Greetings,

I am having trouble with a fairly simple issue. The head of the mounting bolt on my air pump is stripped and I am missing the adjusting bolt for the air pump. I've been trying to remove the mounting bolt so that I can take it to a parts store to get another (and hopefully it will work for the adjusting bolt too).

Here's my question: As seen in the image below, the mounting bolt is circled in red. Can I undo the 3 bolts (circled in yellow) that seem to be holding the air pump mounting bracket in place and remove the whole air pump. I'm hoping that by removing the whole thing, I can get better leverage on the stripped bolt in order to remove it.



Thanks.
Ryan

 

i know this isnt much help but ouch~

i actually think you shouldnt remove the other 3. If im not mistakened it should actually be easier to remove. Im not sure of the proper tool name but that one wrench to clamps on like a mother ****** (if properly adjusted) and surround the wrench with a towel and hammer that until it loosens.

dunno if theres enough room for you to hammer properly but, thats what i would do before i go into any other extreme measure.

good luck~

 

I think you're referring to "vice-grips". I've tried that with a small pair. If I can find a larger pair (he he) I'll try it again.

 

i suppose... but, i have one question, and it may be stupid but... im curious

after seeing that you were only making the bolt worse, by stripping it to that extent... what made you continue?

it just sucks that there is so much torque involved with your bolt. sorry.

 

ps: the bolt actually looks new to the untrained eye.. lol jk.

 

As I mentioned, the adjusting bolt is gone, so the previous owner had pulled the air pump belt tight and then cranked down on the mounting bolt to keep the air pump from moving. The belt has stretched and now I am needing to retighten it. I'm unable to do that though, due to the stripped mounting bolt. I would love to have left it alone but I couldn't.

 

i would try the visegrips if that dosent work you may have to heat the bracket up first

 

When I remove my airpump, I always remove the three bolts of the bracket and the adjusting bolt at the bottom. It is easier. You don't have to play with that SHIM on the long bolt that way.

 

you could remove the three bolts to get it off or you could try to push the air pump down this may loosen the bolt just a little bit if you can get the pump to move

 

we're just trying to help thas all.

 

i just replaced that damn bracket that the long bolt holds onto. this is what i would do: take it off. those three bolts will get it off, its pretty straight forward. then what you can try to do is loosen the bolts on the back of the air pump a bit (the ones w + in them for screws) then try to get that spacer out w something. its U shaped so you can try to pry it out w some screwdrivers or something. then it will probably be a helluva lot easier to get that long bolt out.

good luck

 

I was able to get the air pump off by removing the 3 screws I had circled in yellow. I will try to remove the stripped bolt tomorrow using some tools at work.

Just as a point of information, what would be the downside of driving without the air pump? I put a bit of fine-mesh screen over the tube going from the air pump to the exhaust manifold (?) to keep anything from getting sucked into it. I started the car and it seemed to run fine.

Advice? Can't afford headers at the moment, so please don't go there.

 

you can drive the car without the air pump. i put a filter at the pipe so u can do that if u feel like that is safer.

 

i'm guessing that you have an S5? if you do you should plug up those hoses. one goes to where the air intake is + the other i'm not sure, but i was told to plug it.

you shouldn't drive w it like that for long. it's going to affect your performance tremendously. it opens the 5th + 6th ports. if these don't open then you aren't going to go anywhere quickly.

i say get it fixed asap.

 

no airpump will also clog your cat if its still there, which will severely rob power.

 

Thanks for the input. I'm planning on getting it fixed.

 

You're probably aware of it, but Sears sells a nice set of extractors for rounded bolt heads (see the pic I attached). The inside of each extractor is fluted so that the harder you turn it, the tighter it grips the bolt head. It works great.

I don't know how much it costs, but it's not too much. If you don't want the whole set, you can probably just buy the size you need. I'm guessing it would be the size #8.

 

Thanks for the tip. I'll look into it.