Andy13186

whats the purpose of the crush washer there then?

ghunt

That's a split lock washer, not a crush washer.

Andy13186

Ahh thanks, I thought those were called crush washers and googled that, it said they were used to provide a tight seal to prevent leaks, i didnt see any reason for that but a split lock washer prevents loosening of the bolt in areas that have vibration, so that makes sense.

ticopowell

I vote to get a new bolt, but make sure it is just barely bigger so you don't damage anything behind it.
If you want to try and flatten the split lock washer all I can think of would be vicegrips, but then you have the issue of where to squeeze, and how to turn the bolt while it is under pressure from the vicegrips.
Good luck!

ghunt

Flattening the lock washer would defeat the purpose of the lock washer...

Split lock washers are supposed to work on a "spring" effect by putting upward pressure on the bolt head to keep it from turning. But, I don't really think split lock washers work very well because they aren't actually made of spring steel like wave lock washers are, and they always end up flattened out by the bolt anyway.

Really, you probably don't even need the lock washer there. What is it threading into? Is it a blind hole or open on the other side?

gmoran1469

yeah but there is still enough spring left in a lock washer for it to do it's job correctly.

Personally, I would just take the lock washer off and put some blue loc-tite on it. If you really wanna be safe, break out a tube of the red.

tj@steeda

Hello,

I am sorry you are having issues with the heat exchanger & parts supplied. We have installed this unit on several of our cars without issue.

Please send me your information to tim@steeda.com & I can put you in contact with one of our installers to help with your issues.

Best Regards,

TJ

2007CalSpec

Update: I cut off the flat washer and it still won't give me enough reach to start threading the bolt into the U-nut. I'm now certain that I will also need to remove the lock washer for this to work.

Interestingly, I found this picture of an install that 5.0 Mustang & Super Fords did and it appears there's no washers at all. It's just a bolt. Could that be why the instructions say to use blue loctite? Because they had no washers when the instructions were written? Somehow I got bolts with two washers? Hmmm...

http://image.mustangandfords.com/f/5...inlet-hose.jpg

rebus

Here is your split washer failing.
http://www.boltscience.com/pages/jun...ringwasher.htm

A split washer against a hardened washer will spin against the washer. The split washer must be able to bite into both surfaces to be effective. Split washers are old tech, and not always that reliable. Steeda could be using button head bolts with thread sealant, like Afco, or an integral washer type bolt. I used pan head screws with Vibra-tite thread locker on my Afco HE with Spal fans. It was designed to be used with the LW so it won't hurt to use it, but you could also toss the LW's, keep the flat washers, and use locktite, as long as the bolts dont pierce the heat exchanger core tubing.

jz78817

split lock washers just plain don't work. I agree, I'd just toss 'em and use Loctite.