[BeauRichardson]

Welp, my procharger eye bolt dipped out on me. Last night it started acting and sounding strange. Got home, popped the hood and started to look around. Noticed that the eye bolt was bent to high heavens.



I'll post the pictures. Messed up the bracket too. Which i can fix, but do i want to? No. But if procharger isn't going to warranty it then looks like thats what I'll be doing. I'm passed my one year mark unfortunately.



Gonna have to get a new tensioner too. Wasn't any way to get the bolt out without it breaking like it did unless you were to just get lucky. I was either going to break it for free myself or pay someone to break it for me.

[Trochoidal]

So do you think the pressure from the jack screw fatigued that bolt? There’s no zinc plating at the location of the break. That usually indicates there wasn’t a defect in the raw material to manufacture the bolt.

Now they could have used a poor grade to manufacture the bolt (in other words someone grabbed the wrong material for machining) or heat treat was wrong. Hard to say.

If they don’t warranty any of those parts, all isn’t lost. I’d suggest grinding the broken bolt surface flat, removing as little of material as possible. After that use a center-punch to mark the center of the bolt. Next use a #2 center-drill or 1/8” drill to get your hole started. Depending on the size of that bolt, and how well you’re centered, drill a hole about 0.025” smaller than the minor diameter of the thread. Grab a hammer and bolt extractor and give it a good tap so the extractor seats in the hole. Remove the broken bolt.

If that metal on the bracket is extremely displaced, I’d take a a flat piece of steel and place it on the surface of the bracket. Use the hammer and flat stock to push that displaced metal back in place to make it flush again with the face of the bracket.

As nice 2nd cut or smooth cut rat tail and clean the inside of the slot. Take a similar flat file and also clean up the face of your bracket.

[BeauRichardson]

Originally Posted by Trochoidal

So do you think the pressure from the jack screw fatigued that bolt? There’s no zinc plating at the location of the break. That usually indicates there wasn’t a defect in the raw material to manufacture the bolt.

Now they could have used a poor grade to manufacture the bolt (in other words someone grabbed the wrong material for machining) or heat treat was wrong. Hard to say.

If they don’t warranty any of those parts, all isn’t lost. I’d suggest grinding the broken bolt surface flat, removing as little of material as possible. After that use a center-punch to mark the center of the bolt. Next use a #2 center-drill or 1/8” drill to get your hole started. Depending on the size of that bolt, and how well you’re centered, drill a hole about 0.025” smaller than the minor diameter of the thread. Grab a hammer and bolt extractor and give it a good tap so the extractor seats in the hole. Remove the broken bolt.

If that metal on the bracket is extremely displaced, I’d take a a flat piece of steel and place it on the surface of the bracket. Use the hammer and flat stock to push that displaced metal back in place to make it flush again with the face of the bracket.

As nice 2nd cut or smooth cut rat tail and clean the inside of the slot. Take a similar flat file and also clean up the face of your bracket.

as far as removing the broken bolt from the tensioner, that’s exactly what i was thinking. although it does make me nervous, i think i can make it work. hopefully.

i was thinking as far as the bracket, just grinding the material that is raised down and tacking the area feathering it out. but what you said with the flat bar and hammer is a safer idea so i’ll do that first before i full scale go beyond the point of return.

what worries me, is what happens when this happens again? if this is going to become an ongoing issue i might just sell the kit and put a turbo in it

[Trochoidal]

Originally Posted by BeauRichardson

as far as removing the broken bolt from the tensioner, that’s exactly what i was thinking. although it does make me nervous, i think i can make it work. hopefully.

i was thinking as far as the bracket, just grinding the material that is raised down and tacking the area feathering it out. but what you said with the flat bar and hammer is a safer idea so i’ll do that first before i full scale go beyond the point of return.

what worries me, is what happens when this happens again? if this is going to become an ongoing issue i might just sell the kit and put a turbo in it

As with many mechanical task that are presented to all of us at some point in time, we’ve all ventured down the road of uncertainty.

You being nervous about this repair makes sense. You think to yourself, “I don’t want to mess this up”. My suggestion is go for it and whatever you do take your time. I’ve watched many peers in the machine shop business get timid about doing something they’ve never done. You can do it!!

Once you get that bolt out, fixing the bracket is nothing more than some mild fab work.

As for the bolt failing again, just replace it with a good grade 8 bolt if it’s an imperial thread. Use. 12.9 grade if it’s a metric thread.

Will it happen again? IDK. My thought is to figure out what caused this failure. Was it too much pressure on the bolt? Was the bolt bad? Was there too much clearance between the slot in the bracket and sleeve?

I’d call the manufacturer and ask if this has happened in the past.

In the end it’s your choice. FWIW, I’d fix the bracket, get a quality bolt, replace the sleeve and keep an eye on it after the fact.

Side note: If you wanted to go for a better bolt than what I mentioned, 4340 would be a huge improvement.

[BeauRichardson]

Originally Posted by Trochoidal

As with many mechanical task that are presented to all of us at some point in time, we’ve all ventured down the road of uncertainty.

You being nervous about this repair makes sense. You think to yourself, “I don’t want to mess this up”. My suggestion is go for it and whatever you do take your time. I’ve watched many peers in the machine shop business get timid about doing something they’ve never done. You can do it!!

Once you get that bolt out, fixing the bracket is nothing more than some mild fab work.

As for the bolt failing again, just replace it with a good grade 8 bolt if it’s an imperial thread. Use. 12.9 grade if it’s a metric thread.

Will it happen again? IDK. My thought is to figure out what caused this failure. Was it too much pressure on the bolt? Was the bolt bad? Was there too much clearance between the slot in the bracket and sleeve?

I’d call the manufacturer and ask if this has happened in the past.

In the end it’s your choice. FWIW, I’d fix the bracket, get a quality bolt, replace the sleeve and keep an eye on it after the fact.

Side note: If you wanted to go for a better bolt than what I mentioned, 4340 would be a huge improvement.

definitely gonna just send it. but slowly. hopefully it goes smoother than i’m preparing myself for. according to my mechanic he has had to replace them like 8 or so times. he thinks it is way too much stress on the bolt that sits horizontally into the tensioner. definitely makes sense. so i'm definitely going to go with the 4340 bolt. and while i'm into it i might see if i can come up with a possible solution to this issue and let others know.