924Board.org

ideola · Joined: 01 Oct 2004 Posts: 15550 Location: Spring Lake MI

Part 1 in a 3-part series

So I'm doing my pre-winter maintenance last night, and the 924S is up first. What do I see? For the THIRD time, both bolts that hold the A/C compressor in place on the upper ears of the compressor have worked themselves out and gotten lost somewhere on the road. This is the third time it's happened in probably less than 5000 miles. I've tried everything I can think of: thread locker, lock washers, etc. but I can't seem to get them to stay in place. So of course what happens is the alt belt gets loose, and it puts extra stress on the heim joint and the alt itself. I'm of the opinion now that this is the root cause of all of the issues I had last winter with the alternator failing, and also the cause of the broken heim joint.

What am I doing wrong? How do I make this problem stop once & for all?
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erstwhile owner of just about every 924 variant ever made

Paul · Posted: Sat Sep 20, 2008 11:07 pm Post subject:

Safety wire 'em?
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White 87 924S "Ghost"
Silver 98 986 3.6l 320 HP "Frank N Stein"
White 01 986 "Christine"
Polar Silver 02 996TT. "Turbo"
Owned and repaired 924s since 1977
Porsche: It's not driving, it's therapy.

ideola · Joined: 01 Oct 2004 Posts: 15550 Location: Spring Lake MI

OK, s'pose I can give that a try. Have you had any issues with the A/C brackets like this Paul?
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erstwhile owner of just about every 924 variant ever made

Paul · Posted: Sat Sep 20, 2008 11:25 pm Post subject:

Not a common issue, does your motor shake alot?
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White 87 924S "Ghost"
Silver 98 986 3.6l 320 HP "Frank N Stein"
White 01 986 "Christine"
Polar Silver 02 996TT. "Turbo"
Owned and repaired 924s since 1977
Porsche: It's not driving, it's therapy.

ideola · Joined: 01 Oct 2004 Posts: 15550 Location: Spring Lake MI

Umm...maybe, but I don't know what to compare it to...no more so than any of my early 924/931s. Plus, it's had both motor mounts replaced TWICE by the PO.
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erstwhile owner of just about every 924 variant ever made

Rasta Monsta · Joined: 12 Jul 2006 Posts: 11733 Location: PacNW

Shouldn't shake anywhere near what a 2.0 does.
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Toofah King Bad

WeiBe (1987 924S 2.5t) - 931 S3

ideola · Joined: 01 Oct 2004 Posts: 15550 Location: Spring Lake MI

None of my 2.0's shake that bad.
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erstwhile owner of just about every 924 variant ever made

gohim · Joined: 02 Nov 2002 Posts: 4459 Location: Rialto, CA

Are you using a torque wrench to tighten the fasteners?

It only takes one time overtightening to partially strip the threads, and then you will always have problems until everything with threads is replaced.

You could also be undertightening the fasteners, and vibration is making them come apart. What I would try is NEW Fasteners (not used ones from your junk drawer, degreased, with the threaded parts dipped in silicone sealer (not thread locker), and tightened with a torque wrench.

Paul · Posted: Sun Sep 21, 2008 9:23 am Post subject:

ideola · Joined: 01 Oct 2004 Posts: 15550 Location: Spring Lake MI

New fasteners, not overtorquing. Problem is the threads are on the A/C compressor. If those are threads are toast (could have been done by a PO), then it's either new compressor time (it's shot anyway), or I can pull it off replace with an A/C-delete bracket, or try helicoiling the compressor. Or safety wire. None of those are easy or cheap solutions

Safety wire is probably the cheapest, but from what I've read, what a royal PITA...plus I don't have a drill press to convert my existing hardware. By the time I bought the tools it might be better just to lose the compressor (A/C has never worked anyway) and get an A/C delete bracket.

This is why I hate this car. Sometimes.
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erstwhile owner of just about every 924 variant ever made

ragenruin · Joined: 20 Sep 2008 Posts: 18 Location: Space Coast

Can you drill and tap for larger or different Thread and bolt? Maybe the next size up?

Just a thought, then use new hardware.

ideola · Joined: 01 Oct 2004 Posts: 15550 Location: Spring Lake MI

To put the wraps on this, I ended up removing the A/C compressor, and had to helicoil the front mounting ear, and cleaned up the rear one with a tap, then installed fresh bolts with locking washers and thread locker. The front ear was almost completely stripped, and the rear one was rough but had enough meat left that re-tapping was sufficient.
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erstwhile owner of just about every 924 variant ever made