Hey everyone,

So been working on my 84 944 to fix a bad lifter that's causing a very loud tapping noise, everything has been going relatively smooth getting the cam tower off however I just could not get the starter off the car, I don't think it's ever been removed and after trying to use spray over and over and letting it sit for weeks to loosen it up, nothing. The head of the bolt is now severely rounded off, I purchased an extractor socket but the space is so tight in there that with the socket and the ratchet it can only get onto the head at an angle and cannot grip it.

I have the flywheel lock and wanted to do this properly but I ended up just cutting off the timing belt as it I figured I'm replacing it anyways, got the cam tower off and got to my bad lifter, awesome! But then yes it hit me, how am I going to get the belt back on with no flywheel lock and to throw salt in the wound I checked the timing marks (which I had set the car to TDC before I got to the starter) somehow the marks are off now.

Is there a way to lock the flywheel in place without the lock? I feel like I had read somewhere that it was possible to jam a screwdriver somewhere, but where? I don't see anyplace where it would go? My thought process is resetting the engine to TDC and locking it i.e. with a screwdriver and then setting the cam tower to it's TDC mark and carefully placing it back on the head and then replacing the timing belts, is this plausible? Any tips and advice for next steps or how to time and get the belts back on without the flywheel lock? Thank you everyone for any help on this!

 

You do not need the flywheel lock to replace the timing belt. Must set the flywheel to TDC and the camshaft gear indicator notch matching the camshaft gear cove notch to start replacement of belts

 

Thank you so much for your reply, it gives me a sigh of relief that I didn't make things a lot harder for myself and that it should be relatively straight forward.

 

Correct, flywheel lock not necessary because you don't need to remove the crankshaft bolt and pulley. Just remove the M6 bolts holding the rear timing belt cover to the engine, and you will have enough wiggle to get the belt on and off the crank pulley.

The "jam with a screwdriver" technique is a two-man substitute for a flywheel lock. The idea is to jam a large screwdriver or pry bar against the same teeth on the flywheel as a lock would engage. Hopefully you do not mess up the teeth in doing so, but this is not guaranteed.

 

Also note that if / when the crank front bolt needs to be removed, the crankshaft can be limited from rotation by placing the transmission in gear (4th gear probably best) and chocking the wheels or actuating the brakes.