harmonic damper bolt not budging

[mbtoloczko]

1) I've got a 5MT, so I put the car in 4th gear and pulled the ebrake tight with all four wheels on the ground. Leaned on the harmonic damper bolt pretty good with a three foot breaker bar. The bolt wouldn't budge.

2) Fashioned up a leverage tool that fits in the holes in the damper and braced that tool against the car chassis and then leaned on the bolt with the same three foot extension, and the bolt still wouldn't budge.

I'm worried that if I lean any harder that I'll do damage to the front crank bearing or the crank itself. Anyone have any thoughts on how to get the bolt loose?

How does the starter method work? Do you brace the breaker bar against the chassis and turn the starter?

[Beav]

Yup. Just make sure you disable the injection or spark before hitting the key.

[mbtoloczko]

I got it. Talked to svxfiles on the phone. His method worked perfectly. I used a breaker bar pointing straight up, and whacked it from right to left just like an impact wrench would go. On the 5th smack, the bolt spun lose. Nice, low stress method.

[Beav]

Actually that is the way I do it. It just seems every time I advise it everyone else responds in support of using the starter. The hammer just seems a lot safer and more controllable to me, until it slips through your fingers and lands on the fender...

[SVXRide]

Originally Posted by mbtoloczko

I got it. Talked to svxfiles on the phone. His method worked perfectly. I used a breaker bar pointing straight up, and whacked it from right to left just like an impact wrench would go. On the 5th smack, the bolt spun lose. Nice, low stress method.

Mychailo,
I'd tell you what the West Virginia name for Tom's method is, but this is a "family site"
-Bill
p.s. would you get that engine back together already?
p.p.s got my "Level 2" intake manifold back - check my locker for pics

[mbtoloczko]

Can I use the hammer method for the cam pulley bolts too? Maybe put some padding around areas where the breaker bar my land if it flys loose?

Bill, I've got the intake completely back together. Yeah. Just gotta finish the t-belt, flush the cooling system, and put in some water, antifreeze, and water wetter. Oh, and I've got to replace a ripped CV boot. The timing belt looks like a breeze compared to the intake manifold. Hope that's the case.

[Beav]

You can give it a try but I'd be surprised if it works, the cams have a lot less drag than the crank. Search through Matt's (Immortal_suby) posts re: cam holding tool for a homemade solution. Or for $20-$45 you can buy an actual aftermarket tool made to hold them still. See #38220 here: http://www.lislecorp.com/tool_search...cfm?Search=cam or: http://buy1.snapon.com/catalog/item....re&dir=catalog or MST9680 here:
http://www.matcotools.com/Catalog/to...&page=1&#28934.

[mbtoloczko]

Originally Posted by Beav

You can give it a try but I'd be surprised if it works

It worked! At first I tried the hammer impact trick on the cam sprocket bolts without any Liquid Wrench between the bolt and the cam sprocket. No budge. Then I put some Liquid Wrench between the bolt and the cam sprocket, and let it sit for a few hours. Only took a few whacks after that. Oh, and I still had the t-belt installed to help provide a little rotation resistance. So easy.