Hi all, the other week I went to MTMC in Tonbridge to have the Hunter 3d alignment thingy done and they couldn,t loosen rear passenger side bolt,, they,ve offered to do alignment again (no cost) if I go back with new bolts they,ll replace (greased). Going through QA it seems ( to non tekky me) this isn,t possible and more costlier work has to be carried out or am I wrong,can I just buy new bolts and swap them ?

Also when I put my VIN into search box on here it isn,t recognised ! I was hoping I had a really early model as it ends ..004 so if I post VIN on here can the info be used for nefarious ends , if not I,ll post and maybe someone can tell me I haven,t bought a mx5 in disguise.

( I bought my S for her looks back in 2012, knowing nothing about mechanics)

 

I suspect the bolt is stuck in the suspension arm bush.

If it can't be removed by brute force then it will require that the bolt be cut to remove the arm and the bush will need to be removed and replaced with a new bush.

This is not an easy or fun job.

 

i've had a sort of similar problem on a front lower compliance bush



what happened on mine is part #13 rusts into the bush (which has no part no as they are not offered separately by Honda) meaning the bush is then locked to the car mounting

here's the rear one with the adjustable bolts shown



If you cant get it free you need a reciprocal saw and you cut out the seized bush & bolt, push it out of the arm and replace.

The issue is that honda dont offer the bushes so you have to go aftermarket which means polybush i believe. I personally wouldn't do just one side

it's not a nightmare but painful if you need the car, a good saw with good blades will go through the entire thing in 10 mins per cut max

 

If you cant do this work yourself, then my advice is to take the car to a garage that knows these cars and have them work on all four corners and (water proof grease)the hell out of the geo bolts.