ZX flywheel locking tool - which one?

[RussellF97]

Hi All,

I think I should be able to get the crank pulley off with an assistant jamming a screwdriver in the starter hole, but since I have to order a load of bits from the UK, I thought about getting one of these as well.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Flywheel-Lock ... 255ebdafb5" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

The all-singing, all-dancing Draper one at over £30 seems a bit like overkill for what I want. Has anyone used one of these £7.50 ones? Any good?

[oldnail]

I use one very similar and it works a treat.Remember the crankshaft pulley bolt is extremely tight.You will need a good quality socket and breaker bar to get it undone.Do not try to undo it using the hole in the flywheel this is to set the engine at TDC.
There's plenty of information on here about the crankshaft pulley bolt and various methods of undoing it.

[CitroJim]

There's plenty of information on here about the crankshaft pulley bolt and various methods of undoing it.

The best of which is to use the starter! use a good 22mm socket on a high-quality T-bar jammed under the wishbone on the pulley bolt and flick the starter once after immobilising the engine to ensure it cannot possibly fire.

Works every time It sounds brutal but is in fact quite placid. The trick is to just flick the starter.

[HDI]

I'm spoilt when doing this job, I use an air impact wrench !

[RussellF97]

oldnail / CitroJim / HDI: many thanks for your replies. Because the object of the exercise is to get the head off - and I would be replacing the timing belt anyway - I'll just cut the belt so I can get the head off to see whether its worth spending out to fix. Fingers crossed it is!

On a related topic: the Haynes book says you should replace the crank pulley bolt; why?
My pulley bolt looks original even though it must have had several new timing belts...

[CitroJim]

On a related topic: the Haynes book says you should replace the crank pulley bolt; why?
My pulley bolt looks original even though it must have had several new timing belts...

It is because technically it's a stretch bolt, this fact is given away by the angle tightening method in the official documentation. By rights these should be replaced but in practice if the bolt looks OK and you do it up fairly FT then you'll be OK. Never personally known one break and I've reused them many times.

I'd get that bolt at least loose before commencing any head work. It'll be a heck of a job to try to undo it with the head off and engine mount off, even using a flywheel locking device as the engine block will be too floppy to get any good purchase on it.

[RussellF97]

CitroJim: thanks very much for the advice - worked a treat!