Amave

So today was my frosta day back training Jiu Jitsu after a 2 month hiatus, i get in, fire up my Max and i get about 1/10th of a mile before i hear " clunk, clunk, clunk, crash!!! " brake light and battery light come on and my a/c stops working....i immediately make a U turn and head back home.


I get under and see my a/c, alternator, crank belt is missing and my oil filter has some black stains on it and i see the idler/tensioner pulley is wobbling and has dents in it.


So i think my idler pulley failed and i research and find the parts i need at the local Auto Zone, call up my mom to take me and i get a new belt and idler/tensioner . I grab some hand tools and get to work only to find my crank pulley has separated!

Dammit!!! So i do some more research and find the pulley at Auto Zone and get it and pick it up.


Cool, new crank pulley and new belt and new idler, should be a breeze, right?



Wrong!!!




The crank pulley bolt was on so damn tight i soaked it in PB Blaster, nothing, i used a heat gun to heat it up ( which caused it to burn itself out i left it on for so long ) , nothing, i tried an electric impact gun i had, nothing.

not so much as a nudge !

So by this time i am struggling to loosen the p/s pump because all of my tools are at work ( 42 miles away ) so i had only a limited amount of tools to work with and the 14 mm pivot bolt faces the driver side of the engine bay!!!

Real nice!!


So about an hour later of wrestling with the pivot bolt i finally crack it loose, then i crack loose the 12 mm bolt that holds the bracket to the tension bolt on the p/s pump and i begin to turn the tension bolt LEFT!!

By turning the adjusting bolt left i am actually moving the whole pump up away from the crank, thus tightening the belt tension!!


Dammit!!


Finaly i search on the ORG ( thanks ) and i see you must turn right to bring the pump pulley towards the crank to loosen the tension! I don't remember seeing that tidbit in the FSM ( thanks Nissan ! ) , so i finally turn the adjusting bolt right ( loosening the tension on the belt ) and yep, it comes loose ...


Then i got the idea to put a pipe on a ratchet ( i used a 1/2 inch ) and put it at the 7:35 position against the ground and go and kick over the ignition, after about 4 turns the bolt FINALLY came loose!!


And using a pry bar i go around the back of the crank pulley prying it off until it slides off.

So when going to put on the pulley i used an electric impact to tighten the crank bolt on, but it looks like the pulley wobbles a bit, but once i get to work i will be hitting the bolt with an air impact gun.


Hopefully the bolt stays in for now . I have used the electric impact to tighten down axle nuts w/o any problems so for now i think it will be ok.



Pics of carnage

2damax

Haha what a rough series of events. At least it got done. I just changed my belts and I got busted knuckles to prove it. That 14mm on the back of the PS pulley can be reached with just a open-ended wrench.

Amave

this is how i got it to crack loose !


had i had my ratcheting wrench i wouldn't have wasted so much time finding it, then trying to crack it loose .


The worst was the crank pulley bolt. It looked as though it was rusted in there ( see 1st photo ) and i was afraid the bolt head would snap off , then i'd be in a world of sht.

lucky for me when i cranked the engine over with the breaker on, it broke loose ( phew! )



I still have to hit that bolt with my air impact to get it nice and tight

240sxguy

iTrader: (1)

Or you could use a torque wrench like a decent mechanic and not screw over the next guy who has to remove it.

Kuhn_man

iTrader: (8)

then he could use the air impact like the rest of us mechanics to remove it...impacts loosen with stronger force than they tighten so he should be fine, there tight as hell from factory anyways...

Amave

I plan on keeping my Max until it dies or i junk it anyway , so i have made my bed and i will lie in it now thank you ...btw i was alone and had no way of keeping the crank still while i torqued it down to the FSM standards. ( i would have loved to if i did have help ) . I wasn't going to tow my car to work 45 miles to torque down the bolt to specs .


Yeah i wish it would have came apart when i got to work, but i had no way of predicting the pulley separating , so given the circumstances i had to work with what i had at the time .


My impact would have cracked that bolt loose in less than .3 of a second .

That being said , once i got to work a few days ago , i hit it with my impact and all is well , i have had no problems whatsoever.


It actually feels smoother now that the pulley isnt dancing around and is one piece again, it may be placebo but it feels stronger . I have driven it now about 200 miles .


I will be sure to put it on my list of things i have replaced just to keep track .



Thanks to the ORG !

Child_uv_KoRn

iTrader: (7)

Hehe, socket wrench wedged on the ground and cranking the engine is always the easiest :P

PS belt can be removed and reinstalled with a screwdriver without loosening


I'm glad I was taught these tricks

Kuhn_man

iTrader: (8)

yeah i spent forever trying to get my pully off...then brought it to my shop and my air impact didnt even have to try to get the stupid thing off...kind of made me mad lol cause i was putting everything i had into it and my impact wasnt even trying lol

turbo_max

iTrader: (1)

Great job, did the same two months ago !

2damax

Just for the record....I envy EVERYONE with a compressor and air tools!!! I cannot express how many hours that would save me. I have been doing research to find a good one for my needs within my budget but I do not think I know enough yet.

DragonX0104

iTrader: (5)

I remember when I replaced the crank pulley and the belts. Stripped the PS tensioner bolts. Had to crank the pulley to get the PS belt on. It was an interesting day.

Amave

yeah you dont need a very big one, just one with enough HP and volume to power a 3-400 ft/lb impact gun.

most other bolts on the Max don't call for such a high torque application

Kuhn_man

iTrader: (8)

my electric one has 640ftlbs breakaway and it couldnt do it