Defeated by a crank pulley bolt!

[Rueh]

After trying for what feels like days to undo a crank pulley bolt, I've ran out of ideas!

First attempt was to put the car in 6th and attack the bolt with a breaker bar, trolley jack handle cheater bar and a can of Plus Gas. The bolt laughed as the pulley turned around and soaked up all my effort due to gearbox slop.

Second attempt took me to eBay. Excellent! An excuse for a new tool and a chance for revenge on the bolt. Crankshaft pulley holding tool ordered, I set to soaking the area with Plus Gas every few hours. Saturday morning arrives and I head into the garage, tea in one hand - shiny new tool in other, ready to conquer. 15 minutes later I'm considering anger management classes. The shiny new tool stripped the teeth straight off the pulley, giving me nothing to hold it with!

Third attempt. Time for an impact driver. Why didn't I think of this earlier! The impact won't turn the shaft, meaning the bolt will come off! Or so I thought. Armed with yet another new toy, a Clarke CEW1000, I get to work. The things so big I have to remove the radiator to get it infront of the pulley, not easy after 150,000 miles. The bolt must be terrified at the sight of this thing, but this is no ordinary bolt. This is a crankshaft pulley bolt, the Chuck Norris of bolts. 450 deafening, neighbour waking, light dimming newton metres of torque later...Nothing.

The bolt won.

Does anyone have an inspiring ideas to get this thing off? I think attempt number 4 will be taking it to a garage with the biggest air gun I can find.

[E-bmw]

Firstly Plus gas does nothing until the thread is "broken" & I am going to guess that the thread won't be rusty anyway.

Secondly.........It is a right hand thread is it?

Thirdly, if you tell us what the car is, someone may be able to confirm/deny the above.

[DuraAce]

100% its a normal thread?!

Hit the bolt with a hammer to shock it. Use a proper impact gun (1000nm) with single hex impact socket (not chrome) or

Get a proper crank locking tool that fits in place of the starter, car in gear, someone standing on the brakes and a huge breaker bar+extension handle (scaffold bar).

[Rueh]

Thanks for the replies. Cars an e46 BMW. I've heard that locking at the flywheel can damage the flywheel, not sure if that's true?

[crossy67]

If I can't get my impact gun in or it won't undo a bolt I remove the starter and lock the flywheel. If you're feeling nervous make a tool that holds more than one tooth. If you can get hold of a 3/4" gun that will do it like it's not even tight.

[Jazoli]

I have had success on 2.0 HDi crank pulleys by wedging a breaker bar against something in the engine bay it and flicking the starter to undo it, like this

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7G-adEVjfWI

Worked a treat.

[Rueh]

Jazoli said:

I have had success on 2.0 HDi crank pulleys by wedging a breaker bar against something in the engine bay it and flicking the starter to undo it, like this

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7G-adEVjfWI

Worked a treat.

Tried that! Wedged the breaker bar against the floor. The car jolted upward! Gave up with that method before I broke something expensive. Currently putting it all back together so I can drop it off somewhere with a hefty air gun

[northwestrecover]

warm the bolt up they sometimes have stud lock on and need to soften it ,dont get it red hot or you can snap the hex off ,just warm it gently for a minute or so and wait a minute then try again ,even a hot air gun works if you wait a few minutes .Dont have car in gear when doing the breaker bar trick with the starter ! .

[anonymous-user]

Get a good quality spanner on it, and hit it as hard as you can with a decent size hammer.

I bought a decent Teng spanner and a dead blow hammer and got the bolt off a Mitsubishi that way without too much fuss.

[Royce44]

I remember doing my first crank pulley bolt. Couldnt believe the effort and amount of tools i snapped. Eventually a mate said he'd whip it off no problems. 2 minutes with an induction heater tool and then his 18v snap on gun and it flew out like it was hand tight.

I ordered my own snap on gun the following week, even at £700 it was still the best tool i bought.

Thats my suggestion.

[dudleybloke]

Slogging spanner.

[one eyed mick]

Back in a previous scene I used to rebuild Deutz air cooled deisel engines crank pulley bolts 36mm hex ! , first one was a struggle plus,the next was a breeze my new workmate Pete came across with a 10 lb sledge[ no 2 iron] and 2feet of 1.5 inch steel bar [ the tickler ] ,I held the bar snugly on the bolt head and Pete gave it a substantial wack and walla ordinary socket on ordinary ratchet and of it came , never struggled with tightbolts again!!

[HarryW]

Daft question... Is not the opposit thread to what you think it is, is it, ccw instead of cw or cw instead of ccw?

[Disco_Biscuit]

You need one of these
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/SALE-HAND-IMPACT-BAR-WRE...

Put it down the front and smash it with a club hammer, I'm a mechanic by trade and have yet to be defeated by crank bolt using this.

[Rueh]

Disco_Biscuit said:

You need one of these
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/SALE-HAND-IMPACT-BAR-WRE...

Put it down the front and smash it with a club hammer, I'm a mechanic by trade and have yet to be defeated by crank bolt using this.

Must admit, I'm really liking the look of that! Mrs Rueh isn't happy that I've spent money on new tools already with no success though. Would a sledgehammer be overkill? Is there such a thing as too big a hammer...? One thing I did consider while bouncing on a breaker bar, can any of this damage the crankshaft?

[anonymous-user]

Rueh said:

Jazoli said:

I have had success on 2.0 HDi crank pulleys by wedging a breaker bar against something in the engine bay it and flicking the starter to undo it, like this

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7G-adEVjfWI

Worked a treat.

Tried that! Wedged the breaker bar against the floor. The car jolted upward! Gave up with that method before I broke something expensive. Currently putting it all back together so I can drop it off somewhere with a hefty air gun

In the vid he wedges the breaker bar against another part of the engine rather than the ground, so there's nothing that can really move anywhere apart from the pulley and bolt.

[Disco_Biscuit]

Rueh said:

Must admit, I'm really liking the look of that! Mrs Rueh isn't happy that I've spent money on new tools already with no success though. Would a sledgehammer be overkill? Is there such a thing as too big a hammer...? One thing I did consider while bouncing on a breaker bar, can any of this damage the crankshaft?

It would be fun watching trying to hold it with one hand whilst hitting it with sledge hammer ! Club hammer is what I use.

Its the shock that free's off, can't see it damaging a crank tbh.

Or the ultimate bodge, drill a 10mm hole in the bottom of the bell housing inline with the ring gear, insert a flat blade screwdriver into the teeth locking the flywheel, breaker bar and scaffold pole, job done.

[Mr2Mike]

If it's a 320D then the crank pulley bolts are incredibly tight. The one in my brother's car laughed my Snap On 1/2" pneumatic impact gun so you have little chance with a Clarke cheapy. IIRC we locked the crank from the flywheel end and then proceeded to break the ends of both of his 1/2" breaker bars. After welding the end back onto one of the breaker bars we finally shifted the bugger.

[CrutyRammers]

Had to borrow a 6' scaffold pole to do the one on my alfa. I made a locking device for the flywheel, strapped the engine to a pallet with people standing on it, and literally hung off the end of the bar, bouncing up and down. I'd go with the impact driver suggestions if it's still in the car.

[bearman68]

2 man job for us. Remove the starter motor and wedge it with big screwdriver. Undo with a 3/4 inch drive T bar and extra leverage as required.
They are very tight, but this works a treat. And never damaged a flywheel ring yet (Or a screwdriver)