Flywheel Bolt Stuck

[tjbiker031]

Let me start off by saying yes i searched, but heres the deal. My Fidanza flywheel is stuck on the crank. The bolts wont come out, even with Bolt-out from sears and my electric impact. I'm about fed up with this clutch job because nothing has really gone right (but i guess that's the nature of working on cars). So i was thinking, since i bought a new Fidanza flywheel and the car has one already, about swapping over the new friction surface to the one on the car. Doing this means i will have to drop the oil pan to get the the bolts on the flywheels friction plate. I just want to get your guy's thoughts on swapping the plates while the flywheel is in the car.

 

[killercolt]

use a real impact or use the poor man technique. use one breaker bar to hold one of the flywheel bolt and use another one to break the rest of the bolts loose. to get that last one , use two bolts flywheel bolts , a boxed wrench, and a transmission bolt to help hold the flywheel still so you can get the last bolt loose. i wish i can get pics on how to do this but i don't have any. good luck.

 

[tjbiker031]

i cannot afford a compressor, so thats out of the question. Plus i already tried the poor man technique. They simply wont budge.

 

[deflator]

Get a 5 foot long piece of pipe, bash the end until it crimps nicely around a socket. It's like a gigantic breaker bar.

Torque is one of those great things where if its not working, you're not using enough of it.

 

[Jeff99GS]

Heat it up with a lil propane torch and try using a breaker bar or big pipe as mentioned above.

 

[tjbiker031]

ok thanks. i'll try that.

 

[thewombis]

If the bolt wasn't damaged badly, you should find someone with acetylene torch, That way you could concentrate the heat to the one particular bolt, and could even heat it cheery hot, then it would come right out easily.

Worst case senario, if its to mangled is to get someone with a welder over there, weld a big nut on the end, or even a cude chunk of steel... just something to get a fresh edge, and a wrench on. as long as there is metal to weld to, it will come out..

I know most people use thread lock on those bolts... I actually use anti seize. If the bolt is torqued properly, chances are its not going to back out on its own. Might be risky, but i have yet to have trouble.. and the bolts never give me trouble when removing them.

 

[crimsondragon]

Did you try using PB Blaster?

 

[cali]

use a long pipe with a stripped bolt socket...i've had the same problem before and that did the trick.

 

[tjbiker031]

I don't see how PB Blaster would work considering the bolt is torqued down to 100 ft/lbs (not to mention that PB Blaster does nothing for Loctite), but im thinking some idiot at a shop just used a impact to tighten those things down.

 

[Mike1992]

Propane torch and a 1/2" impact gun gets the job done for me everytime.

 

[heckles]

I like the bar method if you cant get stronger impact gun, be careful if you use heat, heat causes the metal to expand as well as soften. if you heat the bolt, and not around the bolt. you could soften the head of the bolt so much that it will snap off, then youll have to drill.

 

[Jeff99GS]

Right, thats why I said use a propane hand held torch. You don't need to get it RED hot.
I have talked to LOCTITE on the phone before and they said the only way to loosen loctite is with HEAT.
If the bolt has loctite on it then all you need is about 30seconds of heat on the bolt and around the bolt. Then it will come RIGHT out!


This was taken from Loctite's website

Blue: Can be removed with hand tools
Red: Apply heat to remove
Green: Apply heat to remove

 

[crimsondragon]

I don't see how PB Blaster would work considering the bolt is torqued down to 100 ft/lbs (not to mention that PB Blaster does nothing for Loctite), but im thinking some idiot at a shop just used a impact to tighten those things down.

You be surprised. Does it hurt to try? No.

 

[tjbiker031]

hum....30 seconds you say. i bought a hand torch from ACE today and put about 20 seconds of solid heat on the bolt and it wouldnt budge with my impact with the Bolt-Out socket on it. and i did do it for about three times on a couple bolts and they wouldnt budge. So im seriously thinkin about just leaving the flywheel on their and drop the oil pan so i can have full access to the friction plate's bolts so i can swap the old plate out with a new friction surface. either that or call in a mobile mechanic in the area because im at a loss on what else i can try and do.

p.s. i did try pb blaster on the bolts the first two hours i tried to get the flywheel off.

 

[Jeff99GS]

It might need a little more than 20 seconds. Those are BIG high strength bolts...Trust me you aren't going to hurt them with a hardware store propane torch.

HEAT that bi***!

 

[dsmfa9nutter]

Spray them 3x a day with pblaster for a week. Get yourself a 4' pipe and a 32" breaker bar. At the end of the week, heat that bolt up nice and red, don't go by time limits, just get it RED. Slap the socket on with the breaker bar and slide the pipe over the HANDLE of the breaker bar, not all the way on, you want lots of length. You WILL break it free this way, if you don't, you didn't follow the directions correctly.

 

[Butterfinger]

Hey I read all the post and maybe I missed it but is the engine still in the car? Are you doing this why it's still bolted to the trans?

 

[viperlp01]

What are the specs on your electric impact. It needs alot of torque to bust those loose. Probably 3 times the amount that was applied. Most electric impacts are very weak and won't even break lugnuts. Alot of torque is needed here. ^^^^ it is impossible to touch flywheel bolts when the trans in on the engine. Think about it. p.s. Those flywheel bolts have 2 lines on them. Ya that is grade 12. They are very hard and will need alot of heat to do anything to them

 

[tjbiker031]

my impact has 240lbs/torque. i know its not the most powerful. but cant afford air at the moment. and yes. the engine is in the car. no. the trans is not bolted to the engine. it is out of the engine entirely.


i just decided because i need a running car, and i cannot get the bolts out, to drop the oil pan to remove the friction surface plate off the Fidanza flywheel and replace it with a new friction plate. i know everybody is going to say just take it off but i am seriously fed up with it. im just going to take it to a mechanic and let him deal with down the road. thanks for the idea's and input that everybody put into this thread.....this is seriously much more help than Mitsubishiforum.com would of gave me.

 

[Jeff99GS]

my impact has 240lbs/torque. i know its not the most powerful. but cant afford air at the moment. and yes. the engine is in the car. no. the trans is not bolted to the engine. it is out of the engine entirely.


i just decided because i need a running car, and i cannot get the bolts out, to drop the oil pan to remove the friction surface plate off the Fidanza flywheel and replace it with a new friction plate. i know everybody is going to say just take it off but i am seriously fed up with it. im just going to take it to a mechanic and let him deal with down the road. thanks for the idea's and input that everybody put into this thread.....this is seriously much more help than Mitsubishiforum.com would of gave me.

That may not work either. I"m pretty sure you'll want to get the flywheel and friction plate balanced together.