I'm trying to remove my crank pulley and I have all the bolts out except for the center one. Whenever I turn the bolt the whole motor turns over.

This is a manuel car, I have it in gear with the parking brake on, and the belt is also on but it still turns over.

People tell me that I need to use an impact wrench but I don't see any way I could get it on there.

 

You could thread a long bolt into the spark plug hole. Then slowly turn the engine over by hand. When a piston hits the bolt the engine wont turn anymore and the pully bolt should come loose.

 

I would first try to get it off with the belt put back on. That is how I got mine off. If that doesn't work and you still turn over the motor and accessories (it can be done! ha) you should shove a screw driver in the flywheel. I would not put anything in the cylinder because you could gauge the piston top.

 

I agree w/ Shifty. Do not shove anything in the spark plug hole that would touch the piston top, cause that could be extremely harmful...

 

impact is the easiest way to do it. you can hold the belts or hold the fly wheel and remove the bolt. i'd do anything BUT stick something in to jam aginst the piston.

 

You have got to be kidding.

 

Use a "Mighty Torque" or a strap wrench around the balancer; or wedge something in a hole in the flex plate and let it catch on the block; or get a large breaker bar and a 5/8" deep well impact socket, put them on the bolt, and hit the breaker bar with a 2x4 or something (improvised impact wrench)

 

Alright thanks for the advice guys, I'll give it another try.

Hey Shifty, didn't you read my post? The belt is on.

 

its easy if you can get under the car.

stick your ratchet or breaker bar on the bolt, grab the handle and pull FAST.

dont put a constant pull on the handle, just yank it. the stress of trying to turn over the engine that fast is more then the bolt is torqued to, and it comes off.

btw, this only works if the spark plugs are in.

 

Yea I missed that. But you want to shock the bolt loose like MrDude explained. Slow motion will only rotate the motor. It took me a couple tries to get it.

 

also, this may be obvious, but i still seem to do it every once in awhile. might as well mention it so you think about it too.... when you goto pull, think about where you're pulling from.

ive smacked my hands into other car parts, my face, and other areas before when the bolt breaks loose.

 

I know your pain. I've done that on a few occasions.

 

I can't seem to understand how I'm supposed to jam something into the flywheel. When I crawled under the car I didn't see any way to acess it. Isn't the flywheel between the tranny and the motor?

 

under your name it says you have a T5, and thats the one setup im not fimilar with...

i know theres a cover going over it so that debris doesnt hit it as you go down the road. it should be a sheetmetal cover bolted to the front(motor) side of the bellhousing.

you could take the starter off, then you would see the flywheel teeth, and then you can jam a screwdriver in there to make it stay.



however. that sounds like a big pain in the buttox.
i would put a socket on the bolt, put a extention on the socket so that you can connect a breakerbar (or ratchet) without it touching the pulley. then smack the thing with a hammer.. if you cant yank on it to get it loose, put a cheater bar... BOUNCE on it if you have to.

the goal is to yank it loose.


athough... if you have a T5, why dont you just stick it in gear and put the ebrake on?? i think thats as simple as it gets.

 

Man its getting hot in here.

If you rotate the motor over slowly like i suggested you wont even leave a mark in the piston. Not to mention a small mark on the piston wont cause any problems.

Using a screwdriver in the flywheel is an equally ghetto way but sometimes you have to do with what you have. Flywheels are precision balanced to rotate at 5000 rpm plus so taking a little metal off there would throw it out of balance. But for a street aplication it wont matter.

 

go look at a flywheel and see how well the precision gear of the starter slowly wears out the precision teeth on it. takes years of use, but the wear is there... and far more then a screwdriver is going to do.

and if the screwdriver scares you, you dont want to know how many guys drive with broken teeth on the flywheel/flexplate...

 

Yes it can. It can cause bad problems. That small knick will get much hotter than the rest of the psiston surface and could cause detonation.

 

honestly, ive used piston stops before..... but never on a small block chevy.


ive only used them on small engines, where the spark plug goes straight into the top of the piston... no chance for goudging...

if the heads were off on a engine stand, id say go ahead, put a piece of steel across the bores, and put a bolt thru that.

but thru the angled spark plug hole? naa.. i wouldnt do that.

 

Thanks for the advice. I finally did get it off. I just put a pipe around the wratchet and slamed it quick with the palm of my hand and it broke loose with out turning the motor.
Look at my original post. I did have it in gear, with the parking brake on and the motor was still turning.

 

know what this tells us?

if the motor and wheels are turning, you have to adjust your parking brake.. its not working.

if both of the wheels are still and its in gear and you can turn the motor by hand, you REALLY REALLY need a new clutch lol....

seriously though, i would take the car out of gear, put the parking brake on, and attempt to spin the back tires by hand.. if you can get them to turn at all, you need to adjust your parking brake.


oh, and glad you got it off.

 

If you have a T5, just put the trans into 1st gear (or its reverse, dont remember now) and block the wheels with 2x4s or something... the fact that its in gear will keep the engine from turning without the rest of the driveline and wheels moving. If they cant turn (because they are blocked) the engine wont either.

 

Yeah your right, the parking brake has never worked ever since I got the car. How do you fix it?

 

That could/should be a new thread, and if you perform a search, you'll likely find lots of information on it. It you have rear discs and a manual, there was a factory recall that applies to your car, and you may get it fixed gratis.