Hi all,

After a bolt shot through my timing belt cover (seriously), I decided to change my timing belt. Good choice since the timing belt was slightly ripped in places. I'm struggling to get the crankshaft pulley off however. I've tried:

- impact wrench,
- heating bolt up with torch + impact wrench
- jamming drift pin between frame rail and holes in pulley + giant cheater bar

I can't get the stupid thing to budge. So I rented the crankshaft pulley tool from the auto-parts store, and I found that there's no place to actually put it in the pulley, it's round all the way around. The engine is a D15B7 in a 93' Civic DX hatchback. I want to know, so that when I do finally get this bolt off I can get a correct pulley to avoid this in the future. Pulley looks like this:



Thanks!

 

Yea, that looks like the OEM D15B7 pulley. And no, there is no hex pattern inside for the pulley holder tool. You're right in jamming a drift bar into the hole and wedging it against the frame. Incidentally, the alternator bracket also works PERFECTLY for this. If it's not coming loose for you, you're going to have to get a bigger breaker/cheater bar or a stronger impact gun... either that, or start hitting the gym really hard and try again in a few weeks. Lol j/k. Mine usually pings loose with a 24" long 1/2" drive breaker bar and a cheater pipe. If that doesn't do it, I have a 750 ft-lb 1/2" drive impact gun that will do the trick.

Basically, apply more torque. Believe me, your tool will break before that bolt head does.

 

Thanks for the response. Well I just broke my 3/8" drift pin in half, so I'm going to have to look for another one tomorrow. I was using my jack handle on my 1/2" breaker bar and still no luck . Whoever did the timing belt last really went to town on all these bolts I think, because I had to use an impact gun on the engine mounts, never had to use one for any others on the car. I guess I'll buy another drift after work tomorrow and try that method again, otherwise I'm going to have to get a better impact gun I guess.

 

For the non dampened honda pulley's without the hex holes, you use a holder like this to lock the pulley:

 

Thanks, I didn't know those existed. I'll probably order that tomorrow if I can't get the bolt off after having another go at it.

I did accidentally turn the crankshaft clockwise a bit, will this mess up the tension on the timing belt, or can I put it back together if I need to wait for the tool? I don't plan on driving the car much, since the timing belt is in bad condition.

 

Nice! I've never seen one of those before. I think I'll stick with my old, leftover alternator bracket, though haha

 

This is the same tool without the extender bar for less than half the cost. Uses your breaker bar:

Performance Tool Crank Pulley Holding Tool | Northern Auto Parts

 

I personally modified this tool to fit into the holes with a dremel:



Which then was used with my torque multiplier to pop the bolt loose with ease as can be seenn setup in the linked thread below:

https://honda-tech.com/forums/acura-.../#post50583913

 

Still no luck. Bought some 1/2" extensions and 1/2" 17mm socket to replace what I broke. 4' long jack handle on breaker bar and nothing, the screw driver I put in there just slips. Seriously replacing the rear main seal was less frustrating and more straight forward than this. Isn't there just a tool that they use in the dealer that can make this easy? I'm about to just call it quits and take the car to the dealer. I hate paying people to do a bad job at things I could do a good job at myself. This is way frustrating, my Koni/GC is arriving on Wednesday, but I've got to figure this stupid thing out first.

Options I can think of would be buying one or more of the tools listed, or buying the strongest impact gun I can buy.

 

Any idea how strong a impact wrench I would need to get this bolt off? Would 1000 lb-ft suffice? I don't get it, this thing is only supposed to be torqued to like 130ish lb-ft, my hub nuts come off easy with little effort.

 

The motor spinning tightens it over time.

My torque multiplier has a max rating of 700 ft-lbs and it has never had an issue popping these bolts out like it's butter with very little effort.

And I know 200 ft-lb impact wrench fails almost every time.

The easy way with hand tools is this:





Descriptions of my setup here in this thread.

 

Okay, the dealer quoted me at like $700 - I was like forget it. I bought a torque multiplier and tool to hold the crankshaft pulley. If this doesn't work, I have access to a large air compressor, I'll try a 1000 lb-ft impact gun.

I assume from your picture it's okay to have the tool leaning against the driveshaft? Tools arrive tomorrow, so should have an update tomorrow.

 

Something to try in the meantime- remove the dust cover for the flywheel. Wedge a prybar against the flywheel, let the handle rest on the ground. Go to town on the bolt with a breaker/cheater bar. This prevents the engine from rotating, and the torque on the bolt is only limited to whatever you can make

 

I didn't have any issues with the holder pressing on the axle. I had just replaced the axles not long before so they were brand new.

If you bought the silver pulley holder, with the breaker bar you should be able to have it pointed to the front of the car and let the ground be the stop. Then you don't have to be concerned about the "possibility" of bending the axle.

I lied, in those pics, that's my wife's car and her axles need to be replaced soon due to torn boot. And it didn't have a problem on the OEM 20 year old axle.

I never have had luck trying to wedge the flywheel. I was thinking about buying a flywheel lock tool that you bolt to the housing but I don't know how strong they are.

 

the key is to make sure it's wedged tightly and also firmly on the ground. the slight movement from trying to remove the bolt digs the handle into the ground.

 

Nice! Never seen anybody lock the crank at the flywheel before. I can imagine that working great if done properly. I can also imagine somebody shopping for a new flywheel if done improperly. It's fun seeing all the "how I got the crank pulley loose" solutions people have come up with over the years here on HT

 

NEVER try to wedge between the flywheel and motor, you want to be on the outer edge of it against the teeth.

 

Thanks for the responses and help everyone.

I finally got the crank bolt off. The combination I used was a crankshaft pulley holder, torque multiplier, breaker bar and 4' jack handle. The bolt popped loudly a few times and broke loose. It was very rewarding to get that bolt off after struggling with it all week. Victories like this are one of the reasons I like working on cars. I found lots of red loctite on the bolt, which perhaps explains the trouble I had with it.

Should I add some loctite to the bolt or just torque to factory specs and call it good?

 

Glad to hear you got it off there. No thread locker called for upon re-installation. In fact, you're supposed to clean the threads and apply a few drops of oil, then torque to spec. Inspect the threads and keyway, though... maybe there's some reason they used thread locker?

 

I would hazard a guess that it was someone without the manual that assumed it needed it as they didn't think through the fact the engine spins CCW which only tightens normal thread bolts. They probably assumed it should have a left hand threaded bolt and since it didn't assumed it needed locktight to keep from loosening up. Also why red instead of blue.

I'm glad the bolt head didn't break with the red loctite. That one is supposed to only give way with heat/torch unlike the blue.

The torque multiplier is my best friend.

 

I thought there was no way it was coming off, but it eventually did! Boy was I thrilled.

 

That torque multiplier can be a serious god send.

If you had a 1000 ft/lb impact gun that most likely would have done it too.