GenVibe - Community for Pontiac Vibe Enthusiasts

I was a member here some time ago, but the Vibe has been so trouble free, I haven't had much need to hang out here. It's been so long I couldn't remember my user name/password so I had to create a new one.
Anyway, has anyone had the tensioner pulley pivot bolt snap off???

I'm kinda suspicious that it may be related to the A/C work that was just done a few weeks ago. But before I start pointing fingers I wanted to ask here if this is something anyone had experienced before.
My fear is that the mechanic who serviced the A/C may have accidentally wrenched on the pivot bolt instead of the proper fulcrum hex when removing or replacing the belt to work on the A/C.

The bolt is snapped off right at the 1st thread. nothing sticking out , what's left of the bolt feels to be recessed in the block, so welding another bolt onto the stub isn't an option.
any suggestions?

It has happened before on here. Here is another thread on it: viewtopic.php?f=28&t=38428&p=462692&hil ... er#p462692" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

I'm sure there are more threads. Good luck on it.

the actual attachment bolt breaking is uncommon, its more common for folks to shear off the part you are supposed to towrque to move the tensioner. Perhaps the shop needed to remove the serp belt and tried to move the tensioner by torquing the wrong thing. How did you discover that the bolt is broken, did the tensioner fall off? I would most likely blame the shop that did the AC work. I hate having to drill/easy-out bits of broken bolts.

A member search shows that there was a user bluemoon, and if that was you, then you only had two posts before, so you might as well just keep the new username.

joatmon wrote:the actual attachment bolt breaking is uncommon, its more common for folks to shear off the part you are supposed to towrque to move the tensioner. Perhaps the shop needed to remove the serp belt and tried to move the tensioner by torquing the wrong thing. How did you discover that the bolt is broken, did the tensioner fall off? I would most likely blame the shop that did the AC work. I hate having to drill/easy-out bits of broken bolts.

A member search shows that there was a user bluemoon, and if that was you, then you only had two posts before, so you might as well just keep the new username.

Exactly, I'm sure the shop needed to remove the the belt to replace the A/C clutch, and I fear they torqued on this bolt accidentally instead of the hex they were supposed to.
We found out because the belt started squealing. The bolt sheared off right at it's last thread. so I have a ~3 inch bolt with a single thread. It was just barely still hanging in the tensioner bracket. The remainder of the threaded section is in the block.
Yup, bluemoon with only 2 posts is probably me.