Mikevan10 Posted November 16, 2009 Share Posted November 16, 2009 Just thought I'd ask if anyone else has had issues with the bolts that secure the front/main transmission mounting bracket to the chassis. I have had a problem with this on two different Legacys. I guess what has happened is that the hole on the bracket was not PERFECTLY alligned with the captive nut in the chassis and the threads on the bolt must have been getting damaged as the bolt was tightened. The result is that the bolt gets harder and harder to turn until I am afraid to tighten it anymore (before it has pulled the bracket up against the chassis). My plan is to obtain a replacement bolt, then remove the "bad" bolt and run a tap into the captive nut. Then I will make absolutely sure the bolt does not touch the backet as it is tightened. I may even open up the hole in the bracket to give extra clearance. I am nervous about the repair since if the threads in the captive nut become unuseable, I have no idea how I would replace that nut! Any ideas? Anyone ever have this experience? Thanks, Mike V. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fairtax4me Posted November 17, 2009 Share Posted November 17, 2009 I've had problems like that with other cars, usually because I tightened a few other bolts before all of them were in place. There is also the possibility that the chassis is flexing enough to throw off the alignment of the holes when the car is on the jack stands. It sometimes helps to put the car on 4 jack stands to minimize chassis flex and everything may line up better. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EVOthis Posted November 17, 2009 Share Posted November 17, 2009 I had this problem with my 96 Legacy, the 17mm front trans crossmember bolt...I just railed a monster size bolt in there with my 1/2" impact...Its held for the better part of two years and every time I check it its tight..I know sounds real professional.... I have heard of people cutting a hole through the floor board inside the car and locating the nut and repairing it that way...That sounds a bit extreme to me...If a Tap doesnt work I might try a heli coil...I do year you though they are a PITA to fix the right way...lol Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mikevan10 Posted October 25, 2011 Author Share Posted October 25, 2011 Thought I would resurrect this old thread since I plan to soon attempt the fix I mentioned two years ago! Yes, I have been driving the car with one of the trans mount bolts not quite tight. That is, the bolt is very "tight" but it got tight before it had fully pulled the trans bracket up into contact with the chassis/floor pan. Anyway, I thought I'd ask if anyone has experienced/dealt with this problem before. Please refer to the details in my original post (below). Thanks, Mike V. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mikevan10 Posted October 31, 2011 Author Share Posted October 31, 2011 I believe I fixed this yesterday. While I had the trans down for clutch work (see my Release Bearing thread), I ran a tap through the damaged captive nut. I was nervous doing it since if something went wrong I guess I would be cutting a hole in the floor to try to get at the nut. But it seemed to work like a charm although you can feel that the threads are a bit sloppy since metal was indeed removed. But I can thread the bolt all the way home with my fingers now and when I installed the trans and tightened up the mount it took good torque. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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