ohsimachi

So, I make this post reluctantly (I know it's been discussed ad nauseum). I did a LOT of research trying to make sure I tried nearly everything first.

1. Stater bump: no joy, I even used 2 batteries in series, the end of the breaker bar left a divet in the floor of my garage, but the bolt is just as tight as ever. I also tried a couple of different permutations of this method, lodging the breaker bar (25in Harbor Freight model with 1/2in drive) against a jack stand, leaving some space between the bar and floor so it would get some momentum before striking the floor. None of it ever worked.

2. Pneumatic tools. I went to Harbor freight, and picked up some Labor day weekend sales. 10gl compressor capable of 5.3cfm @ 90psi and the biggest hulking impact wrench they have 3/4in drive and 1000 lb/ft of torque. All connected by 3/8in heavy duty line (32 feet of it). NO DICE!

3. FIRE! Back to Harbor Freight, mini butane torch supposedly capable of 2000 deg heat, I've held the torch on the bolt for up to 2:30 and it had no effect...

All of this time I have tried to find ways to get liquid wrench into the bolt threads, but having seen pictures of this bolt I know that there are no threads near the head of the bolt. I've sprayed LW into the two holes on either side of the bolt and tried to get the straw behind the second pulley to wherever the bolt screws into.

Is there anything else I can use? Some method I haven't found? Would the SST for the Crank pulley work better than my monster air gun?

milirx450h

Keep trying man! I fought with my crank bolt for about a day and a half...I think what finally got mine loose was a combination of using PB Blaster (similar to Liquid Wrench), a propane torch and an electric (yes, electric, not pneumatic) impact wrench. Dumb question but I have to ask...have you tried reversing the direction of the impact wrench? First try to loosen, then tighten, then loosen, etc. going back and forth. I was cursing myself for getting as far as I did tearing apart the front of the motor to change a water pump and timing belt when the crank bolt suddenly broke free. Smooth sailing from there. Keep at it!

msekanha

A 10 gallon compressor doesn't have enough bite to break free the crank bolt. Use a bigger compressor.

Hayk

iTrader: (1)

Might be a stupid question, but when you were using the starter bump, are you sure you positioned the breaker bar in the right direction? Maybe you tightened the bolt accidentally?

ohsimachi

MrBooby,
I'm pretty sure that becuase of the direction the crank spins the breaker bar/floor method can't spin the bolt the wrong way. Belive me, I thought about this and every way I tried to visualise the action of the bolt/crank/socket/bar led me to believe there isn't a way to tighten the bolt by bump starting the starter...

I'm pretty much limited to the 10gal compressor because that is a) all i can afford at the moment, and b) it's all i can fit in the trunk of my other car.

msekanha

I also have a 10 gallon compressor myself, which couldn't break free the crank bolt. I took my car to a garage, which they loosened the crank bolt for me for $10 dollars.

Bdub215

iTrader: (1)

get something to hold the crank pulley tight, get a breaker bar and a 21 and bust it loose by hand. Personally the starter bump worked for me.

KLF

There's no way to position the bar in the wrong direction. The engine only turns one way.

The starter bump method usually works well, I've used it often. But, you need a tool of some sort to hold the crank while you re-torque the bolt anyway, so you should just use that to also get it off. How will you get the bolt torqued back to ~165 ft lbs without it?

ohsimachi

I got it out about 30 minutes ago:

So I bought:

1) Schley special harmonic balancer tool from amazon

2) 5ft Iron pipe from Lowes http://www.lowes.com/pd_71477-76064-...sales_dollar|1

3) 1/2in drive 20in extension from Lowes (your extension has to be at least 18in long to clear the fender well) http://www.lowes.com/pd_337361-22328...7C1&facetInfo=

I held the harmonic balancer tool steady by bracing an 18in craftsmen breaker bar against the axle shaft and sway bar area.

I placed the 22mm socket (with 1/2in drive, because I snapped the 1/2in to 3/8in adapter doing the starter bump) and 20in extension on the bolt and laid the female end of the extension on the top of a 2 ton jackstand that extended up to be nearly perfectly level to the bolt height with the car on jack stands.

I placed a 25in harbor freight breaker bar on the end of the extension assembly with the bar pointing up at the 11 o'clock position as you're looking at it from the passenger side.

I slid the 5ft pipe over the breaker bar and went to town; basically hanging off the end of the bar. It took several minutes of this, working the bar up and down kind of in an impact fashion; there is quite a bit of twist inherent in this setup but nothing snapped until the bolt gave way. It looks like whoever did the WP last coated the entire length of the bolt in some pretty tough thread locker and then torqued the snot out of it.

Cbob

The balancer bolt has some pretty serious loctite from the factory. A generous application of heat (NOT a palm size torch) to the head of the bolt and a good impact wrench will free it. The key is to get the bolt hot enough to free the loctite.

808mcv20l

Had the same problem getting off the crank bolt on our 99 Camry V6.

Tried the SST with a long breaker bar and extensions, the problem was, I had the car jacked up on stands and there was no way I could fit my 26" long breaker bar under there with room move it without a bunch of extensions.... but with the extensions I could not get enough torque on it since the kept flexing...

After about 1hr I gave up felt like the bolt was rounding off and didn't want to worse my chances later.

Did a bunch of research on impact guns, (electric) this is what I found on Youtube:
Milwaukee 2763 1/2" impact w/ 5ah battery.

The guy in the video (realtoolreviews) removed crank bolts like nothing on a bunch of cars.

The impact has 1100ft lbs if loosening power.

I bought one at my local Homedepot, charged up the battery. Went to work at it.

To my amazement, the bolt came loose in less than 3 secs!!!

I did however needed to use a crank puller tool pull off the crank pulley from the engine, it was on there real good.

The tool was kinda pricey, 219+ 100 for battery, but it was worth it to me, since I should be able to take off almost any bolt from now on and will use it when I do the timing belt on my 2000 ES300 later this year.