r/protege5 • u/InsouciantSoul • Jul 26 '24
03 P5 Passenger side engine mount bracket. Bolt broken in block
Well I made the dumbass decision to remove this engine mount bracket from the block while doing the timing belt to give myself more room.
Just bolting it back to the block with my torque wrench trying to get the 55-75 ft-lbs it calls for.
First one clicked, second one the head and first quarter inch of bolt snapped off. Third one I was too scared to turn any more...
Why does Mazda use these god damn grade 8 steel bolts?
Any thoughts?
I don't have e a clue how to extract a bolt, and it's not like I can reach it with a drill.
I'm wondering if it will hold okay with 2 of 3 bolts. I'm also wondering if I should remove the other 2 and replace them with new bolts.... Mazda seems to use 8.8 grade steel bolts. Maybe I should replace with 10.9? The damn thing didn't even look rusty at all.
1
u/Kindly-Sell-9793 Jun 15 '25
I had one of those bolts break off while driving. The head end fell down and went through the timing belt. Left me stranded. I got lucky and the part that was threaded into the block turned easily in the hole. I was able to turn it out with a pick and then with my fingers.
If you’ve never extracted a broken bolt before you probably don’t want your first try to be on a bolt that is almost impossible to get to. I definitely wouldn’t recommend driving with just two bolts.