Hey y'all, been a few years since I've joined a forum. Last time it was to keep a small fleet of Jeeps operable, some 4.5 decades old, this time it's to keep my Accord running and on the road. I've had it for around 8 years now and it's easily the best vehicle I've ever owned. Was my daily until January of last year when the water pump gave out. Besides dollying it between houses once(started right up on the first crank after sitting for a few months), it's been on stands ever since. Have had the full WP & timing change-out kit sitting on my workbench all this time. Always taken pride in keeping up with maintenance on it.

So anyway, my crank pulley bolt is stuck. Really stuck. And I need some ideas on how to get it un-stuck. Maybe unconventional, considering conventional methods have not yielded results.

So the backstory of things on what's been tried already, considering I've been working on this one single bolt in my free-time for over a year. I wish any of this was an exaggeration for my own sanity. I'll start with saying that it has spent months constantly soaked with penetrating oil. Every time I'd think about it, it'd get a hose-down from every angle, front, back, side, behind the pulley, etc. 5 different kinds(PB, Kroil, Seafoam, JB-80, even ATF-acetone). For months, while trying every trick in the book. Just keeping it submerged. Any time heat wasn't involved, it's been sitting in or being worked while in a puddle of something or other.
I have a 50mm crank pulley holder obviously, as is needed for the job. Though I've heard of people basically jamming a breaker bar against the frame with the socket on the bolt and cranking the engine to get around using one. Never wanted to do that. Something's gonna give eventually and I'd rather it not be an internal component... Besides, I have the tool.
I started out with a 2' breaker bar holding the pulley in place via the tool clamped to the frame accordingly, then another 2' bar & socket on the bolt. Eventually that turned into the bolt turning bar becoming a 4' bar, then a 6' bar; which snapped the end of my 1/2" drive 12" extension clean off from torque. Heat, pent. oil, and 'working' in both directions being utilized amidst all attempts obviously.
After that I dropped more than I was hoping to on a mains-voltage impact wrench rated for 540 ft-lb(having used it on many things since, I don't doubt its claimed rating). Best I could get without needing to setup a full shop air system in addition to the cost of the tool, or running a 240v line to the opposite side of the house from the box(though at that point I'd have probably just opted for something 460v tri-phase considering my farmhouse is old enough to still have the wiring setup for it). With that, I've done the rough math of how much time I've spent plopped down with the pulley holding breaker bar in one hand and the impact in the other working the bolt in both directions, and it's in the ballpark of being over 2 full 8 hour workdays. Like I said, it's been over a year of working on this one bolt whenever I have free time and the energy. Not including prep or anything else. For my sanity I prefer to not even think about that.
Several times I've spent over an hour propane flame on metal; I can measure that because I'll start an album that's over an hour long, light the torch, and sit there heating it evenly until the album ends and it's time to wrench. If we in the US could still get MAPP gas I'd be using that, but since MAP-Pro is all we have now, that's only a 170° difference. Oxy-Acetylene is the next step, but I don't have the setup anymore. I have an infrared thermometer; highest I've clocked things at was about 650° on the bolthead right before wrenching. I'd imagine there's just so much thermal mass with the pulley and engine and that's why I can't get it cherry red with propane even after sitting on it for over an hour.
I've even gone the opposite direction and gotten a small valve-top tank of R134a from an HVAC shop and deep frozen the bolt, then heated, then froze again, then heated...

So that's where I'm at. Just looking for ideas. I apologize for the long post if anyone took the time to even read it. I'm just at my wit's end, and I sit here thinking about the prospect of pulling and rebuilding an engine over a singular stuck external bolt. I don't have the money or time for that. If it came to it I don't think I could weld new things to apply torque to(at least the amount I'm looking at needing to) with it in-place. I'm not that good of a welder, and the only friend I have that is, is about half a continent away. Besides, pretty sure the bolt would be the weak point there...then it's snapped off, and gotta be rebuilt anyway. At least then I'd have a freshly rebuilt, but I'd really rather just start daily driving it again or move on with my vehicular life. Also doesn't seem right to give up on the vehicle from a single stuck bolt either.

 

I have tried a lot of what you've listed over the years. using the starter is not as scary as it sounds. I think the risk for damage is pretty low. But I have had one recently, my wife's 2015 Odyssey that stalled the starter(!) it was on so tight.

The singular method that has never failed for me is best done on a lift, but I have managed to do it with tall jack stands (6 ton for height reference) in a pinch. The tools I use are two good quality 1/2" drive 36" long breaker bars, the 50mm hex tool and the weighted, cylindrical 19mm socket sold for this purpose. the OD of the socket fits the holder tool pretty well to help keep it in position. that's really the only reason I use it. If you can get access to a lift in any way it will make it much safer and a bit easier to get the force required too. The two breakers, one on the socket the other on the holder set up about 45° from each other. Stand facing front/rear so that your helper can face you while each has one hand on either breaker. Then go for it.

My one-man, jack-stands modification to this is to lay on your side, feet on on bar, both hands on the other, back straight, knees at your chest then "stand up" like a dead lift but sideways... if that makes sense.

every time it has come to using this method the captive washer has machining mark transfer from the pulley effectively turning it into a lock washer.

as a warning, I have tried torque multipliers but because they reduce the feedback about what's going on, it's very easy to round off the bolt. Maybe with a really high quality one and a tight tolerance on the socket it could work. But that one scared me too much to keep trying.

 

I have a 3/4" drive breaker bar for 90-93 Integra axle nuts, and harmonic balance bolts. It usually makes quick work of them. With a cheater pipe of course.






I just picked this up recently, and its taken off every bolt I've put it on. But I don't think it would work in your case:

 

If its a rusted bolt, or a brake rotor screw, or a bolt that gets heat cycled, Mayhew Shake-N-Brake works well. The air hammer vibrations can help penetrating oil get down inside the threads. I'm only including this, because it seems you've tried everything else. Also an air hammer can be picked up for $20.

 

I would buy, barrow or rent a good cordless high torque impact wrench. I have the Milwaukee 2767, which I think is rated at 1,400 ft-lbs of torque in reverse. It makes short work of crank bolts and axel nuts.

 

^what he said, see if you can rent a powerful 1/2" cordless impact. Not to say the other tips won't work, because they probably will. My Earthquake (Harbor Freight) 1200 ft-lbs cordless impact wrench was $275 at the time, and my 19mm crankshaft pulley socket was $20 on Amazon. Works like a charm everytime. I have no doubt it would zip off your bolt too.