Loose bolts from BSE vibration

[AWD-Tony]

I’ve had my Bosch alternator for about 4 years now with no issues. Had to do BSE a few months ago. Just looking over the car today and I noticed one of my alt case bolt was completely off. The frame helped me from loosing it. I also have urethane mount all the way around. So I put the bolt back in and checked the others and they were all a bit loose. No, my belt isn’t too tight. I’m thinking it backed out from all the vibration. Just wondering if any other bolts come loose for you guys that have BSE.

I’m basically asking the guys that have BSE if they’ve had bolts come loose.

 

[97egl]

I'd bet the mounts have more to do with it than the BSE. Just my .02

 

[92AWDHX40]

No I haven't had that issue at all

 

[Adam]

I've haven't had balance shafts since 2015. Also have poly motor mount bushings on all four mounts. I never noticed a vibration difference from the lack of shafts but I did notice a huge difference with the poly motor mounts. I don't think I've had anything loosen up because of the vibration though. However stuff can and does loosen over time. Its good to once over everything once in a while.

 

[AWD-Tony]

I'd bet the mounts have more to do with it than the BSE. Just my .02

I disagree. The vibration with the mounts were nothing compared to BSE. Mounts were one of the first mods I did ~5 years ago

I've haven't had balance shafts since 2015. Also have poly motor mount bushings on all four mounts. I never noticed a vibration difference from the lack of shafts but I did notice a huge difference with the poly motor mounts. I don't think I've had anything loosen up because of the vibration though. However stuff can and does loosen over time. Its good to once over everything once in a while.

I’m sure stuff will loosen over time with the combination of both. I will go over everything. Glad to hear nothing on yours came loose. I’m a torque nazi and everything is torqued to the highest spec.

 

[97egl]

I disagree. The vibration with the mounts were nothing compared to BSE. Mounts were one of the first mods I did ~5 years ago

Must be the combination of the mounts and BSE or just different from car to car because I've hardly ever noticed a difference with the BSE but I don't have poly mounts in any of my DSM's. I am curious now. I might have to get poly mounts when I need new mounts just to see

 

[Adam]

I disagree. The vibration with the mounts were nothing compared to BSE. Mounts were one

I’m sure stuff will loosen over time with the combination of both. I will go over everything. Glad to hear nothing on yours came loose. I’m a torque nazi and everything is torqued to the highest spec.

If it's any consolation .. I don't usually torque anything to manufacture spec. I just get it tight. Granted years of mechanical experience maybe influences what I think is an appropriate tight, I don't know. But I do torque the important stuff like head bolts, main bolts, flywheel bolts etc. .. I've also learned stuff like the turbo to manifold bolts need torqued as they liked to loosen frequently. Torqueing them seemed to stop that.

 

[AWD-Tony]

Must be the combination of the mounts and BSE or just different from car to car because I've hardly ever noticed a difference with the BSE but I don't have poly mounts in any of my DSM's. I am curious now. I might have to get poly mounts when I need new mounts just to see

When I first drove with BSE, I thought I was going to hate life. But after putting some miles on it, it’s not too bad besides all interior vibration which I will eventually hunt down

 

[Adam]

I disagree. The vibration with the mounts were nothing compared to BSE. Mounts were one of the first mods I did ~5 years ago

Interesting ... I made my own BSE setup and at the same time did the poly inserts on the driver and passenger mounts and left the roll stops stock. Honestly couldn't tell a difference. Years later I finally got some torque solutions roll stops. I did the front and could feel a bit more vibration but not too much. Then did the back roll stop the next day and it was a huge difference in vibration. My sunroof sounded like it was going to explode around 1200-1500rpm haha. However now that it's been two years or so it's seemed to gotten a bit if not a lot better. For the average person, it's probably too much but it didn't bother me.

 

[Sniffbooger]

Seems the vibration can be different from car to car, depending on your setup...engine balanced? No? a good harmonic balancer like Fluidamper may even help to offset some of the BSE and poly mounts but a light flywheel can probably contribute to make things worse...lots of variables here... personally, I don't mind the vibrations because the car is so responsive and quick it's worth it...and don't forget the butt rumble massage too....it feels kinda nice

 

[AWD-Tony]

Seems the vibration can be different from car to car, depending on your setup...engine balanced? No? a good harmonic balancer like Fluidamper may even help to offset some of the BSE and poly mounts but a light flywheel can probably contribute to make things worse...lots of variables here... personally, I don't mind the vibrations because the car is so responsive and quick it's worth it...and don't forget the butt rumble massage too....it feels kinda nice

Now that you mention it, I did have oe balancer and replaced it with a fluidamp not that long ago which did help a little especially at idle…I think.

 

[Kryndon]

BSE + poly mounts; no bolts ever came loose EXCEPT the stupid Alt tensioner bolt which is a bad design by default and keeps creeping up. I've modified it with a better bolt and a thicker washer.

For good measure you could add low-strength threadlock on those types of bolts if you're worried, but honestly it's not that big of a deal. Worst part of poly mounts is that my rearview and side view mirrors vibrate when the car is idling and I can't see

 

[AWD-Tony]

BSE + poly mounts; no bolts ever came loose EXCEPT the stupid Alt tensioner bolt which is a bad design by default and keeps creeping up. I've modified it with a better bolt and a thicker washer.

For good measure you could add low-strength threadlock on those types of bolts if you're worried, but honestly it's not that big of a deal. Worst part of poly mounts is that my rearview and side view mirrors vibrate when the car is idling and I can't see

Oh yeah the rear view vibration IS the worst . Can’t see who or what is rolling up on you now . Idk if loctite would work since the alt gets hot but if it happens again, I do plan on using red loctite. It’s not like I’ll ever pull it apart. It came with a lifetime warranty.

 

[randman2011]

Bought a car with urethane mounts and BSE, OE damper. Vibration was unacceptable so I swapped in a spare set of OE mounts and the problem went away. Swapped in a different motor that still had balance shafts and didn't notice a difference, then when I did BSE on that engine I again didn't notice a difference. The current GSX has BSE and Energy/Prothane upper timing mount only, and I don't notice the vibrations at all, but I have avoided replacing the other mounts even though I have them because of past experiences. Fluidampr went onto the GSX after BSE but before urethane upper mount.

No, I've never had any bolts back out of any part of the engine across any of my cars, but I do very distinctly recall driving my Talon home for the first time and being unable to use any of the mirrors because of those vibrations. In retrospect it's funny but at the time it was infuriating. I wonder if Bosch's torque spec for that alternator is a little lower than OEM and the other reman companies?

 

[AWD-Tony]

Bought a car with urethane mounts and BSE, OE damper. Vibration was unacceptable so I swapped in a spare set of OE mounts and the problem went away. Swapped in a different motor that still had balance shafts and didn't notice a difference, then when I did BSE on that engine I again didn't notice a difference. The current GSX has BSE and Energy/Prothane upper timing mount only, and I don't notice the vibrations at all, but I have avoided replacing the other mounts even though I have them because of past experiences. Fluidampr went onto the GSX after BSE but before urethane upper mount.

No, I've never had any bolts back out of any part of the engine across any of my cars, but I do very distinctly recall driving my Talon home for the first time and being unable to use any of the mirrors because of those vibrations. In retrospect it's funny but at the time it was infuriating. I wonder if Bosch's torque spec for that alternator is a little lower than OEM and the other reman companies?

When I install urethanes on my 2g, idk why but the vibration was more noticeable than my 1g. The 1g just had the dreaded steering wheel vibration . I was thinking about contacting Bosch to find the torque spec for those bolts as they’re pretty thin and last thing I want to do is snap those puppies.