How do I get the crankshaft pulley bolt off?

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T

Turtled

New Member
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86
Location
West Yorkshire
Hi all.
Yet another bolt problem...! (The car is a 2000 P38 4.6 V8).

I'm wanting to get behind the front cover to get at the timing chain, camshaft etc. I'm stuck because I can't work out how to get the crankshaft pulley bolt undone. Given that I've not got a spare £150 kicking around for the special LR tool, has anyone got any top tips on how to do it?:confused:

While I'm on, is the bolt officially a 24mm head or a 15/16"? I'm considering buying an impact wrench to do it...

Cheers in advance.
Turtled.
 
Last edited:
The pikey method is to engage the nut with a long bar against the chassis and then crack the starter. This should be enough to shock it loose.

Remove the king lead as you do not want it to fire, and use a 6 sided impact socket of the best fitting size.

Beware any other type of socket may explode.

Cheers.
 
Usually if you get a ratchet strap and wind it round the fly wheel a couple of times and then back to the chassis and tighten it up this will hold it firmly enough for a breaking bar to release the nut. Don't go round too many times otherwise it will slip. Bit like the principle of the Capstan winch.

I have had one that wouldn't budge that way so ended up making effectively a large oil filter grip (band of metal bent to fit neatly round the flywheel and bolted together as they come together at the end) with a long bar attached to it. With some emery paper inside and bolted together I've never had a problem removing them. Bit of a faff but cheaper than a landrover tool!

The starter motor trick does work but the Landrover dealership used this trick many moons ago on an old 200Tdi. Completely b*ggered the starter motor.

Jon
 
Mr Noisy said:
Yeah agreed starter motor is "at your own risk" !
Click to expand...

Now you say!!!!

I've come up with an alternative method - well to be honest it was my Dad - who's a bit handy with these things. Anyway, bearing in mind that my heads are off at the moment, the method we used was to drop a block of wood into one of the cylinders, then bolt another sturdy piece of wood over the top of the cylinder - using the cylinder head bolts into the block. Then, you turn the engine by hand until the piston can't go any further, then go at the nut properly with a breaker bar. Worked like a dream, and the best bit is that we can use the same method on re-assembly - which wouldn't work with the starter motor method!!

Well pleased. Had a good day today.

Cheers guys.
 
jonnyt said:
Usually if you get a ratchet strap and wind it round the fly wheel a couple of times and then back to the chassis and tighten it up this will hold it firmly enough for a breaking bar to release the nut. Don't go round too many times otherwise it will slip. Bit like the principle of the Capstan winch.

I have had one that wouldn't budge that way so ended up making effectively a large oil filter grip (band of metal bent to fit neatly round the flywheel and bolted together as they come together at the end) with a long bar attached to it. With some emery paper inside and bolted together I've never had a problem removing them. Bit of a faff but cheaper than a landrover tool!

The starter motor trick does work but the Landrover dealership used this trick many moons ago on an old 200Tdi. Completely b*ggered the starter motor.

Jon
Click to expand...

Jon. I forgot to say earlier, that sounds like a genius idea to try if I'm doing this without the heads off - cheers for the input. I think I'm too chicken to do the starter motor trick!
 
No probs. I agree on the starter motor front. I juts don't like the idea. With one that was really stuck it took me a whole day before freeing it but still didn't go down that route.

Have you got the flywheel off yet - that can be fun and games too - especially if the water pump has been slowly leaking onto it for a little while...
 
One way we use to do it on other vehicles was to drill a hole in the bell housing large enough to take a large flat blade screw driver. You need to make sure you drill in the same location as the ring gear. Works a charm and is very useful for re tightening the crank bolt once done. Just put a rubber bung in the bell housing to seal it
 
Thanks.

I didn't really ask what I meant to though! I should have said what size socket do I need for the crank shaft pully bolt?

It's going to be tight, and it's got to be done up tight, so I'd rather get the correct sized socket to avoid damaging the bolt head.
 
You need to take the sump off to get the front cover off. Block of 3x2 between crack and side wall does the trick and works a treat. Steady pressure on a breaker bar with a 24mm socket. Job done. Just put my cover back on so will be tightening it up tomorrow
 
I have a tool for holding the pulley.

Designed and built by LandyZone memeber @Saint.V8 it's available free to anyone that wants to use it.

It's a little Heath Robinson, but works a treat with the correct sized bolts to attach it to the pulley.

Invaluable for doing the bolt back up to the correct torque too.

Conditions are that you pay postage, and send it back when you've finished so someone else can use it.
 
That's a great solution tbh. I use a 24mm impact and a Makita 18v impact gun with a fully charged battery. Works well.
 
Drill two 12mm holes 3'' apart at one end of a 3ft length of right angle and bolt it to the pulley. 24mm spanner and squashed scaff pole or lump hammer.
Put spanner on before attaching angle,
 
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