95 Sub Legacy Brighton Crank Pulley Bolt Removal

[GTMorgan]

I am changing the water pump in my Legacy and I've hit a weird point in the removal of the timing belt.

 

I can't get the crankshaft pulley bolt off.

 

Here is what I have done:

 

I have a chain wrench holding the pulley. I have the 22mm socket on the bolt and a 4 foot cheater bar on the ratchet. The problem is that when I pull on the bar, the pulley stays where it is, but the bolt and the inside of the pulley just spin.

 

It seems as if there is an outside and an inside to the pulley and even though the outside seems to be holding still, the inside keeps moving as I try to get the bolt loose.

 

This happens when the car is in gear also (I've tried it in 1st and 5th).

 

I haven't been able to find any information about this specific problem on the boards (although I have learned a lot) or in my Hayes manual (the Hayes makes it seem like the crankshaft pulley is one piece and that I'm going insane ).

 

I have a 95 Legacy Brighton AWD 2.2 Manual.

 

Thanks,

 

GTMorgan

[davebugs]

Sounds like the rubber in your harmonic balancer may have gone bad.

 

Use the starter of the car with the breaker bar over by the battery tray.

 

There is a current thread about a crank bolt but your situation is different.

[GTMorgan]

Did that and it worked like a charm.

 

Thanks for the help.

 

GTMorgan

[davebugs]

Sounds like you still may need a harmonic balancer.

 

But atleast you can continue your teardown.

[msmithmmx]

Your harmonic balencer is shoot. When mine broke like this I used it as a spacer on my 2 ton jack. Now i can hit the jank points with no issues.

[subaru360]

On a 5 speed, just put it in 5th gear with the emergency brake on to break the bolt loose. On an auto just wedge a prybar into the flexplate through the bellhousing hole. I don't like using the starter, it worries me, but it does work.

[porcupine73]

I don't see how what you describe about the bolt could possibly happen if the trans was in 5th unless your clutch was slipping.

[davebugs]

I don't like using the starter, it worries me, but it does work.

 

There are no good options if you don't have the tool. If the engine is in the car I hate to either jamb something into the flexplate or the teeth on the flywheel. You could knock or bend something, but mostly because I have trouble with keeping the wedge in there (since I'm almost always working alone).

 

First time I heard about the starter trick I though it was a weird deal. But I've used it many times. If I'm pulling the engine with my new impact I should be o.k. in the future

 

With the engine on the stand I find it a bit easier. But I've learned 2 things. I break the crank bolt while the engine is still in the car(even on parts engines I'm removing - given that I remember), and I break loose the cam bolts BEFORE removing the TB - again - assuming I remember if I'm doing heads. Also throw in there aligning the TB before removing the old one.

[avk]

This is why chain wrench should not be used.

[Olnick]

I don't see how what you describe about the bolt could possibly happen if the trans was in 5th unless your clutch was slipping.

 

That puzzles me too. If the center of the harmonic balancer is turning, then the crank is also turning. Maybe the OP can clarify.

[GTMorgan]

Here is a more exhaustive explanation of what I had going on:

 

First, I am using the Hayes manual for the car. Unfortunitly the manual is for all 90 - 99 Legacys so I there is some confusion. This leads to the book being not entirely accurate.

 

So the book told me to put cylinder 1 at TDC. In order to do this, I took out the spark plugs, put the compression gauge in cylinder 1, moved the crankshaft until the timing marks were aligned and there was pressure on the gauge.

 

Then I took the drive belts off, etc, and hence to my question.

 

So in response to the question, my clutch has never slipped, and I'm really not sure how come the crankshaft was moving (have something to do with the spark plugs not being in?).

 

I have taken out the water pump and put the new one in.

 

Which leads me to my next issue. Putting the timing belt back on...

 

I'm going to try a few more things, but I'm having some issues.

 

Thanks,

 

GTMorgan

[Olnick]

It's not necessary to put cylinder #1 at TDC. I don't know why Haynes says that--and yes, it confused the heck outa' me when I did my first timing belt change too.

 

Use this as a guide:

 

http://endwrench.com/images/pdfs/2.2SingleOverWin01.pdf

 

Good luck.

[subaru360]

The crank will move a bit with the car in gear and the brake on. It will take up all the slack in the drivetrain before the bolt breaks loose.

[Greeny]

Thats all very helpfull but how do you go about tightening bolt when re ataching the outer pully? Please Im short on time and am starting to wory about getting to work.

[porcupine73]

Thats all very helpfull but how do you go about tightening bolt when re ataching the outer pully? Please Im short on time and am starting to wory about getting to work.

 

Hello and welcome. You block the crank to tighten the bolt it the same way you blocked it to loosen the bolt (unless you used the starter bump technique). Ram a prybar or something through the flywheel access hole, or if it's a manual just leave it in 5th. You can use a chainwrench with some old belt to protect the pulley but I've found it easier to just ram a prybar into the flywheel.

 

You're supposed to put a little engine oil on the crank pulley bolt when you reinstall it. Make sure you get it tight enough because if it backs out later, which does happen to some people, bad things will happen.

[etc]

Hello and welcome. You block the crank to tighten the bolt it the same way you blocked it to loosen the bolt (unless you used the starter bump technique). Ram a prybar or something through the flywheel access hole, or if it's a manual just leave it in 5th. You can use a chainwrench with some old belt to protect the pulley but I've found it easier to just ram a prybar into the flywheel.

 

You're supposed to put a little engine oil on the crank pulley bolt when you reinstall it. Make sure you get it tight enough because if it backs out later, which does happen to some people, bad things will happen.

 

That's what happened to me. I tried to loosen it, gave up.

 

Eventually the crank pulley keyway broken inside, my timing is completely wrong, no power, doesn't move unless warmed up for 10 minutes... apparently when tried to loosen it, I did loosen it just a bit and it went from there.