[crazi-85crx]

'88 CRX Si, D16A6 still in car. I'm trying to change to timing belt so I can mount a Z6 head on there. I've tried the following (many many times) with absolutely no luck:

-penetrating lube,
-24" breaker bar,
-breaker bar w/ 5ft pipe,
-250 ft/lb impact,
-400 ft/lb impact,
-butane torch.

It doesn't seem to want to budge! :evil: :frusty:

Any suggestions??? Please.

 

[lessonsinspeed]

Take it to a shop, see if they'd like to make $10 unscrewing a bolt, and pass the headache off.

The best thing I've seen is lots of penetrating lube and as big an impact as you can find. You mentioned both of those...maybe just sit with the impact for a good 30 min?

 

[ComposiMo]

10ft bar instead of 5ft?

 

[crazi-85crx]

Take it to a shop, see if they'd like to make $10 unscrewing a bolt, and pass the headache off.

The best thing I've seen is lots of penetrating lube and as big an impact as you can find. You mentioned both of those...maybe just sit with the impact for a good 30 min?

All shops want to charge labour to do it ($86/hr), but they do have 1200+ft/lb impacts hmm, so I'm debating if it's worth it. Tomorrow I'll call the local Honda dealer and my fav machine shop to see what they say.

 

[Neil]

Not to be a jerk, cause I hate when people do this, but you should SEARCH this topic. Every forum I'm a member of has talked about it numerous times. The solution I found to be the best:
http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/C ... pricetype=

I bought it for this sole purpose alone, and was not disappointed. I had a regular re-man impact, and it didn't do it. This one did.

 

[crazi-85crx]

Not to be a jerk, cause I hate when people do this, but you should SEARCH this topic. Every forum I'm a member of has talked about it numerous times. The solution I found to be the best:
http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/C ... pricetype=
I bought it for this sole purpose alone, and was not disappointed. I had a regular re-man impact, and it didn't do it. This one did.

I've searched and haven't found anything that's worked. . Oh well, I'll see what I can find out tomorrow. Thanks for some good suggestions so-far.

 

[Tiersin]

i do reccomend looking around shops. i had to go to like, 6 before i found one. and the guy did it in like, 10 minutes for free.

 

[bobski]

The solution I found to be the best:
http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/C ... pricetype=

Meh... I like my version better. 8)
The impact wrench is only $20 more, though it does require some additional support gear. Namely a 1/2" air hose and a portable air tank to use as an accumulator.

 

[stick]

i do reccomend looking around shops. i had to go to like, 6 before i found one. and the guy did it in like, 10 minutes for free.

I took mine to the honda dealership where I buy all my parts, and they did it for free. The bolt is not supposed to be on there as tight as it is on a lot of our cars. They told me that it's only supposed to be on there with 119 ft-lbs of torque, and that if it's on there any tighter than that, someone at the factory or dealership didn't install it correctly.

 

[dohcrxl]

The best thing I've seen is lots of penetrating lube and as big an impact as you can find. You mentioned both of those...maybe just sit with the impact for a good 30 min?

Joel, if by that you mean to hold the trigger on the impact for 30 min then that's not a good idea. That's pretty much a guarantee for something inside the impact to break.

That 17mm bolt might have been put on with 119 foot pounds but with years of rust/crud/corrosion build-up, it might then take 4 if not more times than that to remove it. Lube then heat followed by a powerful impact is usually the cure for this job. Keep in mind that the more (meaning longer) extensions you have on the impact the more torque you lose from it also.

 

[Neil]

That impact I showed you isn't that expensive for what you get. Read the specs. I didn't sit for even a minute, and it was off. Granted, i heated it with a little propane torch first, but it didn't get cherry red or anything like that. Came off like butter with that impact. Period.

 

[crazi-85crx]

Well, I tried an 1100 ft/lb impact I borrowed from my machine shop, and it still didn't come off. So I'm calling the Honda dealership. :evil:

 

[Neil]

well, than I don't know how to help you. Good luck.

 

['9445]

I've encountered this periodically and my usual solution is to use the "rope trick":

Position #1 cylinter at BDC before compression stroke (valves should be closed for #1) Feed a long 1/4" soft nylon or poly rope into the #1 cylinder through the spark plug hole. Usually takes about 4 feet of rope depending on exactly how thick it is. Now the piston will be stopped by the soft rope, the valves should be closed, and there will no longer be any slop to work against when you apply torque ccw to loosen the bolt. Another potential way to do about the same thing is to take the starter off and buy or make a ring gear holder you can bolt in with the starter bolts.

Part of the reason breaking the crank bolt loose is hard is because if you've just blocked the front wheels with the transmission in gear, you still have driveline windup plus the springs in the clutch disk working against you. This is why an impact wrench helps, but it doesn't always work.

I've used this on the D16 in my crx, on the D17 in my '01 civic, and on an A20 in an '86 accord.

 

[ZeniceguyCRX]

then u must have low air preasure, my composit gun will undo the bolt or brake it off, so you are missing somthing

 

[Ragnaarok]

use the "rope trick":
... ...
I've used this on the D16 in my crx, on the D17 in my '01 civic, and on an A20 in an '86 accord.

plus one for the rope deal. I've used it countless times on small engines, especially to loosen chainsaw clutches.

 

[fireant]

great idea!

 

[hondaman]

I myself have screwed with this task for literally weeks trying to break the bolt loose and even went out an bought a good 1/2" impact wrench with something like 600 lb/ft of reverse torque to no avail.

The solution used by the Honda Tech that I sometimes have work on my cars on the side is to use a LARGE pair of slip joint pliers to hold the pulley and a regular 1/2" breaker bar with a 2-3' 'cheater' bar. While an assistant firmly and safely holds the crank pulley from turning with the slip joint pliers you simply put the 1/2" breaker bar with the cheater extension on the bolt and give it one good crack.

While my Honda Tech's method is a 2-person job it literally takes 6 seconds and it works EVERY time.

Scott