Silly surprise when servicing belts Options

[HectortheRican]

Yesterday, I crawled under the Celi to change the oil and replace the drive belts, then I ran into some issues with the PS belt. I loosened the bolt which fastens to the pivot slot on the bracket, and the bracket just fell off. Looks like the dudes who installed my engine after it was rebuilt never bolted it back to my engine. Instead, they cranked on the bolt that holds the PS pump to the pivot bracket on the crankcase, which kept the pump from moving....

So I was going to make a trip to Home Depot to get two bolts for the bracket so I can actually tighten the PS assembly on the slotted bracket how it should've been, but then I thought about material properties and wondered if the bolts I were to get from Home Depot were capable of withstanding the heat that the engine produces. I'm not worried about the stresses on the bolts since they'll just be holding a bracket to the engine - it's not like a motor mount bolt. The heat is likely a nonissue, but I thought I'd run it by here first. What do you guys think?

[Decalsondemand]

I would recommend using a grade 8 bolt with locking washers just my opinion.

[richee3]

I wouldnt go to Home Depot. In my experience, they don't carry fine thread bolts that would fit our cars. That being said, any bolt you get at Home Depot can tolerate the heat.

[Box]

Seems Ace usually has the best selections when it comes to bolts, nuts, and fittings.

[HectortheRican]

Thanks, guys. I'll check Ace first since I've got one within walking distance. I have thread pitch gauges at my work, so I'll measure the bolt that goes directly into the PS assembly (it's the same as the bolts that fasten the bracket) before I head to Ace.

[Smaay]

you are reading into this way too much, the heat from an engine wont hurt anything. i have found that neither lowes or home depot have the metric bolts that we really need, its better to go to an actual bolt store

[Bitter]

Metric 8.8 is the same strength as standard grade 5, so you want metric grade 10.something or better bolts.

[HectortheRican]

Got some grade 10 SS bolts from my local ACE and I'm driving around fine now. I think I gotta tighten the PS belt just a tad bit more (getting a bit more than 0.25" of deflection), but I'll do that later in the week. I don't drive the Celica much these days.

Thanks for your input, guys.

[Bitter]

If it's a new belt it's wise to re-adjust after some miles anyway, they stretch some when new.

[HectortheRican]

If it's a new belt it's wise to re-adjust after some miles anyway, they stretch some when new.

Thanks, I'll make sure the alt belt is up to specs when I'm in there again.

[rdyzz]

I would use the cheapest bolt you can buy, the bolt is not going to be stressed. Not only that but I bet the cheap bolts are more ductile, there isn't much force I think people tend to read to much into some of these things. The only time you want a super strong bolt is when your wanting to bolt something down with a lot of pressure.