1994 Honda Accord EX 4cyl automatic with 240,000 miles, i forget if this is the F22 or the F23 but it's whatever came with the car stock I mean - finally time to do my timing belt and water pump (after a year of limping and a forced year parked)

For the curious I will be using this video as a guide, if people can suggest other "great" videos on this specific issue I will also watch them, but I liked that he went into detail about the first 'nightmare' crank pulley bolt to start since if you cant get that off later youre going nowhere:


He uses normal propane to heat the crank pulley bolt for one minute, he mentions a risk of heat soak into surrounding parts.

I am assuming the worst (i've never heard of these going easily!) and i'm actually concerned about 'too much' leverage (ie a 10 foot cheater bar or 3/4" drive ratchet is not necessarily an improvement - at some point the bolt itself is destroyed - having destroyed quite a few wheel lugs/bolts in frustration in the past by twisting them to pieces) so i'm assuming that even after I set it up, and use penetrating oil and such, it still wont come off.

So i'm assuming I will end up at the torch anyways. What i'm wondering is guidance for that specific issue...

I plan to just start with a propane torch head and a MAPP cylinder, what i'm concerned about is if 60 seconds or so of heating isn't enough, what is the next step... longer? Or no alternative but to upgrade to oxy-acetylene? (which i dont have and dont know anything about)

I'd rather have the answer waiting for me before I start work on this because once I start I want to try and finish the job the same day (as it will be many miles from home I have to work on it/long drive) or at least know what followup action to take.

 

Start the process with breaking that bolt loose.

I got my 95 crank bolt off using the exact method shown in the video without propane. I used a 5ft cheater pipe over my breaker bar, and it broke loos somewhere between 90 and 180 degrees of turning.

You may want to stop by a local shop and ask them if they'd use their impact gun to break the bolt loose, put some grease on both sides of the washer, then snug it back on again. Those shops usually have a 3/4 inch drive impacts with the air compressors to do this.

 

Originally I was going to do that but there's no tabs on the vehicle (until we fix the water pump this is what decides if we keep driving it or not, if I can do this job on my own) and it's parked out of range of a nearby shop.

The vehicle is currently up on jackstands and i'm PB Blastering it every 8-12 hours or so before anything. Planned to do so probably another day before starting. I WILL have that little 50mm hex-tool thing Honda makes to immobilize the crank, I just dont have it yet.

Does the inner bolt require an impact socket? (I do not have one with, thought I did but cant find now that i'm here) Will a normal 19mm six point socket break under the pressure?

 

With the large torque it'll take to remove that, you might just break the socket. Depends how "good" your non-impact socket is...

Smooth pressure with a long cheater pipe is probably OK. You're more likely to break it if you start hammering on it while someone stands on the cheater pipe. Have you seen the video of someone doing a face-plant when the bolt suddenly comes loose?

 

I had good results w/ heating (5 mins of propane) and good air impact gun. I recently used Lisle special socket w/ air impact on Acura MDX crankshaft bolt w/ excellent results. A recent poster managed to remove bolt w/ electric impact and Lisle socket.

good luck

 

I kinda want to break it, the Autozone guy was a little too smug in insisting the sockets are tough as nails. :) I just dont want to damage the bolt. Should I be concerned about how much windup I get on the cheater bar? I've got a four foot pipe I can slide over the handle of the breaker bar and i'm a big guy, i'm wondering at what point of perceived effort on the long end to switch to the torch...

No, that sounds entertaining, have a link?

 

Don't have a link. Actually, it might have been a post here somewhere several years ago just describing what happened. The pulley bolt is hardened, and it will almost certainly come loose suddenly and completely, and without any hint of gradually coming loose. (been my experience anyway)

 

One of the problems w/ restraint tool plus long extension w/ breaker bar/cheater pipe is the alarming amount of flexing of the extension and breaker bar. I tried this combination and gave up when flexing reached alarming proportions.

good luck

 

***__PTANG!!__***

Finally got the bolt off. Just sharing for anyone curious, I actually ended up not needing heat - just leverage. Using that honda crank tool to immobilize the shaft wedged against the floor with a 25" breaker bar, and a second breaker bar using two 10" impact extensions (which lock together unlike normal slide together extensions - I couldn't find a single 20 incher) and a 19mm impact socket... with a four foot cheater bar. I probably put 200lbs of force on the end of the four feet and the whole breaker bar and cheater was bent 90 degrees... that's quite along of force built up like a spring, when it let go, it let go SUDDENLY and all the tools went flying off and I fell down!

FWIW the method shown in the video I linked works well - support the other edge of your long 20 inch extension on a jackstand so your downward force just goes into the socket.


Does anyone know, do I need to keep the crank pulley tool to put the bolt back on later?


Also, any suggestions on the best ways to flush the radiator/ block/ heater core since i've never done it before?

 

Did you get a video of it coming loose???

Keep the tool (or borrow it back again) because that's how you will immobilize the crank for tightening the bolt. Using an impact wrench to tighten it will tend to rotate the crankshaft backwards, which is slightly likely to make the timing belt skip.