Hectic

iTrader: (20)

i'm changing my timing belt finally, only to get stuck at the part that was my whole reasoning for procrastinating

i cannot believe these nissan fools don't put a locks on their pulleys. a simple hole would make this required maintainance a lot easier but of course no pulleys have a hole that i can stick a drill bit in to so i can start torquing away at this bolt without the pully moving. i have a lame rubber strap wrench which seems to do an alright job holding the pulley but the nut is just too rusted i guess. i laid under and held the strap wrench as tight as i could and i had my pops wrench on it with a breaker bar which i attached a few extentions to so he could stand outside of the wheelwell instead of having to get under the car or try to do it from the top, through the engine bay. the bolt isn't reverse threaded is it? should i get a hold of a numatic wrench and if i do, will it be nessecarry to hold the pulley in place or will it be powerful enough to just pop the bolt loose without even turning the crankshaft? and i pretty much have the same problem with the water pump pulley and it's 4 stupid bolts. btw, are the water pump pully bolts 10mm? i really don't want to strip those and i have been trying to loosen them with a 10mm socket and i can see slight wear on the corners and if one strips, i'm screwed...chilton manual doesn't say **** about bolt sizes. i have to get these pulleys off man. ..someone please give me some input or the technique they used.

thanks

«§»Craig B«§»

iTrader: (5)

Nothing special about the crank pulley bolt. I had a hard time getting mine off this past weekend to change the oil seal. I soaked it with liquid wrench for a while and then came back with the imact wrench and it came right out. If you use an impact wrench, you will not need to hold the pulley from turning. You can take off the starter and use a crowbar or something to jam in the flywheel teeth.

Hectic

iTrader: (20)

wait are you saying if i use the impact wrench, i need to jam the teeth or if i loosen it manually i should jam the teeth? sorry for the misunderstanding but thanks for the fast reply..

Hectic

iTrader: (20)

sorry for my lameness but i've never used any pneumatic tools before, but in my mind, it seems likely that it'd have enough torque to loosen to bolt without having to lock the pulley.

HTPerformance

iTrader: (6)

you can get an electric impact wrench too, they are like $20-30 at walmart

Brian

avmaldo

or you could use a breaker bar, don't know if that will fit though havent done timing belt myself yet.

sara92max

Been there, done that, on a water pump job on a VE engine.......soak the nut down with liquid wrench....use 1/2 size tools if possible....have someone to hold the pully with the strap wrench... use a 1/2" breaker bar and socket with the shortest extention you can get by with....get a 3lb sledge...and rap the breaker bar with it several times...putting a constent amount of pressure wont break the nut loose....
Or buy a air compresser and air tools.
And dont for get the gear puller...your gonna need one!

Hectic

iTrader: (20)

thanks for the replies. as i said, i am using a breaker bar and strap wrench, but basically, if i can pop this bolt using an impact wrench W/O having to secure the pully, i'm definitely going that route. can someone with experience with numatic tools please tell me if the pully will move when i pull the trigger i assume the torque put out by impact wrenches is enough to loosen the bolt without moving the pully. right or wrong? thanks for the heads up on the electric wrench Brian. that's a lot cheaper than 2-3 hundred for a compressor and wrench..

bvtran

iTrader: (3)

Yes, you could wedge the flywheel with a mean crowbar so you could unlock the bolt. Never tried but its doable and very inefficient cuz you could easily cratch and causing all kinda metal shaving. Try using an impact wrench (which is what I oftern used), it's much easier. You don't even have to wedge anything, it just blows it right off/on tight. I've seen a few good ones that does up to 250ft.lbs (overkill for max) selling on Ebay for around $25.

Hectic

iTrader: (20)

alright, thanks man. i have to finish today so ebay is out of the question but i think i can scrounge one up for little or no money. but i'd much rather do it the easy/right way instead of the difficult way. i'm 5'5" and 126 pounds so it's hard to stay in one place while someone else is turning the bolt if i have a tight lock on the bolt with a strap wrench and i don't want to jam the flywheel. i did that with my escort and it was still a pain in the *** to get that pulley off. always nice to get new tools anyway...thanks for the help everyone.

«§»Craig B«§»

iTrader: (5)

with an impact wrench, you shouldn't need to do anything to prevent the pulley from spinning

DanNY

iTrader: (14)

yup...i didn't even have to hold the pulley.

now hectic...don't blame nissan because you don't have the right tools for the job.

maximaboi

iTrader: (1)

Im going to be changing my timing belt and pulley saturday. this thread might come in handy

Hectic

iTrader: (20)

heh, i know, it was the frustration talking. what about the water pump pulley bolts? how did you guys get those off...i'm thinking i might have to buy an electric ratchet because i don't know anyone who has one but that seems to be the only way i'm going to get those off.

actually i just looked and there seems to be enough room if i go at it from the wheel well with an extenstion bar, universal joint and impact wrench. i guess i'll try that. or is it a bad idea to use joints with impact wrenches?

DanNY

iTrader: (14)

you can use extensions and joints...but make sure they are the impact ones (usually black in color).

Minty91GXE

iTrader: (3)

you can also unscrew a spark plug, get a good length of cotton rope and feed it into a cylinder, the piston will compress the rope but prevent the bolt and engine from turning.
of course, i'm no expert, but it worked well for me - wait to see if i get flamed for this method before trying
t

Hectic

iTrader: (20)

well that sounds like a very bad idea to me..you don't want to break or bend your valves and it seems like that could easially happen. no problem, i borrowed an impact wrench and the thing came off pretty easially, course now, i'm fighting to get the pully off of the shaft, been going at it with a crowbar but it's being a little *****.

scruffman

About 5 years ago I had to replace my timing belt and ran into the same problem. I can't remember where I got the info but what I did was cut a piece of the old drive belt long enough to fit around the crank pulley. Then around that, I put a chain wrench(used by plumbers to hold pipe from turning). Its like a vise grip wrench with a chain attached. Make sure that the chain doesn't come in contact with the pulley so as not to damage it. It worked great for me both taking the bolt out and torqueing it back in .Hope this helps

Hectic

iTrader: (20)

for the record chilton manuals are retarded. it says to swing the tensioner FULLY clockwise and tighten bolt. then it says to loosen the bolt and swing tensioner 70-80 degrees clockwise. if they made driving instructions for a 5 speed maxima, i wonder if they'ed say to shift into 5th and then shift into 6th..

they probably mean counter-clockwise since the step after the second clockwise swing is to rotate the crankshaft a few times, that doesn't seem to smart to do when the tensioner isn't providing any tension:P

aminus21

iTrader: (14)

what kind of electric impact wrench did you use to get the bolt off?? Last time, I bought one that claimed to have 250 ft/lbs. torque, but it wasnt enough to remove the 36mm axle nut. I ended up using a breaker bar, and jumping on it.