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need help with crank shaft bolt

ercp98

Well-known member
Joined
Aug 5, 2003
Messages
1,340
Location
northlake in illinois
I am on my wits end with this thing. trying to to do a timing belt and balance shaft elimination.
i am literally stuck on the crankshaft bolt. it won't budge at all.
i have tried the breaker bar with the home made tool. with that, i bent the bolts on the sprocket and the bar i made.. fail.
starter bump... no go... again fail.
now i have a 33 gallon craftsman tank and a 1/2 inch impact wrench. first couple tries... fail..
so far i have failed at this bolt. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/mad.gif

end rant...

now i need advice...

i have a 3/8 inch 50 feet long air hose for the tank and the impact wrench. does this affect the torque rating for
the impact wrench (rated to be 580 ft. lbs.)? also i have the outlet gauge set at 90psi (tool is rated at scfm @ 90psi: 4.7). can i just jack up the the outlet psi to as high as 150psi? tank is rated for scfm at 90 psi at 5.1 .

any suggestion at this point is much appreciated, other than putting everything back together and driving my car to a shop to get the bolt loose. I have thought about that already.
 

ercp98

Well-known member
Joined
Aug 5, 2003
Messages
1,340
Location
northlake in illinois
No i have not tried the torch. can i use the torch? wont i melt seals behind the sprocket? i have tried tapping the bolt with a hammer. i wonder now if the dealer used red lock tite on it.
 

dammitjim

Well-known member
Joined
Oct 11, 2011
Messages
312
Location
WI
I don't know if a torch will damage anything behind there. Might want to wait for someone else to chime in. In the meantime try to find a longer cheater bar.

Also, don't both with the impact gun if it's a shitty Harbor Freight or similar chinese POS. You probably need decent (Snap-on/IR/etc) gun for this job.
 
Last edited:

dsm10o0

Well-known member
Joined
Jun 16, 2010
Messages
680
Location
San Jose CA
what are you doing to hold the crank so it won't turn?
 

MuffinMan7580

Well-known member
Joined
Aug 6, 2011
Messages
142
Location
Fort Bragg, NC
Tap the bolt with your hammer a little harder with a junk extension in the 1/2" drive cut-out. When using the impact, use the shortest extension you can, or none at all (extensions soak up a lot of the "hit" by flexing).
 

ercp98

Well-known member
Joined
Aug 5, 2003
Messages
1,340
Location
northlake in illinois
^ did that. hit it directly and even side to side. no extension too. i am more baffled now that my impact is not enough to jolt this bolt loose. i wonder if i can increase the psi input for the impact wrench? or does the long hose line lessen the impact wrench power?
 

Length of hose dosen't matter. Crank the pressure up to 160-180 or so and give it a shop. Have you tried leaving a breaker bar on the bolt and just bumping the starter?
 

pachood_1953

Well-known member
Joined
Sep 20, 2006
Messages
737
Location
eau claire, wi
^Yes, length, and width of hose does matter.

I was in a similar position when I first tore my GVR4 apart. I tried everything, including buying the most balls out IR Platinum gun, as well as using imense amount of heat, and wax (get it super hot, then melt in some parafin wax near the threads..dont remember where I learned that).
After several days of screwing around, I did the starter bump and it unwound itself very easily.
 

pauleyman

Well-known member
Joined
Feb 27, 2011
Messages
91
Location
Oklahoma City, OK
Are you using a socket or the square hole? Use a socket.
No insults here....but that gun is set to reverse?
 

rdomeck

Well-known member
Joined
Jun 1, 2011
Messages
620
Location
Indianapolis, In.
A torch will only heat up the things that you don't want to heat up. You would need to heat the crank shaft it self to get it to expand and not the bolt! I would only use a torch if the engine was out and apart....

You should try and crank the pressure all the way up on your compressor and a shorter hose if you can. Also wait until you compressor comes on and then shuts off....Making sure it's at the highest psi possible.
 

Romanova

Well-known member
Joined
Aug 7, 2002
Messages
3,855
Location
Cypress, TX
Make sure your torque setting on the impact is at maximum and make sure you're getting as much air as you can out of the compressor. I've got a Matco impact and it will loosen anything. You try any penetrating oil on the bolt yet? As someone else said, make sure the gun is going in the right direction... happens to the best of us once in awhile.
 

ercp98

Well-known member
Joined
Aug 5, 2003
Messages
1,340
Location
northlake in illinois
ok, thanks for all the suggestions and ideas. i have done the following,

1. breaker bar with homemade tool as per vfaq = fail.
2. bump start = fail.
3. combination of, hitting bolt with hammer head on, side to side, tightening and loosening = fail.
4. i have raised the psi output to 140psi (max for the tank is 150?), max for the impact wrench is 90psi? = fail.
5. i am going to try a shorter hose for the impact wrench.

last resort will be putting everything together and head to a shop and have them loosen it for me.
i rather not do this because i have taken off alot already.
thanks again guys.

this is exactly what i have for an air compressor and impact wrench.

click
click
 

89Mirageman

Well-known member
Joined
Jul 5, 2006
Messages
2,502
Location
Stantonsburg, NC
This happened to me last week on an engine that I pulled from a 90 GSX that I was tearing down. I ended up taking a 1" socket (I had it in my box and never use it) and welded it to the head of the bolt. Hit it with my impact and it spun right out. Before that I tried 10-15 times with the impact and it wouldn't budge. The heat from the welder (220v Hobart) did the trick. Again like someone else mentioned though, I'm not sure that I would attempt this with the engine in the car. Unless you are planning to replace all of the front cover gaskets and seals while its apart.
 

AWDPower

Well-known member
Joined
Feb 28, 2011
Messages
107
Location
Vacaville, CA
Make sure you are using a quality impact socket that is a tight fit to the bolt. A loose fitting thin wall socket will waste energy vibrating back and forth instead of transferring that energy to the bolt. That is why welding a socket to the bolt is effective.

I've done dozens of t-belts, and I've ran into your situation once. I had a bolt that simply would not budge. I called for reinforcements in the form a a mobile auto repair guy with a very heavy duty compressor and impact wrench. He ended up twisting his socket and jamming it onto the impact wrench without breaking the bolt loose. He then wished me good luck, and said there was no way that bolt was coming out short of bringing the engine to a machine shop. Instead I went and bought a quality breaker bar (I'd already broken a few cheap ones), a good 22mm socket, a good 24" extension, and a long piece of heavy pipe. I used a jack stand to support the extension and keep it level. This allowed me to move the breaker bar and pipe out from under the wheel well and gave me plenty of room to put pressure on the pipe. Even then, I ended up standing on the end of the pipe and bouncing on it until it broke loose. Good luck.
 
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