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Removing the bolt that holds the crankshaft sprocket

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cincinnati4g

10+ Year Contributor
52
0
Dec 13, 2008
Cincinnati, Ohio
So i recently bought a gates racing kevlar timing belt/balance shaft belt and i cannot get the bolt/nut off the end of the crankshaft sprocket. i tried wedging a breaker bar on the bolt/nut and letting the starter turn over thus loosening the bolt. Well that didnt work. Also tried putting two longer bolts in the crank pulley bolt holes and holding them with a wrench in a wedging effect but it just bent the bolts. i read somewhere that you use a spanner wrench to hold the sprocket while you loosen the nut but i dont know what size spanner wrench or where to get one. Also if anyone else has any tips on how i can remove that bolt itd be really helpful.
Thanks
 
Crankshaft sprocket tool

That always works for me. Get it stuck on something in the engine bay then hit the bolt with a breaker bar. You can buy one, follow the template, or just use the crank damper as a template.

How did the starter not work? I like to use an extra long pipe on the end of the breaker bar and get it stuck on the ground.
 
i had the half inch breaker bar wedged under the lower support beam that the front motor mount is on and for some reason my ignition is not sending signal to the solenoid on my starter so i have the power and ground of the starter harness hooked to a jump box and a jump wire from the positive of the jump box to the prong in the harness that would normally be plugged in on the firewall that goes to the solenoid on the starter. So i jump the starter and it just cuts out when the torque from the bolt meets the resistance of the wedged breaker bar. Could it be because i am trying to take the bolt off with the square 1/2 in drive part of the bolt instead of having the socket around the outside of the bolt? I'll have to make that tool tomorrow and try it again
 
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I assume that you don't have an impact gun to use...

You can take off the flywheel inspection plate and wedge something between the teeth of the FW and the Trans case. Like a large screwdriver, pry bar, pickle fork, etc...

Be careful not to crack the case. I haven't had to do this on a DSM, but I did it for many years working on cars when I didn't have air tools.
 
Impact Gun is the safest, quickest method to use. For what you'd pay for one of those crank sprocket tools you could practically buy a Harbor Freight impact gun. No access to air? They make them in electric, too.

My Snap On air impact has NEVER let me down on crank sprocket bolts.
 
Just picked up an electric impact from my friend. Ill test it out tomorrow and let you guys know
 
i used an impact and a harmonic balancer puller and put the bolts in the tool at opposite sides and used a bolt about 3 inches long to press on so that it would pry itself off. It worked really well and took about 3 seconds :hellyeah:
 
in all honesty, while you have it tore down that far, i would just go ahead and do a balance shaft delete. Im in the process of doing one myself. Less likely for belt failure or bearing failure later on
 
isnt there a chance that you can break your front case and all that fun stuff trying to get the bearings in and out? also i thought you couldnt do it with the motor in the car? doin the delete makes me nervous haha
 
well that front case comes off. Once you have it off you will see what i mean. You can do it with the motor in the car but its alot easier to do with it in the car. If you did it with the 4g in the car you would have to do it from the bottom with the oil pan off. its alot easier than most people let on, just be calm and pay attention to the lengths for the bolts in the front case and you will be fine. Make sure you prime the oil pump when you put the case back on for initial start-up
 
Just got the bolt off. electric impact couldnt get it so i wedged a screw driver in the flywheel and broke it loose with a breaker bar
 
Impact Gun is the safest, quickest method to use. For what you'd pay for one of those crank sprocket tools you could practically buy a Harbor Freight impact gun. No access to air? They make them in electric, too.

My Snap On air impact has NEVER let me down on crank sprocket bolts.

Air impact = around 100 bux.
This tool... = 20 bux?
Not to mention the tool will help properly torque down the crankshaft center bolt.
 
I made a tool to bolt onto the crank sprocket. It has a three foot handle, and makes removing and properly torqueing the bolt a breeze. I never felt right about impacting my crank, or twisting it by wedjing something in the flywheel. As for that business about using the starter...WTF
 
good good. glad to hear. what r u working on doing now?

Just workin on gettin her runnin again. i bought this "clean" shell that supposedly only needed motor and trans and ecu. well the interior was shot and the wiring completely hacked. thats what i get for takin someones word. but i had a 90 gsx that i totaled that i am using as a parts car and literally everything has been switched over. my avatar is my old gsx that i wrecked in the front end and put a 1gb front end on but never got around to gettin it painted
 
well i bought my 90 tsi off of a lot and the guy said that the only thing that was wrong with it was the turbo (the car smoked). so i took his word for it and bought the car for 500. i got to drive the car for maybe 15 minutes before the timing belt snapped on me and bent 6 valves. now im doin the balance shaft delete and just realized that my oil pump is screwed and the bearing that the shaft used to sit on is now gone. the oil pump shaft is soo screwed up that it made an indention about 1/2 of an inch all the way around the shaft before it spun the bearing. im a victim of crankwalk, bent valves, heartache, and bein broke after all this crap ive had to put on or in this engine. but at least im doin it right and i am supporting a new big 16g and new o2 housing :thumb:
 
hell yeah 16g4g63talon when i get my pile runnin right we'll hook up and go cruisin and whoop up on some american muscle:thumb:
 
I've done the breaker bar method and it worked fine for me. Someone on here had a tip of putting the tranny in gear, shove a screwdriver in the brake rotor slots so the axle will not turn then bust the nut with a metric socket.

When I put the nut back on, I have a inner section of a harmonic balancer pulley that is bolted on that sprocket. Then, I throw a chain wrench around that inner section and the handle of that wrench is pushed against a piece of cheater pipe that I've laid across and in front. This will keep the crankshaft from rotating. Then I can torque down that nut to specs with a beam torque wrench.
 
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