Battery tray replacement - bad idea?

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Jobi-Wan Kenobi

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I had to change my battery last week and noticed my battery tray had definitely seen better days. It's starting to rot away and the bolt for the hold down was seized and broke. I have a new tray. How much trouble am I asking for to change it? Should I expect seized bolts that need to be drilled and tapped?
 

justirv

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I had to change my battery last week and noticed my battery tray had definitely seen better days. It's starting to rot away and the bolt for the hold down was seized and broke. I have a new tray. How much trouble am I asking for to change it? Should I expect seized bolts that need to be drilled and tapped?
If your whole frame is rusted out, or you had battery acid spillage, you may have concern. Throw some penetrating oil on the tray bolts just to ease the way during removal.
 

Joseph Garcia

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Seized bolts can be a PIA, but the job is definitely achievable.

Start with PB Blaster or equivalent on any exposed threads on the broken bolt, and give it time to penetr*te (didn't know it was a forbidden word here) downward into the threads of the broken bolt. A few applications over a long day should provide the best penetr*ting results that you are going to get from it.

Then CAREFULLY use your centering punch to create a small indent as close to the center of the broken bolt that you can. Don't worry if it is slightly off center.

Then start drilling with your smallest drill bit. Apply light steady pressure to the drill, but not enough to overheat or snap the small drill bit. Be sure to liberally use cutting oil, applying several times during each drill bit progression. You don't have to drill clear through the broken bolt, but estimate the drill depth to be at least up halfway through the nut. Progressively increase the drill bit size in small increments, being patient and consistent. The broken bolt will free up long before you get to a drill bit size that could potentially impact the nut's threads.

Then, use the correct size thread chaser to clean out the nut. Purchase the correct replacement bolt, and put liberal amounts of basic Loctite on the replacement bolt to prevent the threads from seizing up again, in case you need to remove the bolt in the future.
 
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Jobi-Wan Kenobi

Jobi-Wan Kenobi

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Thanks. There is some rust on the frame but not terrible. Never had any acid spilling. At least not since I've had the vehicle anyway.

Just wondering if I need to expect to fight with seized or broken bolts so I know if I have enough time during Christmas to do the job.
 

justirv

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Thanks. There is some rust on the frame but not terrible. Never had any acid spilling. At least not since I've had the vehicle anyway.

Just wondering if I need to expect to fight with seized or broken bolts so I know if I have enough time during Christmas to do the job.
What @Joseph Garcia said, you should be fine. Let the pb sit for an hour or more (more is better)...
 
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Jobi-Wan Kenobi

Jobi-Wan Kenobi

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Tried to tackle this today. I'm gonna have to revisit this later. I have 2 bolts that the heads are rusted down enough that a socket won't grab and 1 that snapped. I do have a set of extractor sockets but not with me.
 

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