konakat

I'm trying to remove the triple-square bolt from my cam pulley, but the thing will not budge. I have tried both a wrench and an electric impact driver so far. Should I up the torque and try an impact wrench, taking it to a machine shop for removal if it breaks? Or is it better to just take it straight to the machine shop without trying the impact wrench?

fiily

Do you have a flywheel lock on?

Crank bolt isn't a cheesehead/triple square, its a 24mm metric bolt. It requires 155 ft #'s to tighten, so throw a breaker bar on it and stand on it to break it free as an electric impact gun is not going to break that free.

thomasmryan

+155. Four or five feet of cheater bar on a breaker bar handle. If you are going to pop the cam bolt loose, I would recommend doing that first while the belt is still on.

V2Rocket

i get a 1/2 breaker bar and slip it into a 2ft section of pipe (jack handle), lay under the car, put your foot on the metal to brace, and yank with all youve got on the pipe, you will be rewarded with an unbelievable cracking noise of torque being relieved.

konakat

Ugh. Let me try this again. I'm trying to remove the CAM pulley bolt. The cam assembly is off the engine right now if that makes a difference.

FRporscheman

Maybe you mean the CAMshaft pulley bolt. That guy is torqued to something like 48+4 lb-ft, but will take a lot more to break it loose after all these years.

Put some padding on the passenger fender (folded towel and a piece of wood), then put a crescent wrench on the big nut which is right around the triple-square bolt, and turn the engine until the crescent wrench is resting on the padded fender. Now that you have a secure counter-hold, you can put some serious torque on the triple-square to break it loose.

For taking off the cam pulley bolt, never rely on the timing belt + flywheel lock. If the belt slips, stretches, etc, you could slam some valves & pistons. And an impact gun could stress the belt.

EDIT:
Well if the cam housing is off, you can use the same trick with the crescent wrench on the bench. An air impact gun would make it easy.

thomasmryan

ahhh...I cheated and put a couple pieces of oak behind the cam sprocket and tapped it a couple times with a two pounder on a hand held impact( don't tell )..

with both hands on the back up wrench, put your shoulder on a breaker bar....mine loosened right up without slipping.

or, just cut it off and replace it. fast simple effective

V2Rocket

1-1/4" wrench fits the sprocket hex perfectly.
hammer the triplesquare into place, have a helper hold the wrench while you use your breaker bar
should go pretty easily.

RajDatta

Much more difficult with the cam tower out of the car. It will be a 2 person job, one will have to hold the big bolt, while the 2nd person tried to turn the triple square wrench.

V2Rocket

way, way harder out of the car lol

one time i managed to do it with the cam tower on some blocks, a crescent wrench on the 32mm nut, braced against the concrete, my foot on the cam housing, and pushing all my might onto the wrench lol

fiily

And if your strip it be prepared to drill out the bolt, its hardened, and is a PITA to drill out. Ask me how I know.

FRporscheman

^yup, that bolt is a monster pain to drill out, had to do it once too.

kwikt

Or cut/grind the head off, remove gear and spacer nut. Then it should easily turn to remove with no pressure using vice grips or pliers.

konakat

Not sure why some of you said it would take 2 people. I set the cam assembly on a piece of card on my garage floor, then put the wrench on the retaining collar and sat the end of the wrench on the floor to brace it. The impact wrench didn't get the bolt loose, though. Next I used a breaker bar, putting a piece of wood under the socket to keep it straight while torquing. The bolt started turning after a few bounces on the 16" breaker bar with my 160 pound frame.

I'm certainly glad the bolt came out, I would have just gone to the machine shop if it had broken rather than attempting extraction myself. Thanks for the advice.

BTW, I used this triple-square set. . The teeth on the socket still looked perfect after all the abuse, I highly recommend them.

fiily

That's the same XZN set I bought after my warfare with stripping the cam bolt. One of the sub $25 tool investments that have saved me time & aggravation in dealing with 944 maintenance.