Alright, I was driving down the interstate when I heard a clang.

Nothing bad came of it, until I dropped rpm down to 1800 or so and a horrid squeeling deafened me. It appears that my lower alternator bolt has wiggled itself out, allowing my alternator to move ~1/2 an inch, giving too much slack in the belt, hense the squeeling.

Anyway, my question is what size is that bolt? I need to pick up a replacement asap.
Its the bottom-most bolt on the alternator (mount?), head of the bolt is facing the radiator, and I want to say its wrench size is 12mm.




Thanks

 

Im going to take a stab in the dark but mazda likes to use M8x1.25 bolts might give that a try.

 

Same damn thing happened to me on my '90 and my '92. Both times I was working part-time at Advance Auto so I just grabbed some random "alternator bolt" from the "HELP" brand section. It's not threaded on either side if I remember correctly, just a hole through the alternator and the block that a bolt slides into and you throw a nut ont he back of.

Good luck.

 

That's the maIn pivot bolt, yes? If so you'll never find one that big at a hardware store I wouldn't think. Might need to go to the dealer. The biggest piece of all thread that'll fit and two nuts would be an acceptable temporary solution.

 

almost lost mine before as well, loctite that thing

 

I had one work loose just enough to allow the bolt wear away about 1/8" of the surrounding aluminum making an oval hole and removing the threads of the bolt. I couldn't get a real bolt to tighten. Picked up a slightly longer 3/8" (or 5/16", I forget) with a nut and washers which works just fine. I filled the worn away aluminum with JB Weld to help keeping it stable. When the water pump gets replaced the problem will go away.

 

I think it's M10, not sure whether it's 1.25 or 1.50.

 

I remember it backing out some before, and I noticed the threads were pretty chewed. Not sure if I can throw a nut in on the back, but will see what I have to work with.