...i went thru the stickies (quickly) and searched many times. "put a big screwdriver in it" is the most common answer and maybe this works for manual transmissions, it does not for automatic.

all i need to do is tighten the main crank bolt after replacing harmonic balancer and belts. (it EXPLODED one morning while starting).

26-30ft lbs of torque, then 60 degrees of rotation on that bolt.
there is no way in HELL without some special tool that fits just right and is a right angle are you sticking something into those teeth and locking that engine! so right now i'm looking at buying a strap wrench i'll never use again and taking belts back off and doing it that way. ugh! haha, this job should have been done hours ago!

there is like 3" of room to get a tool up there and into the hole, you cannot SEE the teeth, just feel with fingers. the central engine brace that runs down the middle of the car is just in the way.

i managed to get that fat thumb and finger standard screwdriver that comes in a craftsman set to catch enough for cranking bolt about 15 degrees and that was a fluke.

who has done this on an AUTOMATIC. the drawing in the fsm looks like an american bell housing. definitely not my car.

 

Do you have access to an impact wrench? With that, you will not need to hold the flywheel.

 

https://www.summitracing.com/search/...e/piston-stops

The strap wrench is an effective technique as well and I can't imagine, if you buy one, that you'll never use it again. They work very well for removing stuck container lids for wives/girlfriends/moms/grammas and for oil filter removal.

 

I recently did my pulley. I reluctantly used my impact to tighten the bolt. I did not get it exactly to 60°.

You can lock the flex plate from the starter hole. It's much easier access from the top.

 

I have Oil filter strap wrenches (rubber) but i doubt the kind of torque necessary for that bolt to turn 60 degrees can be had from one of those.

piston stop is an interesting idea though. thanks for the link.
i actually saw a video where a guy put rope down the sparkplug hole! i had heard of this before but it seems so wrong somehow! but then my brain can't think of a reason why it wouldn't work.

 

Tighten it the best you can. Drive to your nearest shop and have them impact it on.

 

I've been using this big old Craftsman screwdriver as a wedge in the picture for years.



But then on one of my other Nissan engines, I had to use a chain wrench wrapped around the pulley. That one is a different animal that takes somewhere between 250 to 275 ft lbs of torque.

 

i'm going to attempt the impact tomorrow and see how it goes.

then we will see about removing the starter!!

 

tried oil filter strap wrench, tried to tie it off by threading a tow strap through the pulley, which just ripped the strap....tried wrapping strap around pulley then to a motor mount...it just slipped under the torque.

borrowed an electric impact to see what i can get. that should be fine for driving to my buddy's house and air impacting it on. he has a big ole compressor.

 

i tried a smaller screwdriver. didn't work out. don't have the big driver from the craftsman set! i wish i had a time machine and could go back ten years and buy the full kit.