need advice on timing belt job!

[skibrian213]

hey guys, new to the forum (and working on these cars, but have been working on frustrating vehicles for quite a while ). doing a TB job on our '89 dx hatch (D15B2) and have come to a big halt at the darn crank pulley bolt. i have STFA all over, followed all the advice and have exerted upwards of 700lb/ft of torque on the bolt. it will not break loose! i am going lefty loosey (it is a normal right-hand thread, correct?). i have used extensive amounts of PB blaster, applied high heat, used all 1/2" drives with a breaker bar->pipe->breaker bar setup that is upwards of 4ft (times my 180lbs = 700lb/ft!). just bought an electric impact wrench rated at 350lb/ft and it did nothing after about 4x20sec intervals. i even had my dad hammer the end of the breaker bar (in line with the crank) while i was applying tons of torque.

is there something i'm missing on how to do this?

note-i have it rigged with two bolts in the holes of the pulley and a breaker going through them blocking the pulley from moving on the frame of the car.

outside of renting a whole pneumatic setup, i'm really stumped so could use any suggestions! thanks and happy holidays to all!

 

[slowcivic E G]

its normal lefty loosey so you've got that part correct. They always are a pain in the ass. After reading what you've tried so far I'm quite surprised it hasn't come loose. Since you have tried about everything that would usually get the job done. Continue applying heat and using impact. Its bound to come loose.

 

[unix4linux]

Buy a propane torch at home depot. They are cheap. Heat the bolt for 10 minutes straight. (make sure there is no oil/gas around that area and have a fire extinguisher in case of anything.). After you apply heat, you should be able to break the bolt free. You need a tool like this to make the job easier because unless if you have air pressure tools, electric impact sometimes isn't enough. Those bolts catch water from the rain and rust inside.

http://www.clublexus.com/forums/attachments/sc-430/214605d1309208366-crankshaft-bolt-removal-dsc05413.jpg

 

[Avant Uprising]

Ive delt with this get a solid bar and put it on the head of the bolt and the washer lookin part and hit it all around it worked for me after everything else didnt

Sent from my LS670 using Tapatalk

 

[skibrian213]

Buy a propane torch at home depot. They are cheap. Heat the bolt for 10 minutes straight. (make sure there is no oil/gas around that area and have a fire extinguisher in case of anything.). After you apply heat, you should be able to break the bolt free. You need a tool like this to make the job easier because unless if you have air pressure tools, electric impact sometimes isn't enough. Those bolts catch water from the rain and rust inside.

http://www.clublexus.com/forums/attachments/sc-430/214605d1309208366-crankshaft-bolt-removal-dsc05413.jpg

10 min straight torch heat doesn't risk the front crank seal or the oil pan seal? I have a torch and have tried 45-60sec intervals of heat with no success. if you have had success with longer intervals with no damage I suppose it is worth a try.

thanks for all the input guys!

i have a pneumatic setup on hold at harbor freight because I am getting fed up with this damn bolt!

 

[Decipher]

damn dude. Mine snapped loose after about 4 or 5 bounces of my full bodyweight on the breaker bar... that was after I had snapped 3 extensions and was forced to buy a set of impact grade ones. Really, the only thing that works is brute force. I'm assuming that you are properly leveraging your breaker bar rig so that no torque is being wasted at weird angles when you're applying the force. You just have to have the right tools that you aren't afraid of breaking... because that bolt will definitely not. Good luck.

 

[cgpEJ6]

Sometimes they are insanely difficult and sometimes they're not all that bad. I've tried to do it and had success and there was also a time I had to take it to a shop because it was just impossible. Honda does make a special tool for it in case you didn't know.

 

[Decipher]

note-i have it rigged with two bolts in the holes of the pulley and a breaker going through them blocking the pulley from moving on the frame of the car.

Honda does make a special tool for it in case you didn't know.

He already has a breaker bar doing the same thing that the tool does, so that's not his problem. He just has a particularly stubborn bolt.

 

[mylovehx]

I was going to do my hatches but after reading this it is kinda turning me off lol

 

[skibrian213]

update: got the bolt loose today, finally! turned out a combination of everything finally did the trick. bought an air compressor and an impact wrench (rated at 950lbs/ft) which didn't do it by itself (I think i am restricting the wrench with hose and connector sizes). i worked my way up to 4 minutes of blow torch heat (1 min, 2 min, 3 min, etc) directly on the bolt followed by a minute of impact after each interval of heat, then some pounding directly on the bolt through extensions and a hammer, then back to my 4 foot breaker bar cheater setup. i thought i had snapped a breaker bar (it was flexed at least 15-20degrees) but turned out I finally got that SOB bolt loose!

where there's a will there's a way...

thanks for all the suggestions!

 

[unix4linux]

update: got the bolt loose today, finally! turned out a combination of everything finally did the trick. bought an air compressor and an impact wrench (rated at 950lbs/ft) which didn't do it by itself (I think i am restricting the wrench with hose and connector sizes). i worked my way up to 4 minutes of blow torch heat (1 min, 2 min, 3 min, etc) directly on the bolt followed by a minute of impact after each interval of heat, then some pounding directly on the bolt through extensions and a hammer, then back to my 4 foot breaker bar cheater setup. i thought i had snapped a breaker bar (it was flexed at least 15-20degrees) but turned out I finally got that SOB bolt loose!

where there's a will there's a way...

thanks for all the suggestions!

I am sure the heat had a lot to do with it. I didn't damage any seals whatsoever when taking a few out in the past. Glad it worked out for you. The only difference is that I wasn't scared to apply the torch for longer periods