The crank shaft pulley bolt unscrews itself on my 93 Loyale. Any way to stop this? First time I chalked it up to the a/c idler pulley bearings going out and the idler pulley freezing up. Talk about a screecher! I've since replaced the bearing with new ones and the idler pulley spins just fine. It's been about a week since I did that job and my crank shaft pulley unscrewed itself again today. I've tightened this pulley screw down till the pulley itself turns and I can't torque it any further.

 

Any suggestions?

 

Thanks

 

Ken

Are you locking the engine from turning when you do? Something pinned thru the flywheel is usually best.

How are you torquing it down? If you're just doing it by hand you really need a breaker bar and then I suggest you throw a foot long piece of PVC pipe over it or something to get some more leverage and just pull

 

If it's an automatic make sure you take the little rubber cover off the bellhousing and put something on the flywheel to lock it, keep it from turning when you torque the crank pulley bolt.

I think some books have an incorrectly low torque value for that bolt.

 

Maybe someone here can confirm the torque for you.

Using a torque wrench would certainly verify that you have it right. 51 foot pounds is the spec I have always used for the EA series.

It's a 5 speed standard. I'm torquing it by hand w/rachet and socket. I wedged a long piece of rebar between the pulleys to stop them from turning and tightened as much as I physically could. I'd really like to be able to do this without stripping the engine compartment down to just bare motor since I don't have much time off and we're a two car family with both needing use everyday. Plus even though I have a Chiltons - I'm pretty much motor illiterate.

 

Where do I find the flywheel or at least access to it?

 

Ken

It is Behind the Engine, in the Bellhousing; you'll see a Little Rubber cover in its upper part, just remove the Spare Wheel and you'll see it.

 

Have you Tried to use a Lockin' Washer there?

 

Kind Regards.

I had that happen to mine soon after I had done a timing belt. It is kind of dramatic because you lose electrical and the power steering when it stops turning and the CE comes on.

 

The previous posters had the best suggestions. If it continues to be a problem you might try some loctite.The best thing is to ensure you have the correct torque on the bolt. I discovered during my timing belt replacement that third party books like Haynes do not always have the correct torque. Replacing a water pump, I broke off a bolt because the Haynes book listed it way to high. If you don't have the factory manual, you could probably call any Subaru part department and they can give it to you.

Feed some non-fibrous rope into one of the cylinders, then slowly crank it by hand until it binds up.

 

Then you can lean your ratchet to tighten the crank bolt. Then crank it backwards by hand just a little to loosen the rope and be able to pull it back out.

could always get it as tight as you can,put a breaker bar on it and set it against one of the framerails so if you bump the starter it will tighten it alittle more.then again you might have to do the reverse of that to loose the bolt afterwards.

could always get it as tight as you can,put a breaker bar on it and set it against one of the framerails so if you bump the starter it will tighten it alittle more.then again you might have to do the reverse of that to loose the bolt afterwards.

 

NO NO NO NO NO NO

 

 

 

Bad idea, danger will robinson.

 

I mean, unless you want to break your tools or shear your crank pulley.

 

 

Loctite will also help keep it from moving.

Rope in the cylinder and bump-starting it to tighten a bolt? Wowsers!

 

I put the car in 5th gear and set the parking brake. Crank on it with a 3 foot breaker bar. You have to really put some muscle into it.

Yeah, you strip that bolt out..you won't be happy.

NO NO NO NO NO NO

 

 

 

Bad idea, danger will robinson.

 

I mean, unless you want to break your tools or shear your crank pulley.

 

 

Loctite will also help keep it from moving.

 

All that will do is loosen the bolt. Starter spins the wrong way to tighten the bolt.

Rope in the cylinder and bump-starting it to tighten a bolt? Wowsers!

 

Rope in cylinder is a great trick......time consuming, but works well.

 

Bumping the starter will not tighten, great for cracking that bolt loose though. Starter spins only one way(unless you reverse polarity to the starter:brow:)

 

I put the car in 5th gear and set the parking brake. Crank on it with a 3 foot breaker bar. You have to really put some muscle into it.

 

This is what I ussually do....works great as long as you've got a strong clutch. if not, move to the rope trick.

I had a similar issue.

turned out that XT pulleys have a pin. it won't stay tight without that pin in place.