What's the secret to A/C pump removal?

So I attempted to remove my A/C pump last weekend ... sprayed Penetrating oil for about 3 days several times a day, with a quick attempt to remove bolts daily (slight tighten and loosen sequences) ... I could feel the bolts twisting but it was all elastic. No movement at the threads. Finally, after three days of this I decided to give the back left bolt a little bit more ... snapped. Stopped there and called it done.

Started working on spare bracket with only two broken bolts in it, got one out but the last is being persistent. These appear to be butter bolts from the factory, my vice grips and even a stud remover have just chewed through the steel-ish like substance. Stil have one bolt left in the spare bracket .... which seems like my only safe course at this point.

I did the same thing. Broke ever single A/C compressor bolt off. I got the compressor off, pulled the bracket it mounts in off and put it in a drill press and drilled out every single hole to 3/8".

Stuck a nice long piece of 3/8"-18 threaded rod through all four holes. I then used a nut on the bottom of all four and then welded them to the bracket. Figure the nut is some extra strength.

Can take a picture if you want.

must have a different bracket for the earlier years 97-01 is an aluminum bracket ... but pics are always good.

Devilfrog said:

must have a different bracket for the earlier years 97-01 is an aluminum bracket ... but pics are always good.

Click to expand...

Same concept on all four bolts. I honestly have no clue how they welded it. I handed it to my dad along with my idea, and he brought the thing home finished. (He works for a huge company with like 4 licensed welders.)

The only secret is that when you use mismatched materials like steel bolts and aluminum brackets, anti-sieze needs to be installed on the threads. If that isn't done, expect drilling and re-threading to materialize in your future. BTW, the same thing can happen with stainless bolts in regular steel. I try to keep the materials matched where possible but keep a tube of anti-sieze around for those times when I have no choice.

That's a good tip about using anti-seize.
My bolts weren't that hard to remove, but
they did have a white residue/corrosion on the
threads.

Kano Aerokroil: buy a can!

Antisieze (almost) everything.

tjmotter said:

The only secret is that when you use mismatched materials like steel bolts and aluminum brackets, anti-sieze needs to be installed on the threads. If that isn't done, expect drilling and re-threading to materialize in your future. BTW, the same thing can happen with stainless bolts in regular steel. I try to keep the materials matched where possible but keep a tube of anti-sieze around for those times when I have no choice.

Click to expand...

souske said:

Kano Aerokroil: buy a can!

Antisieze (almost) everything.

Click to expand...

Yeah I'm quite aware of the dissimilar metals bit and the use of Anti-Seize .... I just wish the factory was.