I'm in the middle of changing my timing belt and water pump and I'm stuck at getting the crank pulley bolt off. I have an auto transmission, so I cant just put it in gear for leverage and I'm not ready to give in and get the tool from Lexus to hold the pulley - yet.

I have searched and asked and I have heard some very creative solutions. One that I dont want to try is to put the breaker bar against the ground and then blip the starter - too hard on the starter and how do you get it back on again?

The latest and greatest solution is to take out a spark plug and put the piston at the bottom of the compression stroke. Then feed clothesline into the cylinder and when you turn the crank bolt it compresses the clothesline in the cylinder and stops the crank so you can turn the bolt. After the bolt is loose you can just pull the clothesline back out. It should work for putting the crank bolt back on too. I know this is the ultimate shade-tree mechanic idea, but I'm willing to try it.

Anybody tried this one? Sounds crazy enough to work.

 

I have searched and asked and I have heard some very creative solutions. One that I dont want to try is to put the breaker bar against the ground and then blip the starter - too hard on the starter and how do you get it back on again?

Thats exacly how I removed mine. I just tightened with torque wrench, hadnt come loose yet

 

ditto, blip the starter

 

Ive tried the starter trick, didnt work for me. Another way is to get a friend to hold the converter from under the car and use a big breaker bar on the crank bolt.

 

I'm not sure about holding the converter, but I have heard of wedging a cro-bar into the teeth of the flywheel while somebody else turns the crank bolt. Thing is, our cars (auto) dont have access to the flywheel unless you take out the starter and then there is no room to get anything wedged in the teeth.

I'm still leaning towards the clothesline method. It is more controlled and wont break anything.

 

Use the starter method.

I'd never stick anything into my combustion chambers and then purposely smash them with my pistons. Got forbid you damage something in there, or leave a piece of debris.

I'd take a damaged starter over a damaged head/piston/valve anyday.

 

on the sc3 auto, you can jam a extension into the flexplate, there is an access cover.

 

Good point CleanSC, stressing or warping the head is my only concern. I know the valves would be fine (as long as it is on the compression stroke!) and I would certainly use new, clean rope. Maybe nylon.

Can anybody that has used the starter method explain how exactly they put the bolt back on to its 239 ft/lb torque? The engine starter only turns one way so what did you use to hold the engine/pulley while you muscle that torque back on? On a 2 foot breaker bar we are talking about pulling the handle with 120 pounds of force. This is TIGHT.

 

read the above post carefully.

 

Ok, I read it. Where is the access cover and are you saying I have enough room that I can wedge a cro-bar or something into the flywheel teeth?

Thanks for all the great responses.

 

Thanks aliga, you nailed it. I just crawled under there and found a removable rubber panel about 2x3 inches just behind the oil pan on the side of the housing. I took it off and there was the flywheel with nice holes to shove a bar into and hold the crank. I'll try it tomorrow, it should work with no problem.

Better than clothesline any day.

 

i would use the extension thru the access cover to torque it down. to remove the bolt, blip the starter, to be on the safe side disconnect the wire that feeds the distributor.

 

Sucess! I got the crank bolt off. Here is how it should be done and you can forget the starter method or the clothesline method:
Through the access hole between the oil pan and the transmission, stick a bar ( I used a cro bar but any long straight prying device would work) into any round hole in the flywheel and prop it against the driver's side edge of the access hole. Have another person gradually turn the crank bolt with a big breaker bar til it engages, then it pops off easliy. Once I held the flywheel even my girlfriend managed to loosen the crank bolt herself with a 2 foot breaker bar. The crank bolt is tightened to 239 ft/lbs, not 320 as I thought before.

Soultion found.

Now on to the timing belt and water pump once I yank the pulley off.

 

Good god, do people actually use that clothline method? Thats terrible, what if the cylinder somehow cut off a piece of the clothline, you would be f*cked. Glad you found the right way to do it before something terrible happened