I am in the process of attempting to remove the subframe on a 1.6 L reg mondeo.
One of the rear subframe bolts is just turning and not coming undone my best guess is that when the clutch was changed last time the thread has been stripped. I have considered cutting off the bolt head but then I still have the problem of getting the bolt out and a new one for reassembly has anyone encountered and overcome this problem before without resulting to too much butchery, and if so how?
I think the problem is not a stripped thread, but a captive bolt which is no longer captive, ie turning in its retainer. I'm told this is a common problem when doing Mondeo clutches. I've heard of people drilling/cutting into the subframe next to it and welding the nut in.
HTH
Steve
your right Steve, in the past ive had to cut open the chassis weld a new nut into place & then weld the chassis back up, what happens is water gets in and corrodes the bolt into place or like the OP said its already had a clutch & some ones cross threaded the bolt.
Same as Mini rear sub frames, then?
aye another pain in the arse if it snapped.
I'm slightly lost here. Are we talking about a captive bolt in the frame that prodtrues out and has nut fastening it to something else or a nut hidden in the box sections of the frame?
The latter. The nuts are often only fixed with a couple of spot welds. If the protuding part of the bolt goes rusty, attempting to unscrew it can result in the welds breaking, leaving the nut spinning in the frame. Mike.
The 'normal' fixing for something like a subframe would be some form of bush and then into the bodywork. So often a nut welded to behind that part of the bodywork, with a bolt going through the subframe and bush. When that bolt rusts, the welds to the 'captive' nut fails so it spins round on undoing. If the weld etc is strong enough the bolt might just simply shear.
A pennies worth of decent thread sealer would prevent this happening.
Nice....
(note to self - check Focus isn't the same and get ready with the copperslip......!)
"reg" wrote in news:djg0j3$skr$ snipped-for-privacy@news8.svr.pol.co.uk:
My mate recently had just the same problem with his Mundano. Swapped all sorts of suspension components to try and eliminate a knocking noise, only to eventually discover that a subframe fixing was loose :-) Apparently there is a weak section directly above the nut that can be easily pierced to allow access to it.
Thanks everyone it was in fact a captive nut that had broken free, the solution I chose was to remove the passengers side carpet and the soundproofing below get out a 40mm hole saw and drill the floor just above where the box section is in with the mig welder weld the nut firmly into place and out came the bolt.
thanks again.
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