How to tighten Harmonic Balancer bolt with out special tools

[Rylan]

Hey guys,

I drove into the garage the other day and my harmonic balancer fell off LOL The previous owner didn't tighten it very well and I forgot to check it before I went for a little rip down the road.

I browsed through pages of search results but cant seem to find any techniques you guys used to torque the harmonic balancer bolt. I don't have the cash to buy the tool at the moment, and would like to get it nice and tight.

What could I use to get the bolt torqued? Would it hurt to use an impact gun with the required torque stick? Any ideas?

[delsolo95]

take out starter, then have someone jam the flywheel with a pry bar while you torque the crank bolt

[Rylan]

Is that a safe method? or will that damage something??

[fonkernuckle]

No it will not damage anything as long as you use a large enough screwdriver or pry bar btw I use my bluepoint 1/2 inch impact gun max strength to tighten mine and leave it at that (yeah go ahead fellas and flame-on) done this on numerous cars and they been going for numerous years with no issues, yeah to each his own.

[Rylan]

Did you just crank yours on with the impact gun, and no torque it to spec? I dunno, I dont think I have a huge pry bar here.

[fonkernuckle]

I tighten the bolt with hand tools(ratchet,socket,breaker bar) then I hit it with my impact l for a good 4-5 bursts. I use to torque the bolt to spec but ever since I started leaving it be with the impact bursts its being good to go but be advised not all impact guns are the same you get what you pay for. What kind do you have.

[Rylan]

I have a Mastercraft one, It's my brothers. Not sure of the spec's of it.

[ElliotSiR]

Honestly not sure if this would work on a FF as I've only done it on my Porsche 944 which is FR, but I just put the car in gear on the ground with the parking brake on and it held it well enough for me to get 163lb/ft into my 944's Balancer. Never tried it on a Honda though, but an idea none-the-less. Let me know if you try it and it works.

[Rylan]

Yeah but even when it's in gear cant the crank still turn? Or am I stupid? haha

[ElliotSiR]

Originally Posted by Rylan

Yeah but even when it's in gear cant the crank still turn? Or am I stupid? haha

If the front wheels are on the ground, it should be nearly impossible for you to move with it in gear with a torque wrench, unless you're Chuck Norris. But I'd imagine clearence would be an issue due to the placement of the engine.

[Rylan]

Yeah thats the thing, you have to have the wheel off really to get at it.

[ElliotSiR]

Well that kills my idea then, sorry I tried. Never had to do a balancer on a Honda before since the first one I owned I never did anything to other than drive it and my current EH2 I've only owned for about 6 weeks now and it's a daily driver not a project. Took a look at your build thread though, nice looking car, I'm going to throw you a post in there too. Sucks you're in Canada or I'd come help you out, but it's a bit far.

[fonkernuckle]

Hate to say this but that gun does not sound promising but I could be wrong, I believe the local autoparts store sellsl this maybe you can get the specs from them. If you have a 1/2 inch breaker bar and a large screwdriver or prybar to use on the teeth of the flywheel/torque converter, if you can find a metal tube/pipe to use as an extension on the breaker bar you can get it very close to specs this way that is if you do not have a torque wrench. It little more work but doable.If you insist on using the mastercraft then I would see how tight it would get the bolt by trying to remove the bolt with handtools after tightening it with the impact by using the flattip/prybar on the flywheel.

[Rylan]

Yeah I dunno... I dont really want to break the bolt off. I just dont want to break any teeth off the flywheel either. I have a torque wrench here if I could just get the crank not to spin on me as I torque it.

[94EG8]

I just crank them on with the impact gun *shrugs* thats all we ever did when I worked at Honda. Some of those mastercraft guns are actually pretty strong.

[eghatch9295]

you wont break that bolt with a standard impact. just gun it.

[alano24]

just use your torque wrench and like the other dudes said just use a large flat head screw driver or some sort of bar to lock your flywheel in place while you tighten your bolt. thats the easiest way i can think of.

[Rylan]

Im not sticking something in the teeth of my flywheel, as I don't feel like snapping teeth off.

[lostforawhile]

Honda has a new procedure for torquing the bolt properly, it's a three step process, you also need the new bolt, bolt isn't supposed to be used again. I had the procedure, but I can't find it, but it should be in the Honda technical service bulletins. the new bolt gets torqued to a reasonable amount with a standard torque wrench, then you mark the position of one of the bolt hex points, mark a certain number of degrees away from it, use a big pipe of pipe on a breaker bar to torque it this far, now the car has to run until it's warmed up, then the bolt gets torqued another certain number of degrees. you can't just run it down with an impact wrench, the new bolt design Honda came up with is supposed to solve the problem of the bolt threads cold welding themselves inside of the crank threads. I'm not exactly sure what you are working on, but some of these you need the special tool, or the bolt will never come out, I had a hell of a time even with the tool

[94EG8]

Originally Posted by Rylan

Im not sticking something in the teeth of my flywheel, as I don't feel like snapping teeth off.

Lots of guys have done it that way, I don't know of any that broke teeth, but I understand your concern. When I used to take them off before I had an impact gun I used to stick a bar in one of the holes in the crank pulley and let it jam up against the frame rail, you can do the same for tightening it as well.

Originally Posted by lostforawhile

you can't just run it down with an impact wrench

That's all we ever did when I worked for honda, I wouldn't be surprised if there was a bulletin or proper procedure, but if there was we didn't follow it.

Originally Posted by lostforawhile

I'm not exactly sure what you are working on, but some of these you need the special tool, or the bolt will never come out, I had a hell of a time even with the tool

The D15B7 crank pulleys don't have a hex in them for the tool.

[lostforawhile]

Originally Posted by 94EG8

Lots of guys have done it that way, I don't know of any that broke teeth, but I understand your concern. When I used to take them off before I had an impact gun I used to stick a bar in one of the holes in the crank pulley and let it jam up against the frame rail, you can do the same for tightening it as well.



That's all we ever did when I worked for honda, I wouldn't be surprised if there was a bulletin or proper procedure, but if there was we didn't follow it.




The D15B7 crank pulleys don't have a hex in them for the tool.

there are several different tools, I ran across them while looking for mine, There should be one available for each style of Honda crank pulley, try amazon, thats where I found mine

[Rylan]

Ill try to stick a rod in the hole on the pulley it's self and let it jam against the frame rail, and try that.

So once I torque it once, I should start the car and let it run for a bit then, torque it again?

[Rylan]

Originally Posted by lostforawhile

there are several different tools, I ran across them while looking for mine, There should be one available for each style of Honda crank pulley, try amazon, thats where I found mine

Haha like I said I don't have the money to spend on specialty tools. I need to get it done so the car can be driven.

[lostforawhile]

Originally Posted by Rylan

Ill try to stick a rod in the hole on the pulley it's self and let it jam against the frame rail, and try that.

So once I torque it once, I should start the car and let it run for a bit then, torque it again?

if you order the proper bolt from Honda it should have the new torque specs with the bolt, it's not a bad idea to check your torque again after the car has been run, to be safe. these bolts stretch during installation, so they shouldn't be used again, that's probably why it fell out.

[Rylan]

Good point, maybe Ill go buy a new bolt just to be safe! Never thought of that!