Lancia Beta Forum

Hi All

I always thought getting parts for the Beta was hard at times, but did not think that parts for my 2009 Saab would be given there is quite a lot of commonality with other GM cars eg Vectras etc.

My Saab has been the most reliable used car I have owned, so far I have had one problem in 9 years which was a pin hole casting fault in part of the low pressure side of the fuel supply which I fixed with a drill/tap/bolt. Apart from that it has just been normal service items which is all easy DIY. I did change out the turbo after being told by a garage it was faulty, but I have my doubts as the reason they said it is still there today and that is 20k miles later with no problems in running etc.

One job I have put off and finally decided to do was replace the front discs, a normal everyday need you would think. Well sort of. The job is as you would expect, remove the wheel, calliper, calliper support and disc and replace in reverse order. Easy except the calliper support is bolted to the hub via two M14 bolts which are loctited to the support bracket. A bit of a pig to undo, there are reports on forums of folk having to use propane etc on them to get them undone, I managed with a long bar. The left side was completed no problem and I was in the process of replacing this carrier on the right hand side and tightening the bolts back up, they are pretty tight at 155 lb ft and then an extra 30 degrees. One of them just sheared.

So began a trawl of the internet and phone calls to Vauxhall who have the self same brakes on 2002-2008 Vectras as I understand it and the Saab and Vauxhall part number is the same. Apparently it is no longer available from Vauxhall. That is what amazed me, how quickly what is likely to be a common failed part has become obsolete. I can get one apparently via Saab parts but only via special order, so have sourced a high tensile bolt of the same size elsewhere as I need the car back on the road. One wonders how many other parts just will not be available within 10 years or so of a car going end of production life?

Peter

Manufacturers have no interest in the long term maintenance/retention of their cars. No very green of them at all, but there you are.......

Especially when it's an M14 and probably fine thread which aren't allways easy to find as they aren't widely used outside automotive.

Hi Stuart

Actually coarse thread, 2mm pitch.

The bolt also has a flange and is an etorx, but the ones I have found are normal hex head, but flanged so should do the job.

Peter

M14 has to be a very uncommon bolt size. M12 - M16 - M20 is the normal progression. My go-to fastener supplier used to be Williams Fasteners, as they were only a mile or so away from me and carried a bewildering array of fastener types and sizes. However they went into administration in 2016 and since then have been acquired and re-floated twice, and (unfortunately for me) their base has moved 10 miles or so away. A good fastener supplier is like gold dust...

I have a theory on torque settings......that original factory values on
new fittings are good and well, but old parts with old bolts don't necessarily
retain their original soundness.[if that's a technical term]
Therefore unless all is new, I prefer to tighten until it's tight without a torque
wrench.
But that's only me, and it's not advice.

Nigel

I think with these bolts if they were not loctited then all would be well. The force required to untighten was pretty extreme, not quite as bad as hub nuts, but certainly hard work especially as there was no corrosion on them.

Peter

Peter, what colour was the Loctite? If it was green, then it's the high strength stuff, and the only way to safely unbolt a fastener with that on it is to use fairly serious heat. I seem to recall the part has to be kept above 250 deg C for at least 30 seconds to break the bond.

If it was blue, then ignore the above remark. That's medium strength and should undo without too much fuss.

But yes, undoing a bolt that's had the green stuff applied without heat will stress the bolt and make it liable to subsequent failure.

<edit>. Apparently there is more than one type of high strength Loctite - There are also several grades/types of red Loctite that are high strength and require heat to dissassemble. So if the bolt had green or red Loctite applied, then unscrewng without using heat would have significantly stressed the bolt.