OK I guess I'm confused. I didn't think there's a forwards or backwards to the key.

But if you're sure that the timing sprocket never moved, then I guess it's OK to continue with the work.

 

I cannot get this bolt to tighten to 185 ft/lbs torque. At first I tightened it with a ratchet until the pulley began to move with the bolt. Then I used the honda crank pulley holder and a breaker bar to hold the pulley in place and a torque wrench to try to tighten it. I am literally using all of my strength and this thing has not turned at all. Here are some pics of how I have it set up.

Honda crank pulley holder w/ breaker bar and torque wrench:



Close up of crank pulley holder:



Why won't this bolt tighten? I put on a new harmonic balancer and woodruff key by the way.

 

IMO, you got the bolt on tight enough.

The setup you have is similar to how I tightened the bolt on my 95 accord (read below), except I used my breaker bar and a pipe over it to gain leverage. That bolt was on there for 60K miles when I sold my car.

There is some twist when using the long extensions, so even 185 on the torque wrench will not be 185 on the bolt. If you want, you can take the car to a shop and have them put their impact wrench on it to tighten it down. They shouldn't charge more than $20 to do this.

EDIT: Your setup is not exactly like mine. I put the spare tire on my car, then turned the steering wheel all the way to the left. That gave me enough room to get the extension in there and use my jackstand as the pivot. Your setup runs the risk of pull the car off the scissor jack and possibly you getting hurt. Please use a jackstand where that scissor jack is located when doing this kind of work in the future.

 

Is your torque wrench capable of being set to 185 ft-lbs?

This wrench appears to be at least 2-ft length. That means you only should need to pull 92.5 lbs on the wrench to gain the necessary torque. If you're an average guy you could get this by simply leaning your weight on the wrench.

Perhaps wrench is seriously mis-calibrated. You can test calibration by turning against a locked bolt in a vise while standing on scales. As you push down, scale weight will go down. Observe value when wrench "clicks" and calculate torque as "weight reduction"*(torque wrench position where you hold to ratchet center in feet).

good luc

 

Yes the torque wrench is capable of being set to 185 ft/lbs. I have not been able to tighten it at all with the torque wrench. At first I used a small ratchet to tighten it without the pulley holder until the pulley started to move with the bolt. After that, that's when I tried using the torque wrench and pulley holder. I put all of my weight on it and it has not tightened further and the extensions are starting to bend. I have also tried recalibrating the torque wrench and it is still the same. I don't think it's possible that I got it to 185 ft/lbs using the small ratchet prior to trying the torque wrench.

 

Try setting wrench to a lower setting (125-150 ft-lbs) and see if you can get to click. Did you lube the bolt? I like to use never-sieze. Lube is needed particularly between washer and bolt.

good luck

 

It clicks at 185 ft/lbs but it also clicks at 220 ft/lbs. However, I never got to tighten it with the torque wrench. All I used was the small ratchet until the pulley started to move with the bolt. I don't think it's possible that I got it to tighten to over 185 ft/lbs just using the small ratchet. Should I loosen the bolt and just tighten only with the torque wrench?

 

It's a hardened bolt; so YES, there is very little extra "twist" between 180 & 220 lbf*ft. It should feel like the bolt comes up tight & then barely turns any farther as you tighten it.

 

I think you adequately torqued first time you applied and clicked. As Jim points out, this is a very heft bolt and loads up very quickly.

No harm in loosening and re-tightening to confirm. Try some lube if you didn't lube first time.

good luck

 

Good point. Grease or anti-seize on the threads and the bolt side of the washer.