crankshaft pulley bolt

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Sun 17 Sep 2006 01:22
crankshaft pulley bolt - thomp1983
hi, if you were to put a socket on the crankshaft puley bolt and quickly spin the engine over for a couple of seconds with king lead off to loosen the bolt, could you do any damage to the engine? this is on an engine where the cambelt runs on a seperate sprocket not the crankshaft pulley

chris
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Sun 17 Sep 2006 10:10
crankshaft pulley bolt - steveo3002
chances are the socket will shift and end up rounding the bolt off or something daft, i tried it once and couldnt get the socket to stay put

have you tried cracking it with the car in gear, helper on foot brake and a big breaker bar? theyre not always that tight...or could a local garage loosen it with a wizzy gun , then you retighten it for a carefull drive home?

remember to use a new bolt
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Sun 17 Sep 2006 12:38
crankshaft pulley bolt - mjm
I have done it several times on different engines. The trick is to get a good fitting socket (preferably with just the 6 flats in it instead of the 12 point ones). The arm attached to the socket needs to be as close as possible to the crank pulley, no 5 inch extensions, etc. The other end of the arm needs to be supported horizontally. I usually put an axle stand under it. I also try to take as much "play" out of the setup as possible so that the first movement is applying force to the bolt. Usually the starter only needs a quick flick of the key.

Take care, and if it doesn't work first time, stop before seriously damaging anything.
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Sun 17 Sep 2006 12:46
crankshaft pulley bolt - Aprilia
You must use an 'impact socket' otherwise there is a risk that a standard socket will break up.
The key only needs to be 'flicked' - don't try to turn the engine over several turns.

I use my big CP pneumatic wrench - if I didn't have it I'd try an electric impact wrench (pretty cheap these days and surprisingly effective) or ask the local garage to loosen it for a couple of quid.
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Sun 17 Sep 2006 13:37
crankshaft pulley bolt - jc2
You could try the other way-put engine in top gear and put a jack under the socket bar.
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Sun 17 Sep 2006 19:52
crankshaft pulley bolt - autumnboy
I have done it several times on different engines. The trick
is to get a good fitting socket (preferably with just the
6 flats in it instead of the 12 point ones). The
arm attached to the socket needs to be as close as
possible to the crank pulley, no 5 inch extensions, etc. The
other end of the arm needs to be supported horizontally. I
usually put an axle stand under it. I also try to
take as much "play" out of the setup as possible so
that the first movement is applying force to the bolt. Usually
the starter only needs a quick flick of the key.
Take care, and if it doesn't work first time, stop before
seriously damaging anything.


I agree I've done it many times with Pug/Cit 1.9td and Ford 1.8td, but as it is said you must have no extension bar to the socket and use a impact type socket for strength. All you need is just a flick on the switch to turn 1/4 to 1/2 a turn of the engine just to loosen the bolt. I turn the engine in gear to remove as much slack as possible before using the starter.


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