Thanks Kord,...I clicked on tools and it kept saying click on a sub department. I finally clicked on the "All makes and models" instead of "tools" and found it. And thanks Jeff, it's hard to believe Honda would put the bolt on that tight. As popular as Hondas are I'm surprised this tool isn't common at auto parts stores. I checked the "Wholesale Tools Inc." and I was right,...the pins on the toyota/nissan tool were to far apart. The car did start and I got it back to it's usual parking spot and I know where the dealer is but I'll have to wait until Monday to see what they'll charge or if they have the tool. I might try the full serve gas station tomorrow. Honda would have saved me a lot of time/money and aggrevation if they'd just welded that sucker on.But then I'd be here bitchin' 'bout that :-P. I know I'll resolve this issue eventually and I'll pop back in and let you know how it went,..Thanks again.

 

I strongly suggest having the bolt removed ata nice bigHonda dealership rather than any other place. If anyone should justhappen toshear the head off that bolt, you'd definitely want it to be done bya Honda technician with a nice big Honda dealership standing behind his work.

 

Good point Tony, duly noted.

 

Tony is absolutely correct. The gas station mechanic gave me this warning before gripping the breaker bar. I knew that if they shear off the bolt head, I'll bein BIG trouble.

And BTW...I first called Honda parts and asked if they had the hex tool. He said they didn't stock it because the mechanics just use an impact wrench. I must have had alot of rust on my 1999 fusing the parts together because the gas station got nowhere with theirs.

--Jeff

 

That's pretty much what I've found out. Honda,(the kids behind the parts counter), suggested I "Try Sears,...they sell tools." I wanted to laugh but he was serious so I thanked 'em anyway and came on home. I pretty much understand the risk here too. Goes with the territory when ya' fix it yourself. I probably will end up with a "special" tool all my own some day soon. There still seems to be some confusion as to what a pulley is and maybe that's because the timing chain is a belt and not a chain. The guys at the used parts yard thought I was trying to replace the lower timing "gear",(as opposed to pulley). Regardless, the same bolt has to come out. When I get my Special Holding In-place Tool delivered and can finally replace my two-wheeled thing-a-ma-jig,(AKA: Crankshaft Pulley; Harmonic Balancer,..)that lets me use the Air-colderizer machine,(AKA: Air Conditioner),...I'll let you guys know how it went. You guys have been a lot of help in the heads up department and I do appreciate it. Just wish I'd registered and asked first. I'm a die-hard do-it-yourselfer though and probably would have just said "Nah! It's just one bolt!?!" I'm sure I'll have more questions down the road. Hopefully not "How do I get the crankshaft pulley bolt out after the heads been sheared off?" Thanks again,...Tom

 

Why don't you justcall that sameHonda dealership and ask them how much they'll charge you to remove the bolt? I agree with nasty -they'll probably charge you only $20, or so. You'll pay more than that for the special holder alone,and you'll still have to remove the bolt.

If you are going to definitely DIY, then save your money on theholder and RENT a 1"-drive electricimpact wrench for a couple of hours. I believe most tool rental places will have one, but places that rent tools for heavy equipmentdefinitely will.

With a few minutes of constant banging away with a 1" wrench, that bolt WILL loosen. You run little risk of shearing the bolt witha large impact wrench, but aconsiderable risk using the pulley-holderand a long breaker bar, IMO. (I hope you don't find out firsthandwhy they'recalled"breaker" bars!)

BTW, the answer to your last hypotheticalquestion is probably- "replace the crank shaft".

First, do you think an extractor is going to give you a better chance ofremoving the threaded shaft than the original bolt-head did? I doubt it like heII.

Second, even if there was a chance to remove the threaded shaft of the bolt by drilling enough of a hole into it to insert an extractor, you'd probably stillhave to remove the crank from the engine to drill the hole.

Third, that's a hardened bolt, sodrilling a hole inthe end of the threaded shaftwould be anextrememly difficult, if not impossible, thing to do.

Good luck, and please let us know how you get that bolt out.Reading how you did it will be a helluva lot more entertaining than watchingany so-called "reality show" on the boob tube.

Below is a photo ofan Ingersol Rand 1" drive 110V electric impact wrench that is typical of those rented byheavy equipment tool rental places:

They don't turnvery fast, but boy they hammer!

 

Hey guys,...Got'er done. The 50mm holder tool from Ebay,($30) did the trick. I got a good deal on the harmonic balancer from Autozone,($62.99). Bought a 1/2 inch electric impact wrench,($71.00). Of all the socket adapters I have, I didn't have a 1/2 inch F x 3/8 M, so I got a cheap one,($2.99), and an impact set,($14.99). Both of those snapped off on day four with the impact wrench. I went ahead and got the 1/2" 19mm socket,(Lugnut set-$19.97)and two 1/2" extensions,(6"- $8.46; 12"-$9.96). What was nice about the holder was that it has an elbow in it and that runs into the fender well so you don't have to hold it. Two new belts for $9.99 and my cheap harmonic balancer comes to around $240.50. And it only took me nine days! I used a breaker bar and a cheater bar,(pipe), on top of that with a jack stand under the pivot point,(where the breaker bar and extension meet). I had plenty of leverage but tried to go easy so as not to shear anything off. When it finally gave I was sure it was a socket or something that had snapped. Once it broke free it was finger loose. Unbelievable. Oh, wait,..another $14.99 for a cheap harmonic balance puller that not only did I not need but all the bolts where too big. The 6" gear puller I already had would only grab with two of the "fingers" and when I tried to attach it the balancer came right off.
My battery died twice during this nine day stretch, so that'll be my next purchase. And now it's back to the manual so I can figure out the timing. Where the idle adjustment screw should be it's plugged and I had to up the idle with the throttle cable adjustment just to keep it from dying on my last trip out. With registration due this month I'd have to say July 2007 sucked bigtime. I don't know how much it would've cost to rent that 1" impact but I appreciate the advice Tony1M. If I had a digital camera I would have included pictures of a bent 3/8 socket, 2 brocken socket adapters, and a pair of hands with busted and burnt knuckles. Oh,...and a picture of the "S.H.I.T.",(special holding in-place tool), because itmade all the difference. Thanks again guys...

 

*ROFL* well at least now we have an industry standard name for that tool.... Glad you finally got it done those things make a huge "crack" when they brake loose... only 9 days.... I've had jobs like that in the past.... I once spent two days trying to remove a bearing from they flywheel on my 81 civic when I was doing a clutch job, I tried all sorts of stupid things that I'm not even going to get into.... Finally I said forget it and yanked the flywheel off as well (yeah I know I should have done that sooner) and realized that there was a small "lip" holding the bearing in, I flipped the flywheel over and simply pushed out the bearing as blood dripped from my busted knuckles onto the flywheel I found myself in a tyraid of inapropriate words and terminology the likes of which I didn't even know I could pronounce.... Ah cars... the fun of the frustration!

 

Wow, ... power outage just trashed my follow-up question. I don't know if anyone's still following this thread but I'll post my question here before starting a new one. The new harmonic balancer is slipping in and out on the end of the shaft despite having used the electric impact and hand tightening the bolt another 1/2 turn. Two possibilities,..1. The crankshaft is moving in and out about a quarter inch, or 2. the new harmonic balancer is too thin to be held in place by a bolt that's already bottomed out. A shorter bolt or extra washers could potentially fix problem #2,...but that may be too easy. Anyone come across this problem before?

 

That's a new one to me... some of the more experienced mechanics may have seen it but I'm at a loss unless they just gave you the wrong part or something...