Since I am temporarily living somewhere else and didn't have the necessary equipment or time to do the radiator replacement myself, I decided to have a local dealership do the job and shuttle me off to work while they worked on it.
After the job was completed I inspected the front end and noticed that one of the A/C condenser mounting screws was missing and one of the two radiator mounting screws was different than the original since it didn't have the large fender washer and same hex top as the original.
I pointed out both of these issues to the guy who wrote up my ticket and he brought out the mechanic who put in a different screw than the OEM one in place where the missing A/C condenser mounting goes, albeit it had the same hex top.
The mechanic then explained to both the office guy and myself that he had stripped out the radiator mounting screw and put in place a different one. I explained that I was unsatisfied with the replacement screw since it did not have the large fender washer on it. I suggested that they obtain an OEM replacement and install that screw. The mechanic argued saying there was no part available and that it was discontinued or something to that effect. I suggested that they record the measurements of the screw and fender washer and order from a screw warehouse or hardware store. They seemed to argue that this was not possible (the measuring part??):shrug:
They then said that they would take a screw off of a used KJ on their lot and use that one. They said that they didn't have any on the lot at the time to use and they would call me when they had one.
I waited 3 days and called them after not receiving any calls. I was told by the office guy that they were still looking for a screw and would let me know by the next day.
Well, the next day I heard nothing, and I waited until over the weekend and the following Monday and still heard nothing. So I called back on that following Monday and inquired again about the screw. The office guy gave me the same response and then I suggested that they have KJs they could use since I saw used KJs on their web site inventory. The office guy said he would call me back in ~15 min., which he did and said that they had a screw available.
I eventually came in a few days later to have the screw replaced, to which when I came in, the office guy just handed me the screw and expected me to install it.
Since I was already annoyed with the dealership and the way things went, I took it from him and decided I would just do it myself.
When I got home, after looking at the screw I was given, I saw that it had a fender washer that was half the size it should have been compared to the original screw.
At this point, I decided to just install it anyway since it was better than no fender washer and took out the screw they put in.
When I got it out I noticed it had a much smaller thread count than the one they gave me:
Screw on left is what they put in. Screw on right is the one they gave me.
This is the hole:
Here is the right side which shows the OEM screw:
So I took out the good screw on the right for comparison and saw it had a much finer thread count than the one on the left (the improper screw) and the same as the one they gave me.
This means that the mechanic must have either forced the improvised screw in the hole or somehow redid the threads to get this screw in there.
I called the dealership and left a message for the service manager to call me.
I eventually spoke with the service manager and he wanted me to bring it back so he could take a look.
I agreed and went back and showed him the problem to which he just said "Let's just try and put in the screw we gave you and see what happens."
I told him it wasn't going to work because the thread count in the hole was modified to fit in the screw that the mechanic put in there that currently is there now.
I asked the service manager how he expected a different thread count screw to go peacefully inside a different thread count hole. He brought out the mechanic and the mechanic just said "I torqued it in according to the Chrysler specification and it went in just fine."
I said even if the screw you gave me *would* go in, it still doesn't have the right fender washer and that it should have a large ~1.25" fender washer on it so it distributes the load correctly across the whole rubber piece.
The mechanic then said that he would "go on his own time" and look in a junkyard for the right screw from the right year KJ and that I should come back two Saturdays from now and he would install it after showing me the screw.
I still reminded them both that the threads were not going to match since the hole now has different threads due to this other screw that was installed. The service manager said "that's why we have taps and dies."
Reluctantly, I agreed that I would come back two Saturdays from now.
So my questions really are:
1) Am I accurate to say that the threads in the hole are damaged because of the other screw they put in? I don't understand how a different thread count screw can go in a different thread count hole without damaging the threads.
2) If they do have to re-thread the hole so that it takes the original threads, will it compromise the integrity/strength of the mount?
3) Would it just be wise to use the same threaded screw they put in and add a fender washer on it and avoid re-threading? My concern here is that because there is a relatively small amount of area where threads exist on the hole, there are now fewer threads holding the screw in.
After the job was completed I inspected the front end and noticed that one of the A/C condenser mounting screws was missing and one of the two radiator mounting screws was different than the original since it didn't have the large fender washer and same hex top as the original.
I pointed out both of these issues to the guy who wrote up my ticket and he brought out the mechanic who put in a different screw than the OEM one in place where the missing A/C condenser mounting goes, albeit it had the same hex top.
The mechanic then explained to both the office guy and myself that he had stripped out the radiator mounting screw and put in place a different one. I explained that I was unsatisfied with the replacement screw since it did not have the large fender washer on it. I suggested that they obtain an OEM replacement and install that screw. The mechanic argued saying there was no part available and that it was discontinued or something to that effect. I suggested that they record the measurements of the screw and fender washer and order from a screw warehouse or hardware store. They seemed to argue that this was not possible (the measuring part??):shrug:
They then said that they would take a screw off of a used KJ on their lot and use that one. They said that they didn't have any on the lot at the time to use and they would call me when they had one.
I waited 3 days and called them after not receiving any calls. I was told by the office guy that they were still looking for a screw and would let me know by the next day.
Well, the next day I heard nothing, and I waited until over the weekend and the following Monday and still heard nothing. So I called back on that following Monday and inquired again about the screw. The office guy gave me the same response and then I suggested that they have KJs they could use since I saw used KJs on their web site inventory. The office guy said he would call me back in ~15 min., which he did and said that they had a screw available.
I eventually came in a few days later to have the screw replaced, to which when I came in, the office guy just handed me the screw and expected me to install it.
Since I was already annoyed with the dealership and the way things went, I took it from him and decided I would just do it myself.
When I got home, after looking at the screw I was given, I saw that it had a fender washer that was half the size it should have been compared to the original screw.
At this point, I decided to just install it anyway since it was better than no fender washer and took out the screw they put in.
When I got it out I noticed it had a much smaller thread count than the one they gave me:
You must be registered for see images attach
Screw on left is what they put in. Screw on right is the one they gave me.
This is the hole:
You must be registered for see images attach
Here is the right side which shows the OEM screw:
You must be registered for see images attach
So I took out the good screw on the right for comparison and saw it had a much finer thread count than the one on the left (the improper screw) and the same as the one they gave me.
This means that the mechanic must have either forced the improvised screw in the hole or somehow redid the threads to get this screw in there.
I called the dealership and left a message for the service manager to call me.
I eventually spoke with the service manager and he wanted me to bring it back so he could take a look.
I agreed and went back and showed him the problem to which he just said "Let's just try and put in the screw we gave you and see what happens."
I told him it wasn't going to work because the thread count in the hole was modified to fit in the screw that the mechanic put in there that currently is there now.
I asked the service manager how he expected a different thread count screw to go peacefully inside a different thread count hole. He brought out the mechanic and the mechanic just said "I torqued it in according to the Chrysler specification and it went in just fine."
I said even if the screw you gave me *would* go in, it still doesn't have the right fender washer and that it should have a large ~1.25" fender washer on it so it distributes the load correctly across the whole rubber piece.
The mechanic then said that he would "go on his own time" and look in a junkyard for the right screw from the right year KJ and that I should come back two Saturdays from now and he would install it after showing me the screw.
I still reminded them both that the threads were not going to match since the hole now has different threads due to this other screw that was installed. The service manager said "that's why we have taps and dies."
Reluctantly, I agreed that I would come back two Saturdays from now.
So my questions really are:
1) Am I accurate to say that the threads in the hole are damaged because of the other screw they put in? I don't understand how a different thread count screw can go in a different thread count hole without damaging the threads.
2) If they do have to re-thread the hole so that it takes the original threads, will it compromise the integrity/strength of the mount?
3) Would it just be wise to use the same threaded screw they put in and add a fender washer on it and avoid re-threading? My concern here is that because there is a relatively small amount of area where threads exist on the hole, there are now fewer threads holding the screw in.
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