Garage sheared bolt while fitting alternator - who is responsible?

mikey72

shammyjack wrote: »

As a skilled Engineer who is pushing 60 and worked on complicated machinery all over the world I can state that a carefully applied small flame from a " Gas Spanner " is one of the most useful tools you can have.

Pew Pew Pew Lasers! In reply to your last post.

I have worked in much tighter spaces than an engine bay and have probably fitted thousands of Helicoils etc .

But of course I am not in the same class as a " Slow Slow Fitter " !

Won't be a single fuel line to a carburetor well out of the way with the alternator at the front by itself on a modern car though.

shammyjack

mikey72 wrote: »

Won't be a single fuel line to a carburetor well out of the way with the alternator at the front by itself on a modern car though.

Which an asbestos blanket well wetted and kept with my Porta Pack takes care of !

Hammyman

shammyjack wrote: »

4 hours to drill out a bolt is rubbish, just shows what a useless bunch fast fit places are. My son sheared a wheel stud that had been overtightened by a tyre fitters, it took me about 10 minutes to heat it up with a blow torch ( to break the seal and soften the metal ) then drill it and remove using a stud extractor ( commonly known as an "easy out " ).



shammy

Your comment demonstrates you know absolutely nothing. Yes it takes 10 minutes to pull a stud out of a hub but this is a bolt out of an engine block, not the same thing. Firstly, there's the little point of LACK OF ACCESS. Have you ever looked in the engine bay of a modern car? Unless you take the engine out, you're working in cramped conditions and may need to take half the front end off just to have enough room to work. Then you've got a massive lump of metal dissipating any heat you put into it. In addition to that, you've got a bolt that's been in an engine and subject to far higher temperatures than a hub will ever get to even if the brakes set alight. And yes, you can use a stud extractor however its a sod of a job to drill the pilot hole if the face of the snapped off bolt isn't straight as you can't put the engine in a vice like you can the hub. Once out, then the original threads will need retapping or a new thread cutting.

So yes, 4hrs is quite reasonable.

Coveredinbees!!!!

mikey72 wrote: »

carburetor

don't think cars have those any more or even carburettors

mikey72

Coveredinbees!!!! wrote: »

don't think cars have those any more or even carburettors

You need to get out more.

optimus_primera

4hrs to remove a broken bolt,seems about right, bearing in mind 'fast fit' places are not normally where you will find 'skilled machinists'.
I have drilled out and rethreaded a rover V8 cylinder head, on a workbench, and that took over 4 hrs, it all depends on how long it takes to drill the bolt, and broken bolts always seem to be made of the hardest meral known to man .......

shammyjack

Hammyman wrote: »

Your comment demonstrates you know absolutely nothing. Yes it takes 10 minutes to pull a stud out of a hub but this is a bolt out of an engine block, not the same thing. Firstly, there's the little point of LACK OF ACCESS. Have you ever looked in the engine bay of a modern car? Unless you take the engine out, you're working in cramped conditions and may need to take half the front end off just to have enough room to work. Then you've got a massive lump of metal dissipating any heat you put into it. In addition to that, you've got a bolt that's been in an engine and subject to far higher temperatures than a hub will ever get to even if the brakes set alight. And yes, you can use a stud extractor however its a sod of a job to drill the pilot hole if the face of the snapped off bolt isn't straight as you can't put the engine in a vice like you can the hub. Once out, then the original threads will need retapping or a new thread cutting.

So yes, 4hrs is quite reasonable.

Ok to save arguments I bow to your superior knowledge even though you know nothing about me .

There again I've heard ducks fart before !

mikey72

shammyjack wrote: »

Ok to save arguments I bow to your superior knowledge even though you know nothing about me .

There again I've heard ducks fart before !

I think you lost credibility when you compared a real pain in the a*se job under a bonnet with no space, to a wheel nut most people on here could drill and re-tap with their eyes closed, and then claimed 10 minutes for.
(mind you, it would probably take me over ten minutes to find my easy outs in the garage)

marke_3

Well at least it sounds as though I haven't been scammed, which is the main thing.

To be fair, I was told they had to strip down the radiator and air con to access the bolt, so it sounded difficult to access

Interesting that it was mentioned that a Ford garage might have charged even more - I was kicking myself for not just booking it with Ford in the first place, thinking they probably wouldn't have charged for it. But i guess they're just another chain and I would have actually got a similar level of service.

Thanks for all the opinions..

colino

What you need to find is your local, friendly, knowledgable independent, not stick with the chains for the sake of it.