Removing crankshaft pulley bolts? (Pug/Cit)

[dieselnutjob]

I would like to change the crank pulley on my 607 HDI tonight. The cars off the road until it's done.

The crank pulley bolts on Pug/Cit diesels are always really hard to remove.

I think that the pros with airtools will just rattle gun them out but I don't have the luxury.

Sealey make this tool http://www.sealey.co.uk/PLPageBuilder.a ... ctid=14023

but I can't get one today as nobody local has stock.

With a manual transmission it's hard enough because you can put the car in gear but when force is applied to the crank pulley bolt it just winds up the transmission / engine mounts / clutch springs etc instead of actually releasing the bolt.

The 607 is an auto so I can't even do that.

Usually in desparation I put a socket / t-handle on the bolt with the end of the handle resting on the subframe then flick the starter motor. There will be a bing bang and a jolt and the bolt is loose but it seems a very dirty trick and I'm a bit afraid of one day breaking something.

Is it such a bad way to get those bolts out?

[Station]

I'm sure people who sell their cars saying 'starter motor seems to miss' have done this and damaged the flywheel somehow? I personally wouldn't do it this way.

I've always jammed the flywheel teeth in the gearbox housing using long nose pliers, there's no risk of damaging it with the starter. I actually stripped the cambelt, bent two valves and blew a caliper seal (on a brand new caliper!) in one go with my dad stamping on the brake pedal - this is good if the car is brand new (as is Hayne's suggestion), but no good on a 100k car. Just tie a piece of wire to the end of a pair of long nose pliers, take the starter motor out, and jam it on the flywheel so that one of the plier 'nose' sits in one of the teeth, and then use an extension bar on the nut - there's no way of damaging anything this way, apart from the pliers (the wire is to stop the pliers falling into the gearbox).

 

You're right about airguns, I it did it in seconds without it even being in gear.

[dieselnutjob]

I've just thought a bit more about this.

I will have to jam the flywheel somehow in order to put the bolt back in with the new pulley.

Normally you can do the bolt up alright with the car in gear but this is an auto so the torque converter will not stop the engine from turning.

I seem to remember that there is a plate underneath that comes off so that you can get to the bolts that go through the flywheel and into the torque converter.

Maybe I can just get the plate off and jam something onto one of those bolts. I would think that with a socket on a bolt head that the socket would hit the edge of the opening and jam the engine fairly well

Getting the starter motor off and on again would be a right pain in the arse.

[Guest Tony Hayers]

What about one of the £25 Clarke 12v Rattle guns?

 

 

Ive used it to do the crank pully on a few XUD's and remove/refit the crossmember on my old Frontera. They do get a bit tired after a while so keep the reciept and take it back if it goes slack within 12 months and get another.

 

Bought mine from Machine Mart. Got one located near you?

 

P.S - slacken the bolt when the engine is warm as it makes it easier to break the threadlock, but you knew that allready.

[dieselnutjob]

slacken the bolt when the engine is warm as it makes it easier to break the threadlock, but you knew that allready.

 

err, no I hadn't though of that. good point

[Futuramic]

I have managed to do this on my old Volvo with a long piece of rope. Here's how:

 

Buy a long piece of clean, thin, nylon rope - 10 or 20 feet should do it. Wind the engine up to TDC, compression stroke on no1 piston. You want both valves fully closed. Now wind a few degrees past (using a socket on the pulley bolt). I'm assuming you've taken the plugs out - if not do it. Insert the rope into the combustion chamber through the spark plug hole.

Now comes the clever bit. Wind the engine back to TDC and you should feel it lock up. If you've done it right the space between the piston and the valves will be full of soft rope. Now apply a hell of a lot of force to the pulley bolt and it will come off.

 

It's a tried and tested method; safe too - the soft rope won't damage anything internally (on a Volvo engine anyway but they build them tough). It's also easier than damaging ring gear or potentially the front crossmember. However if I were to do it again I'd use a rattle gun - safer, quicker, easier need I say more?

 

Anyway the rope method really does work; I've done it.

[messerschmitt owner]

do make sure it goes back on tight - mine sheared the bolt and the pulley alone is £175 from Citroen.

[Station]

I've heard of that rope method!

[dieselnutjob]

just got back from my lunchtime trip to Machine Mart

got me a 12V rattle gun and a box of impact sockets

I'll still have to lock up the engine to torque the new pulley on properly though

[meggersdog]

Don't think the rope trick is a good idea on a HDi.A socket on the torque converter bolts might crack the flex-plate.

Looks like starter out and wedge the ring gear is the safest option to torque it up.

[dieselnutjob]

got the job done, took three hours, though I probably could have done in two if I was a bit better organised/focused

The Machine Mart 12V rattle gun wasn't man enough to crack the bolt out. It took a 2 foot breaker bar and my foot pushing on the suspension. Interestingly it took just as much force to angle tighten the new pulley on according to the spec.

I had to remove the starter motor bolts to move the starter motor enough (but not actually remove it) to get a 16mm socket on a bolt head of one of the bolts that goes through the flywheel and into the flex plate (I hadn't read the above post). There is a kind of C shaped cutout in the block underneath the starter motor so that you can get to the flex plate bolts.

That said I don't think damage to the flex plate is too likely. It's near the edge of the flywheel and so the leverage that it has is large and therefore the force on it quite small. Surely for the flex plate to bend the flywheel would have to bend first which seems unlikely?

I suppose another option would be to remove one of the bolts and use the hole in the flywheel to put a rod in there to lock it.

I think to actually remove the starter motor would be a nightmare due to the number of pipes and things that run in front of it on a 2.2

The car had developed an uneven idle over the last few months with the engine kind of hunting sometimes. It seems to be gone now so maybe the slack in the pulley was upsetting the ECU.

[Guest]

What about one of the £25 Clarke 12v Rattle guns?

 

Ive used it to do the crank pully on a few XUD's and remove/refit the crossmember on my old Frontera. They do get a bit tired after a while so keep the reciept and take it back if it goes slack within 12 months and get another.

 

Bought mine from Machine Mart. Got one located near you?

 

P.S - slacken the bolt when the engine is warm as it makes it easier to break the threadlock, but you knew that allready.

 

Hi there! I'm a newbie to the forum and I'm in search of DIY stuffs. Well, my uncle had also having trouble with the crankshaft pulley bolt and having read the thread, it seems this looks like a great idea how to remove it. I'm really liking the forum because of useful information. Thanks for sharing the info.

[ashmicro]

Rope Method duly noted. Like many great ideas, that's brilliantly simple.

 

Some time ago I "aquired" a drum of BT Drawrope which they use to pull telephone cables through ducts, should be just the job.

[Barry Cade]

The rope trick is also brilliant for changing vale stem seals/ springs without taking the head off. Keeps the valves shut!

[Station]

I got loads of pulley bolts out by using an air gun on a compressor. It didn't come out straight away, but about 3 minutes worth of it, it just came out.