QuestionHi,
Thanks for the quick reply. You are the only one who has replied on any forum over the past few days. Cheers to you for the responce and help. Keep up the good work. i help out others online with PC help and also vehicles where possible that i have dealt with.
Finally and with much force/heat and lost skin got the bolt out but the wheel is even worse. Found someone who has a puller (stearing wheel type) who says it will work.. Will need to regroup tomorrow night to try again. what a nightmare this job is. Hope the puller fixes the issue and it comes off easy and allows the belt to be installed.
Mike
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Followup To
Question -
I have a 99 cirrus and need to replace an idler pulley on the timing belt so going to do the belt too. Question is, the lower engine pulley that runs the Ac and Alt is on tight. Tried some heat and long bar, but not budging. Any idea which way is off? Is it reversed (counter CW)?
Thanks - saw your reply and you seemed very knowledgeable.
H
Answer -
Hi Mike,
That bolt was originally torqued to 134 foot-pounds but due to heating/cooling and rusting it is probably locked up tighter than that by corrosion. In my experience the safest way to loosen is to torque the bolt back and forth, tighter and looser, in order to breakup the corrosion without exceeding the torque limit of the bolt in either direction and thus breaking it. So see if you can put a couple of metal rods into the slots in the pulley so that it is wedged against the block and will not turn in either direction. Then use a good quality socket to preserve the bolt faces, and a long breaker bar or high range torque wrench maybe set to 135 or so foot pounds and try "rocking" repeatedly to loosen it. If that doesn't do it, then try the same thing after heating it and maybe increase the torque to 150, but don't go much higher than that.
There is definitely a risk of breaking the bolt head by trying to overpower it in the left-hand only direction. It is a normal right hand to tighten bolt thread, but get it to release the corrosion first, then back it out.
Roland
AnswerHi Mike,
You are very welcome. Because you have until tomorrow night to work on it, try squirting some penetrating fluid on the joint and see if that might give the puller some help when you later apply it the task. Heating may also be more effective on this remaining issue. Do you have the written instruction on how to apply the timing belt so as get it on with all sprockets aligned to oneanother? If not I can copy and snail mail it to you (I don't own a document scanner). I think you will need it for sure to get this on properly. So let me know a postal mail address if you want it. I assume that you are working on a 2.5L V-6.
On the non-response problem, Allexperts' server must have had a problem because I got no questions on Saturday or Sunday last weekend. That has happened before and it is very frustrating to me when it happens.
Thanks for volunteering your PC and auto skills similarly.
Roland
