Mark944na86

OK, I need a bigger lever.

But how big? The longest bar I've got is about 18", and it's not doing the job. Even with my feet braced and putting my legs into it, I can't get enough torque to break this bolt.

So: how big is big enough?

I'm a bit worried about torqueing it back on again, too... maybe I should get an extension to put over the handle of my torque wrench?

Van

A 24" torque wrench will put it on.

Put a 3' pipe on the end of your breaker bar to get it off.

Mark944na86

Ok, thanks.

Also, do you recommend a gear puller to get the pulleys off?

Yummybud924

you need a foot pound torque wrench. mine goes from 20-250 ftlbs and this fine and will do the job for torqueing it back on.

I have a 3 foot long breaker bar and I had to use my whole body weight with the breaker bar flexing to break that bolt loose but i'm weak lol.

I think I remember using a small gear puller 4 inch or 6 inch to pull the timing belt pulley off.

Mark944na86

My torque wrench is only 18" long, and it goes up to 150lb. What's the torque spec for tightening, anyone remember off hand?

EDIT: Looks like 155 ftlbs according to my FSM: "toothed gear to crankshaft". That sound right?

Mark944na86

Well score 2 points for the bolt, zip for the home team.

I got a 3' piece of pipe from the hardware, with which I've managed to bend one bar, and broke the head on the other! Now I know why they're called "breaker bars".

The bolt has not shifted, though it has raised the stakes of the game...

155ftlbs my ***. Whatever torque it is going to take to break that sucker, it's not going to come in anywhere near 155ftlbs...

Van

That was 155 ft lbs BEFORE it rusted on...

Mike C.

Yikes. Maybe try and rent/borrow a 3/4 inch drive set of tools from someone who works on trucks. Unfortunately, even with the radiator removed I don't there is enough room to get a big impact wrench in there. You might also try some hammering on the bolt head a few times to 'wake it up' as they say. I have always been lucky with the 18 inch breaker bar... Good Luck.

Mike C.

You can estimate the torque applied remembering T = F x d where force is the force you apply and d is the length of the breaker bar, pipe, etc. So an 18 inch bar with 100 pounds of force gives you 150 ft-lbs of torque (change the 18 inches to 1.5 feet).

FRporscheman

Make sure your breaker bar is not flexible. This is why I use a large torque wrench to loosen tough bolts, not breaker bars. All the craftsman breaker bars I have will flex at high torque levels. Even my boss' snap-on flexes with extreme torque. A fat torque wrench is more rigid.

The same goes for your cheater bar (the pipe or whatever you're using). I've seen black pipe flex. Try to stick with iron instead of steel if you can. Get a wider pipe? I use the handle to my big ancient floor jack, and I've never seen that thing flex.

You can try pointing the bar downward and lowering the car to use the weight to break it loose...

billthe3

What ended up working for me was to use my 1/2" drive breaker bar and then I took the top half of the handle from my autozone floorjack (which fit over the breaker bar quite well) and then used that as an extension to the breaker bar.

I think I had also tried smacking the bolt with a hammer to try to "wake up" the threads, and also went in there with a propane torch to heat up the end of the crank/bolt to also try to wake up the threads, but I have no idea if that ended up doing anything noticable - I think I was doing that before I found the extension to the breaker bar.

Techno Duck

I used a short Craftsman 18'' breaker bar for the crank the first time i did the belts on my car some 5 years ago. I was a complete newbie and wondering why i couldnt get the bolt loose with my 1/2'' ratchet.. . It took some force but came off pretty easily. And please wear eye protection and gloves when using breaker bars. The tools will literally shatter if they do happen to break. Have seen it happen on some seriously seized 1.5'' mounting bolts for a diesel cooling pump which was in the bilge. Its amazing how salt water destroys almost anything metal. The breaker bar literally exploded. I know we are all too lazy to walk inside the house for a pair of safety glasses and gloves, but the extra minute it takes you can prevent some serious injury. All it takes is one time! I admit, im too lazy most of the time also.

I did have to use a gear puller also for the cam and balance shaft gears. Had to take the fans out for enough clearance.

Mark944na86

Good advice fellas.

I agree with you on the saftey issues, Duck -- I was wearing safety glasses when I saw how much the bar was flexing before it broke.

I also put a piece of board between the bolt and the radiator (I didn't want shrapnel in it to add to my problems.) I have taken the fans out.

To cap everything off, I even put on my crash helmet. A bit geeky, but there was no-one else in the garage at the time to see...

Yummybud924

Frporscheman, you're not suppose to use torque wrenches to loosen bolts especially a bolt that requires so much torque. well it says not to do this in the instructions.

I agree a big torque wrench works better but I just broke mine doing this ecact thing. good thing mine has a lifetime warranty so I just got a new one lol.

Yummybud924

it's also possible someone before you torqued it way past 155 ft-lbs or even put loctite onit. mine had loctite on it the first time i took it out and it took some serious force to get it loose