Crank Pulley Bolt

[jman11]

My Timing beltapalooza has hit a serious snag. The radiator, fans, accessory belts are all off, but the damn crank pulley is stuck, and I mean stuck. it's a manual transmission, so we tried to put it in 5th and undo the bolt with a 22mm socket, 1/2" rachet and 5' cheater pipe over the end. All we suceeded in doing was making the clutch slip and bending the pipe. It's a really good way to bend the pipe if anyone needs to do that.

 

I've read about a couple of other ideas:

 

1. bumping the starter motor with a ratchet against the ground/frame. This one scares me, lefty loosey and righty tighty, which way the engine goes, etc. Also the fact that this just smells like a disaster waiting to happened.

 

2. Jam something in the flywheel, and then undo it. Will this work with a manual? I am not sure how to get through the cars protective layers and see the damn thing. Any hints on where it is would be great.

 

3. Buy the special tool, be manly and just pull/push. This will probably be expensive and mean my baby is stuck until the tool arrives.

 

It's a 2000 2.5 litre engine, on an Impreza. I believe the things torqued to something around 120 foot pounds, so do I have any chance at all? I'mnot sure what to try next, so any hints will be great.

[1 Lucky Texan]

My Timing beltapalooza has hit a serious snag. The radiator, fans, accessory belts are all off, but the damn crank pulley is stuck, and I mean stuck. it's a manual transmission, so we tried to put it in 5th and undo the bolt with a 22mm socket, 1/2" rachet and 5' cheater pipe over the end. All we suceeded in doing was making the clutch slip and bending the pipe. It's a really good way to bend the pipe if anyone needs to do that.

 

I've read about a couple of other ideas:

 

1. bumping the starter motor with a ratchet against the ground/frame. This one scares me, lefty loosey and righty tighty, which way the engine goes, etc. Also the fact that this just smells like a disaster waiting to happened.

 

2. Jam something in the flywheel, and then undo it. Will this work with a manual? I am not sure how to get through the cars protective layers and see the damn thing. Any hints on where it is would be great.

 

3. Buy the special tool, be manly and just pull/push. This will probably be expensive and mean my baby is stuck until the tool arrives.

 

It's a 2000 2.5 litre engine, on an Impreza. I believe the things torqued to something around 120 foot pounds, so do I have any chance at all? I'mnot sure what to try next, so any hints will be great.

 

If you're cautious, and have someone else triple check all the prep (like disabling the ignition!) I say go for the starter bump. It's not like you didn't try the more correct way first. And folks evidently have done the starter trick with no problems. It is just physics after all - and should be OK with the proper care. Don't skimp on safety!

[idosubaru]

this is normal, they can be a bear to remove. use a hammer and wail on the socket wrench handle. the impact will knock it loose before the clutch starts to move the car by the force. keep doing it a couple of time...wail on that joker hard with a heavy hammer....that will usually work.

 

if this fails, the starter trick works every time. it sounds scarry but when you do it, it's like....dang that took 11 second and i'm done, sweet. make sure the socket is on LOOSEN (lefty) and seated on the crank pulley bolt straight and flush. then make sure the socket has something to rest against...either the motor mount or fabricate something very sturdy. lay it close and bump the starter, it'll back right off. just bump it quickly, just enough to break it loose. often the socket falls off, but the bolt will be loose, that's normal. i just wouldn't let anyone stand near there. not really much chance to hurt anything if you're careful. i've done this a number of times on tricky bolts and never had a problem on multiple cars...dodge, ford, subaru...

[svxpert]

1. no need to take the radiator out, just take the fans out. that just sets you up for overheating problems.

 

2. don't need a 5' cheater pipe, the longer the pipe, the less torque you have to work with. use a 2' pipe.

 

3. use the meathod grossgary gave, "use a hammer and wail on the socket wrench handle". use a punch to jam the flywheel from moving.

 

 

 

 

My Timing beltapalooza has hit a serious snag. The radiator, fans, accessory belts are all off, but the damn crank pulley is stuck, and I mean stuck. it's a manual transmission, so we tried to put it in 5th and undo the bolt with a 22mm socket, 1/2" rachet and 5' cheater pipe over the end. All we suceeded in doing was making the clutch slip and bending the pipe. It's a really good way to bend the pipe if anyone needs to do that.

 

I've read about a couple of other ideas:

 

1. bumping the starter motor with a ratchet against the ground/frame. This one scares me, lefty loosey and righty tighty, which way the engine goes, etc. Also the fact that this just smells like a disaster waiting to happened.

 

2. Jam something in the flywheel, and then undo it. Will this work with a manual? I am not sure how to get through the cars protective layers and see the damn thing. Any hints on where it is would be great.

 

3. Buy the special tool, be manly and just pull/push. This will probably be expensive and mean my baby is stuck until the tool arrives.

 

It's a 2000 2.5 litre engine, on an Impreza. I believe the things torqued to something around 120 foot pounds, so do I have any chance at all? I'mnot sure what to try next, so any hints will be great.

[sid_vicious]

2. don't need a 5' cheater pipe, the longer the pipe, the less torque you have to work with. use a 2' pipe.

 

I don't get it...the longer the pipe, the less torque?

[idosubaru]

the shorter length of just the socket will work better than a long pipe for using the impact hammer method.

[D-Cal]

I bought a Dewalt electric impact. Rated for 200 ft/lbs. Has removed every stubborn crank pulley bolt I've come across so far. Air tools are next year.

[jman11]

I had already drained the coolant (water pump), so it was a 2 second thing todo. I also like the little bit of extra room.

 

I tried the hammer thing before I sent out the message, I used the same bar, I just hit it right near the bottom.

 

For the curious, the reason the shorter bar will work better for the hammer trick is twofold. Firstly there is less flex in the whole ensemble, this means the force you apply with the hammer will be a really sharp spike. The flex will average out the force and give you a smoother curve. There is also a larger range of motion: a 1" movement on a short handle translates to a lot more than 1" of motion at the end of 5' of pipe. If the bar is too long you might not overcome the flex and so really just may as well be bumping it with your hand.

 

My plane for my next day off is to use the starter motor trick. I've been trying to wake my roommate up with this whole process and that may just finally do it.

[Gnuman]

Particularly if the ratchet flys through his window. . .

 

The engine rotates in a direction that a breaker bar (sometimes called a flex bar) will be loosening the bolt when you bump the starter. I would still use the cheater bar and position it under the frame. By the time you register that the starter has kicked, the bolt will be loose. This is a last resort operation, though. I wore stupid marks for months after trying to hold a breaker bar in place when using this method (be sure you know where everything is going to be jumping to when you try this)

[1 Lucky Texan]

I bought a Dewalt electric impact. Rated for 200 ft/lbs. Has removed every stubborn crank pulley bolt I've come across so far. Air tools are next year.

 

be careful - dewalt is some dangerous stuff;

 

http://www.abrasha.com/misc/dewalt_tool_safety.htm

 

;^)

[D-Cal]

be careful - dewalt is some dangerous stuff;

 

http://www.abrasha.com/misc/dewalt_tool_safety.htm

 

;^)

 

Ahahaha!!! That's awesome!

 

I read up on doing the timing belt/water pump etc. on one of my (non Subaru) cars before attempting it, and read about the multi-day struggles of one poor chap on a message board, every message more despondent than the last. Same kinda stuff, use the starter, cheater bar, brace the ratchet against the floor, etc. Decided me right then and there to spend the money on the impact. Crank bolt came off in 5 seconds, had all my fingers intact, money well spent I figger. I use it for lugs, and recently redid the suspension on the same car with it.

[AlpineRaven]

I used the start motor trick, did not remove the radiator fans at all, just left it as bleeding it is a pain in the arse.

Cheers

AP