Hey you guys, so last year with my thermostat debacle I ended up snapping a bolt on the condenser. Didn't really care because it was getting cooler and I just wanted to drive my g finally. So now it's steadily getting warm and now I want to fix it. I don't want to go through the hassle of removing the rad and ac condenser so I want to know what's my odds of successfully drilling out this bolt and how would you do it ?

 

Can you post a better picture.

The biggest problem I can see is it's a pretty tight working area and you're going to have a hard time getting a drill in there and keeping it STRAIGHT when drilling.

The second problem I can see is you're trying to extract a steel bolt from a flimsy piece of aluminum so you're probably going to need a second set of hands to stabilize that piece with a pair of channel locks or something while you drill.

What exactly is that bolt for? I can't tell from the picture, is it the one that secures the line into the condensor?

 

I'll try to grab a Pic in a few after the rain let's up. Yeah it's one the ac lines that connects to the condenser unfortunately. I absolutely hate the radiator/condensor combo on the hr models smfh

 

Why not get a long drill bit and a bolt extractor (something that is present in but a better quality drill bit) and then extract the broken bolt?

 

Definitely worth a try

 

Pics as promised

 

Yeah I'm not gonna try to get your hopes up, that's going to be a mother F to get out. See if you can grab that nub with some lockjaw pliers but I doubt it. What's probably going to happen is you drill out the entire bolt and re-tap it the next size bigger. You might just plan on that from the start rather than trying to use an EZ out.

I would definitely use a drill that has a clutch on it because if it binds up it could likely rip that entire piece of aluminum off.

The next issue you're going to run into is debris inside the condenser, I can see a bunch of black particulates down in the hole where the line goes. Cleaning that all out is going to be difficult, in hindsight you really should have stuffed something into the hole to plug it up.

 

Yeah I'm not going to go even attempt it lol. It looks alot worse than I remember. This is just gonna be a headache. Soooooo rockauto here I come lmao

 

Yeah unfortunately that is the BEST option, if you suck a bunch of contaminates into the AC compressor and cook it you're really not going to be happy. Those things are expensive, radiators not so much.

 

Yeah I'm just terrified of doing anything coolant related because of my last issue lol. But just remove the radiator shouldn't bother anything with the thermostat that I went through hell with.

 

I bought a cheapo generic spill-free kit on Amazon. Never actually used one before on any vehicle but I figured I'd give it a shot since everyone sings praise about it and my usual "wide open throttle down the road and back" method isn't always feasible due to RAIN OR SNOW.

 

Luckily I have one of those as well. I really don't have an issue with bleeding the system. I'm just scared of touching anything coolant related because of my thermostat horror movie.

Question though, should I grab new for 325 or take a gamble on a used one for 100 bucks. I feel like if the used is DOA I'll probably just cry in the corner

 

Ehhhh... yeah I'd be a little cautious about the $100 one. If it was a reputable vendor like Rockauto or something then it's probably fine, probably someone ordered the wrong one and returned it. But I would DEFINITELY pressure test (both coolant and AC side) before installing.

As long as you CAN return it that is. And if you're willing to wait extra time for the turnaround. Otherwise I'd just get the new one.

 

Yeah imma get a new one, I was gonna grab one from the yard but that's a big chance

 

Ended up grabbing one from the yard and paid 25 bucks for it. Had quite a bit of points saved up. Question is how do I pressure test them both before I install?