mbrickell Posted February 24, 2006 Share Posted February 24, 2006 Ok, I go out this morning to check on what seized up stranding me last night. To my amazement, I look and all the belts are still there and in good condition. I can turn the alternator and water pump, wait the belts are a little loose, what gives... Umm, the crank pulley is not on straight, it is cocked ot one side. Not good... It is loose and when I move it the bolt falls out in my hand and the pulley drop off. I am thinking, crap, the threads that the bolt goes in are stripped and I am screwed. I put the bolt in alone and it seems to screw right in normally and hold. So, the bolt just came loose and the main pulley falls off?! That is why my accessories died? Car starts and runs fine, just no wp or alt at this moment, so I didn't completey fry anything due to immediate shutdown. Amazing to me, have never heard of a crank pulley just coming loose like this? Anyone heard of this!? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stephenw22 Posted February 24, 2006 Share Posted February 24, 2006 This isn't as uncommon as you might think. I've never had a problem myself, but I've heard of others here who have. Maybe try a drop or two of low-strength loctite on the threads when you tighten the crank pulley bolt. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
idosubaru Posted February 24, 2006 Share Posted February 24, 2006 i woudln't recommend any locktite on the threads, but i'm not saying "it's wrong", not trying to start a debate. the crank and pulley bolt are both iron, crank the CRAP out of them. if you reinstalled this bolt and did not crank it really tight, it'll come out again. that's likely why it came loose this time. the last time the timing belt or some other item requiring removal of this bolt was done, the bolt wasn't tightened enough. i use my socket with a 2 and a half foot pipe over the handle and have at it. I make it really tight, it's all cast iron so no worries on stripping threads. i mean you could if you wanted to, but you'd have to go ballistic on it. be sure it's tight...very tight right now or it'll happen again quite soon. i've never had one come out that i've tightened and i've probably done it 50-100 times. i have forgotten to tighten one before though! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mbrickell Posted February 24, 2006 Author Share Posted February 24, 2006 Ok, cool. Dumb question: how to keep the crank from turning when tightening the bolt that holds the pulley on? Putting car in gear, etc, not helping much, no firm "stop" to push against... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
85Sub4WD Posted February 24, 2006 Share Posted February 24, 2006 there is a viewing area at the back of the engine for setting timing - a rubber plug covers it - there are holes in the flywheel for you to put something to lock it I've also found putting it in 5th gear, 4WD lo and setting the emergency brake works too Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mbrickell Posted February 24, 2006 Author Share Posted February 24, 2006 there is a viewing area at the back of the engine for setting timing - a rubber plug covers it - there are holes in the flywheel for you to put something to lock it I've also found putting it in 5th gear, 4WD lo and setting the emergency brake works too I will give it a go now, thanks! Matt Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
azsubaru Posted February 24, 2006 Share Posted February 24, 2006 Take out a spark plug, stick about 10 ft of rope down in there (leave plenty sticking out!) and it will lock the engine for you when the piston comes up. Learned that here on the board, and it works great. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mbrickell Posted February 24, 2006 Author Share Posted February 24, 2006 Take out a spark plug, stick about 10 ft of rope down in there (leave plenty sticking out!) and it will lock the engine for you when the piston comes up. Learned that here on the board, and it works great. Ingenious. I was able to use the flywheel method and got the pulley back on. Car runs great, no dash lights. Learned something new today. Never seen a crank pulley just come off like that, interesting. I'll run around close to home with some tools for a while in case... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
azsubaru Posted February 24, 2006 Share Posted February 24, 2006 I don't know if most vehicles are like this or not, but it always seemed strange to me that the direction of the threads means that every time you start the vehicle, it torques it in the direction of loosening the bolt. So if it's loose at all, it's going to come the rest of the way off pretty quickly. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zyewdall Posted February 24, 2006 Share Posted February 24, 2006 Amazing to me, have never heard of a crank pulley just coming loose like this? Anyone heard of this!? Yup, when I did a head gasket job I forgot to tighten the crank pulley bolt sufficiently. Lo and behold, 25 miles later I loose alternator, temp starts to go up.... I reamed out the inside of my pully so bad rattling around I had to buy a used pully to fix it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mbrickell Posted February 25, 2006 Author Share Posted February 25, 2006 I don't know if most vehicles are like this or not, but it always seemed strange to me that the direction of the threads means that every time you start the vehicle, it torques it in the direction of loosening the bolt. So if it's loose at all, it's going to come the rest of the way off pretty quickly. You know, you are right. Someone was too lazy to machine the threads reverse. I had a car that had a tow hook you could screw into a fitting in the front end, and it was reverse thread so that it would not spin out if a tow rope unwound. Someone was thinking there. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
baccaruda Posted February 25, 2006 Share Posted February 25, 2006 I usually cram the end of a prybar through the top hole and into the flywheel. Once I used my axle pin punch to lock the flywheel but I bent it (craftsman, free replacement ) and would not recommend that method as it would be inconvenient if it broke off. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jacobs Posted February 25, 2006 Share Posted February 25, 2006 This isn't as uncommon as you might think. I've never had a problem myself, but I've heard of others here who have. Maybe try a drop or two of low-strength loctite on the threads when you tighten the crank pulley bolt. If you use loctite, be sure to use the blue. If you use the red, you may have to use a torch to heat it up to get it apart. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ross Posted February 25, 2006 Share Posted February 25, 2006 I don't know if most vehicles are like this or not, but it always seemed strange to me that the direction of the threads means that every time you start the vehicle, it torques it in the direction of loosening the bolt. So if it's loose at all, it's going to come the rest of the way off pretty quickly. The bolt doesn't hold any torque though, the pulley is keyed on the shaft. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
heartless Posted February 25, 2006 Share Posted February 25, 2006 Had this exact same thing happen to me while on vacation a few years ago!! we had pulled into a restaurant to get dinner, car seemed to be running a little funny....went in, had a great dinner, come back out, car wont start at first. thinking oh great...car dies when we are a couple hundred miles from home! ack!! managed to get it started and moved it around to the side lot where there was a good overhead light and popped the hood, start checking everything and found the same thing you did, the crank pulley was cocked funny and when i touched it, the bolt fell off in my hand! Back at that time, didnt have any tools with me (unusual for me) so went into the restaurant and asked of they had any tools that I could borrow, they came up with a decent sized cresent wrench, not ideal, but it got it back on well enough that we could drive to the local walmart and pick up a cheap socket set that had a big enough socket to do the job, tightened everything up good, and had a great time the rest of our vacation! I STILL carry that socket set everywhere!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mbrickell Posted February 25, 2006 Author Share Posted February 25, 2006 Had this exact same thing happen to me while on vacation a few years ago!! Here's the real funny thing. The car had been experiencing the not unheard of clutch shudder when taking off in 1st gear from a stop. Now, gone. I mean for a long time, clutch shudder, so sign of pulley issues. After working on the pulley, totally gone. I was driving yesterday and this just struck me out of the blue at a light, that the clutch take-up was now smooth and drama free, very unlike the time before. Wierd. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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