of feedback? Would this solution be sturdy enough to hold up to the rear trans mount, or is there a better alternative?
Thanks!
Comments
ive had to do that a time or two... rookies strip those out like theres no tomorrow...
a helicoil is basically a coiled piece of alloy. it should be just as strong as the original thread.
Here's more info on Time Surts..
http://www.timesert.com/html/mtrcsert.html
no doubt the time cert is a better option than a helicoil. but you pay for that.
However, as has already been mentioned, Timesert is a refined improved version of the Helicoil. And as someone has also mentioned, they are more expensive.