Hi,

I am slowly getting ready to change my belts. In the various posts/manuals no one writes about getting the car up on jack stands and removing the front wheels.

Am I right that jacking and removing the wheels is necessary? What is the ideal height for the front end?

Thanks,

Roy


'92 LX AT 2-door

 

The front driver's side wheel is the only one that will need to come off.

As for jacking up the car, it all depends on how you plan to remove the crank bolt. So how are you going to remove that PIA bolt?

 

Thanks. I bought one of those crank-pully-hold-it tools and will use a long and heavy breaker bar and a 6-point impact socket. Also, I'll break the crank bolt (and then re-tighten) before doing anything else.

 

I pretty much did the same thing to loosen the crank bolt. I used a long extension to be able to get the breaker bar outside of the wheel well.

If you do use some long extensions, then put the doughnut on the front driver's side. Turn the wheel so your extension will not hit the tire. Use a jack stand to support the bottom of the extension. The reason to keep all four tires on, is that you will be surprised how much torque it will take to break the bolt loose. You could pull your car off the jack stands.

I also put a small extension on the pulley holding tool and wedged it against the sub frame to keep the crank from moving.

I had a long breaker bar with a 5ft piece of pipe over top of it. I started at the 3 o'clock position, and the bolt broke loose at the 10/9 position.

 

Using the tiny spare tire is a good idea, wish I had thought of it.

If you steer full-left, the normal tire just barely gives enough room to get in there. It can help to remove the plastic inner-fender liner, but it's not really necessary. There's a funny star-shaped hole for the extension to poke through.

 

Perfect. Thanks. Once I get the crank nut loose, what is the best height to have the front end? I realize I'll need to move the motor up and down a bit with a floor jack. Is there a benefit of having the front end higher off the floor than it normally sits (when the wheels are on and the car isn't jacked up)?

Roy

 

Another great tip I can use when the time comes, thanks. I would think lower is better, so you can easily reach over the fender to do most of the work. The height with the spare on should be about right, I guess. Depends how tall you are, and what height is comfortable for you. Removing the crank nut isn't going to be a problem for me, since we have torque wrenches that can put up to 600ft lbs, an impact as big as me, and 3/4" drive breaker bars about 6' long. It doesn't stand a chance. If the crank holding tool works, that sucker's mine.

 

If you are doing the work without an air compressor/impact, the easy thing to do is go to a local tire shop, pay them $5 or something to break the crank bolt loose and lightly retighten it.
Then drive home and do the T-belt job.
The crank spins counter-clockwise and the bolt is right hand thread; IT WILL NOT LOOSEN with the engine running.
How high should the car be? Just push the button on the lift post.
You are no doubt not doing the first belt change, so you'll need room to get in there and change out the crank seal and the 'oil pump' seal, as well as the counterbalance shaft seal.
What goes up can also go down. Jack stands can change heights as well !!