Thread: Cam install. Can't get crank bold off.. any help?

Cam install, cradle is lowered. Impact gun with tank good to 150psi. Breaker bar. All has failed.

I can try the breaker bar and jack it up with my floor jack trying to rotate the bolt but I am worried about what may happen if I am forced to wedge the crank from spinning.

I am spinning counter clockwise.

Next step may be put 1.9's back on and sell what I've got., because I'l sell before I pay a shop 800$ to go 3 more steps than I have.

Tricks, Advice, Critisism all welcome.

-Brooks

ive done the starter trick a couple of times, i wouldn't really recommend doing it that way. vise grips to the flex plate. You will see the 2 covers on the under side of the car, pull them off, vise grip it and crank away, righty tighty lefty loosey

I have never had to hold the flex plate before to remove a crank bolt with a impact.

Are you sure the compressor regulator is turned all the way up/open? That's a common oops.

Hammer away, let the compressor catch up and then hammer again and that usually does it.

You said a tank good to 150psi...what compressor are you using too? A little pancake compressor wont do the job. How many gallons is the tank & horse power of the compressor etc. What size hose are you using too. Air volume is almost as good as air pressure when using a impact.

~F~

Starter bump FTW

I couldn't break mine free with an impact that is supposed to be rated for 600 ft/lbs in reverse. I ended up twisting a long extension in half trying to get it through the wheel well. The way I finally got it was with the socket right on the breaker bar and putting it straight down the front side of the engine. With a pipe on that, I was able to break it free.

Wow thanks for all the responses.

Its a 26 gallon tank, 5.5peak hp 1.7 maint with 150psi max. The hose is 9mm 3/8'' hooked up to a husky 275maxpsi impac gun. I hammered it for a good while with no success.

I believe I actually tried that breaker method, I just cowered out after hearing some undesireable noises. I felt like I was going to break something if I racked it foreward much harder. Perhaps I should have just used my man hands and gone through with it. It's all back together now so I will have to try it for another day.

Its all back together now, I was just showing silver gtp what I tried because I'm pretty sure its the same he was describing.

Originally Posted by Brooks

Its all back together now, I was just showing silver gtp what I tried because I'm pretty sure its the same he was describing.

Yep, that's exactly how I did mine. Had to push pretty hard on that pipe to get it to break loose. If you block the flywheel from turning and use the same method, it should come off. Make sure you are pushing on the pipe and not pulling. We all have brain farts once in a while. It will be kinda rough at first. The whole back side of the head is coated with a red thread locker to stop the bolt from coming loose. It makes a little noise as you break that stuff free.

^The back side of the bolt head is coated with orange-ish red RTV from the factory to keep the engine oil from coming out around the bolt. If you don't install RTV, then it will fling oil as you drive.

~F~

Originally Posted by GR8racingfool

^The back side of the bolt head is coated with orange-ish red RTV from the factory to keep the engine oil from coming out around the bolt. If you don't install RTV, then it will fling oil as you drive.

~F~

YUP! Found that out the hard way after my buddy removed the "orange gooey sh*t" and re-used the factory bolt one time. Had to pull it all back apart, replace the crank seal, and put on a new bolt.

24" breaker bar + 36" cheater pipe = easy work on a difficult bolt!
(The hood was off at the time, so I actually had room to use all 5-feet...)

Originally Posted by Silver GTP

Yep, that's exactly how I did mine. Had to push pretty hard on that pipe to get it to break loose. If you block the flywheel from turning and use the same method, it should come off.

I have an engineering background not auto mechanics so excuse me if my questions are trivial.

How do I block the flywheel from turning, will I be disassembling the transmission?

Put some WD40 in the impact gun, makes the impact hit a little harder for a short period of time.

I cracked the plastic starter housing just enough to get a screwdriver through there (I'm going to cover it later and replace it completely when I need a starter). It goes into a hole on the flywheel (make sure the screwdriver is above the oil pan sensor so you don't break that) and it should get tight. If its still loose, try to turn a wrench until it does get tight. Then just hit it with a short socket on a breaker from the top and it will losen right up.I even attached a pipe to the breaker bar for extra leverage.

This is how I did mine just days ago. Hitting the bolt with PB Blaster or ATF/Acetone mix should help too.

Originally Posted by miker56

Take ur starter off and direct access to flywheel

time out! why are we taking the starter off? you can get at the flex plate by taking off a couple plastic inspection covers under the car. it's just that easy.

then put a vice grips on the flex plate and it wont move past the notches that it catches on.