How to remove crank pulley without the Honda tool?
 

Does anyone have some insight as to how to remove the crank pulley without the Honda tool? I did a search and came up with nothing. I have every other tool but the "special tool" and no one in my area has one I could borrow either. I know I can take it to a shop, but I like doing my own mods.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,
Paul

:scratch:

When I did the UR pulleys, there was nothing but a nut holding the crank pulley in place. The air gun we had wasn't powerful enough, so I ended up taking it to a local shop. My buddy knew the manager, so they took care of it for free, but I slipped the guy a five for the trouble.

It's just one nut... you don't need a "special tool" unless an air gun is what you are referring to.

A WHOLE five dollars :rolleyes: When I get a special favor like that, I give about $20.00. You never know when you will need another favor from him.

:shrug: He literally just took an air gun, unscrewed a nut and that was it.

I'm not rich. I can't afford to give 20 bucks.

There is a special tool to hold the crank from turning and a socket that goes inside to remove the bolt.

You dont nee the tool, use a screw driver and slide it thru the rotor so that it catches on the caliper to help keep the motor from turning (if you have that problem while trying to remove the bolt) All you should need is a socket that fits (cant remember size 19mm???) a breaker bar, a extension and a long pipe for leverage

besides getting the bolt off how long should it take and level of difficulty to install it. how hard do i torque it down?

Oh, THAT!

The air gun was powerful enough to take the nut right off. Arr, power, arr arr arr :D

im assuming you r talking about puting on the UR pulley? on a scale of 5 its a 3 just because of how hard the bolt is on. after getting it off you need to torque it to 181 ft/lb. Id say probably a 2 hr job for a novice

not bad i have a torque wrench and lots of piping for leverage. so it should not be too bad of a problem. plus plenty of time.

Breaking torque will run from 750-900 ft-lbs in my experience. It usually takes a 3/4" drive air impact w/ large hose for adequate air delivery to deliver that amount of breakout torque.

I recently broke the crankshaft pulley bolt loose on my 97 2.5TL (also 181 ft-lbs installation torque). I used the Honda pulley restraint tool w/ a 1/2" breaker bar braced against the body frame to hold the pulley. I had a 19mm deep impact socket, 24-inch, 1/2" breaker bar and 3-ft cheater pipe slipped over the breaker bar. Net leverage was about 4-ft. I had to pull w/ everything I could muster to break the bolt loose. I would guess 200-lbs on 4-ft lever for 800 ft-lbs breakout torque. I was surprised the breaker bar survived. Don't go after this bolt w/o good tools or you'll be disappointed.

good luck

i have an impact wrench. i wonder if its going to be able to put out that kind of power. hmm if not ill go down to the motor pool and borrow one of theres.

Yes you are correct. I have a proffesional 1/2 impact gun with 800ft/lb power and it wasnt enough to remove teh bolt. I had to do the same as you. I had a 24 inch 1/2" breaker bar with a 4 foor pipe and it took just about every thing i could put a it to get it to go, also agree on using good toold. My craftsman breaker bar almost broke trying to get it off.

No, most likely not. See above

hmmm. well ill have to check to see the out put of the impact wrench (step-dads) next time i go to my parents house. i would not doubt it being strong enough. he only buys the best stuff. but if not we have 3 breaker bars and lots of piping.

Mines the best i could buy and it wasnt enough. Also having a 5/8s air hose and a verly large air compressor helps. Odds are your going to be using a beraker bar :D (plus its recomended not to use the impact gun on them-per the manual)

???But other than trying to get the pulley bolt off its very very easy

you will have to remove the passenger side engine mount bolts to get teh new belts on too but thats easy.

I removed mine by wedging the breaker bar against the frame of the car giving the key a quick turn. Not enough to start the car but just to crank it over once and it popped loose. I also tried the impact gun route with absolutley no luck as everyone else has said. I do agree that the rest of the install is very easy as long as you have all the tools that you need. I did the alt and p/s as well and it only took me about 2 and a half hours with a friends help.

Starter method is good,...if the engine turns CW as you look at the crankshaft pulley. All Honda products, in my experience, turn CCW as does my 2.5TL, thus eliminating this option. Do the 3.2TL's turn CW?

Interestingly, a mechanic I occasionally use for really heavy lifting, assisted me in breaking the crankshaft pulley bolt loose on my daughter's 97, 2.2 Acura CL. He used the starter to tighten the bolt, and then used a 3/4" drive air impact to break it loose. We had a round before he started as explained that CCW turning crankshaft meant he could not loosen w/ the starter. He insisted his procedure would work and broke his 12-pt socket when the starter hit the bolt. He then proceeded to use the 3/4" air impact and successfully broke the bolt loose. He then insisted that was his plan all along. I still have my doubts :annoyed:

Unless you have a powerful 3/4" air impact (900+ ft-lbs rated CCW) and large diameter hose (at least 1/2" ID), the odds are you won't be successful. The 250 ft-lb 1/2" air impacts are useless. You might as well try an open end wrench.

I've come to the conclusion that restraint tools, a good breaker bar, cheater pipe, and strong back are the only sure way. The problem w/ this approach is personal safety. The breaker bar (3/4" diameter) bends alarmingly during this operation. A failure will send parts and operator flying,...who knows where!

One further tip on an air impact is to never use an extension. The extension adds torsional flexibility which reduces the torque delivered to the bolt.

BTW, on installation I apply never-seize to my bolt threads and under the bolt head to ease removal. I don't know if it will help in the future, but have high hopes.

good luck

If using Impact tools i cant stress enough to use actual impact sockets and extensions. They will make a big difference

not only that non-impact sockets can explode if put under too much stress.

This is exactly how I removed the crank bolt. No tool needed, and it worked on many cars everytime.

One question about using a properly sized impact: is there a chance you could cause the timing belt to jump by using the impact? With the Honda 07JAB-001020A tool, it holds the pulley in place while the bolt is removed. Should I be concerned?

Thanks for all the feedback,
Paul

The reason an air impact works is that inertial restraint and friction provide enough restraint to allow impacting w/o turning the engine. I've banged away, mostly unsuccessfully, w/ air impacts on a number of cars and never had the crankshaft turn. It doesn't seem to happen. T'belt is quite tight and very unlikely to jump a cog, unless the belt is damaged.

good luck

It wont cause the belt to jump. either way after you loosen it you will have to realign every thing to TDC

Yes it does turn CW but either way it wouldn't matter as long as you can find a place on the frame to lodge the breaker bar up against.

I appreciate an explanation of how you would brace a breaker bar on CCW rotation crankshaft to break the crankshaft bolt w/ the starter.

The best you can do is restrain the bolt from turning. If the engine turns CCW, the "nut" (engine crankshaft) is tightening on the restrained bolt.

I don't think it can be done, but maybe I'm mssing something.

Regards

If pulley rotates CCW, and bolt goes in CW as normal, then you need proper tools to remove the bolt. If pulley rotates CCW, and bolt goes in CCW, then cranking the engine with the breaker bar in place it will remove the bolt.

I see what you're saying...I just assumed the the nut would loosen in the opposite direction the crank pulley turned no matter what. I know it can be on the TL b/c that was the only way I could get mine off but I've never done it on another car so I can't say for sure.

Dont be scared, its just a bolt. You can do it. Hell i have to do it AGAIN :rant:

Did you replace your t-belt tensioner, kris?

It's cool. I am sure you could do this yourself, especially at the hobby shop but if you are just installing the crank pulley, then that's something we can do at the mod meet.

Nope no reason to

I bought the crank pulley tool from ebay for a good price. You need this tool to remove and install the bolt. Very easy to use, and you don't have to mess around with other tricks that can damage your vehicle. I highly suggest it. It made my job a lot easier. You will need a 1/2 inch breaker bar, and a pipe for leveage. It tool me no time to get the bolt off.