Crank pulley wont budge

[darbuck]

Hi Lads,
I just tried to remove the crank pulley in preparation for changing the timing belt and the pulley(Harmonic balancer) won't budge the bolt was a pig to get out and the hole was full of what looked like cement powder. I also discovered the driver-side front wheel has a broken stud glued in with silicone I really got caught on this car . Any suggestions on the hub I assume best practice is change it out and not retap.

[moizeau]

It may be a loctite that's been applied far too liberally and has glued to pulley on. Get another crank seal, easy to replace in situ with 2 drywall screws an a small prybar or pliers. The reason for replacing the crank seal is if it is loctite (the flavour of which can vary enormously from nut lock to a bearing retainer) if can be softened with heat, which will damage the seal. Clean the thread up on the bolt and use some oversized nuts as a spacers to bring the head of the bolt nice and proud then use a 2, or better still a 3, legged puller after applying heat. The reason for putting the bolt back in is to protect the end of the crank. Remove anything in the area that will get damaged by the torch. Also be aware that if the crank seal has leaked already the oil my try to catch fire.

[CitroJim]

Fist-class advice in every respect Pete The last X7 I assisted in doing a cambelt change on needed a massive rattle gun to get the crank bolt out and then a 3-legged puller to get the pulley off... Happily it did not need heat but absolutely, if heat is used then do indeed replace the seal.

When pulling the pulley take great care not to damage the crank position sensor. It does not need to be removed but do be aware of its potential fragility...

Also, blow the crank bolt threads in the crank tail out with compressed air and if you have a suitably sized tap it's not a bad idea to run it up and down the threads to clean them of as much old Loctite as possible. then blow out with an airline again.

If you are re-using the bolt, clean it up on a wire brush. Preferably renew it. I believe a new one may come ready-Loctited ( a blue band around it) and will need no extra.

Loctite is good but not in such massive quantities as used here! It only needs a little to be effective.

That hub stud bodge is dangerous! If you can get the remains out, inspect the tread in the hub and if there is any damage visible then replace the hub without question. Minor damage you may be able to clean up with a tap but for peace of mind, unless the damage is very minor and insignificant I'd replace.

[darbuck]

Hi Pete, thanks for that, I Got it off without heat, sprayed with silicon grease, and slowly eased it off with a pry bar. came off in two bits I think it was what I was hearing knocking that was concerning. I have a new one for it because I knew they give trouble and just a bit of preventative maintenance. Discovered the fiber ring is off-square as well so I may order a new one they must have beaten it on. I think it was the wrong pulley. I am finding a lot of gunthering on this which is worrying me a bit. I think the chap I bought it off was chancing his arm with the maintenance, there is very little service history but a good few NCT(Irish MOT) results.

[moizeau]

Happy days, I would replace the crank seal as a matter of fact regardless. These will leak, oil up the crank sensor and stop it starting at some point. It's become a serviceable item these days with the crank sensor. Bit like the water pump on cam belt changes.

[darbuck]

yeah good to have it free, Fair enough thanks Pete I will get a seal for it while I am at it.

[MattBLancs]

Assuming that the 2.2 and 2.0 are pretty similar, then crank pulley bolt is a torque then angle-tighten affair. In which case bolt is a definite replace not reuse item, isn't it?

Given that, I would cut a slot in the old bolt - is high tensile, so attack with hack saw would get boring rather quickly, but a thin cutting disk in a 4.5" grinder will chomp through quickly. Drive that bolt in and out and it'll pick up the old Loctite pretty well in the slot.

I've read bolt is removed with a torque wrench. If torque wrench clicks on the way out, you reverse and go back in again, then repeat backing out. Something about the Loctite riding up the threads and the resistance enough to have potential for shearing the bolt! The thought of that put the wind up me enough to do the torque wrench technique! Initial loosen with breaker bar, then wound out with torque wrench. Hard work! Loctite holding on right to near the end.

Wheel hub - if there's enough of a gap for the silicone to have actually done something then I'd suspect there's precious little steel for any thread to be recut. Should be able to find a replacement hub easy enough, but sadly lines you up for a new wheel bearing at same time.
Would guess removing hub on an X7 also lines you up for a new lower bearing (FRIP) on the hub carrier too.

So that one bodge is growing arms and legs to fix!

Don't know what space required for a helicoil installation, but guess that could be get out of jail free option for the hub? Never used them personally.

[darbuck]

No, I am just going to replace the hub. The pulley bolt is out I have a new one, still have to replace the timing belt and finish the service waiting on the parts to arrive now. I will update when I have all done or if I hit a wall in the meantime.

[MattBLancs]

Sorry, might be me being unclear with terminology, sometimes called the "drive flange" , this is what I talked about replacing:

Quick picture from Autodoc website

The wheel bearing obviously sits on that inner section. In my experience it's difficult to extract the flange without pulling the bearing in to two pieces, particularly the outer bearing's inner race wants to stay on the hub/flange. (And indeed normally cut this off during a bearing replacement, not much room to get any sort of pulley in to extract it undamaged)

Please keep us in the loop as promised, enjoyable even just to hear "everything else was a piece of cake"

[CitroJim]

Don't know what space required for a helicoil installation, but guess that could be get out of jail free option for the hub? Never used them personally.

Helicoils are great and I've used them extensively on alloy parts of old Japanese motorbikes for recovering stripped exhaust port flange stud holes and stripped sparkplug threads and so on but I'd not be happy about using one in such a critical place as a wheel stud hole in a hub...

[moizeau]

Timeserts are the new thing, much stronger and now used instead of helicoils on motorbike engines, especially for the cam caps on z1000 cylinder heads. Some factory manuals lie and overdo the torque settings. That along with the fact that when tightening them down there isn't much thread to grab on and they're fighting against the valve springs.
http://www.timesert.com/index.html

[CitroJim]

Timeserts are the new thing, much stronger and now used instead of helicoils

They look a lot better Pete! I'll book mark those as I have an upcoming problem with the exhaust manifold flange on Bluebell... Yes, indeed, the number of stripped threads I've repaired in Suzuki GT series bike engines is beyond count.. Not so sure it was the manufacturer specifying excessive torque settings - more usually previous owners using spanners and socket sets a a bit too enthusiastically

[darbuck]

Yeah look like a good option for other bolt repairs I just wouldn't trust on a hub. I drained the coolant last night to prepare for the new water pump looked this morning 1/2in of oil on top . I'd say it's the oil cooler. The gift that just keeps giving this car I starting to see a bottle of petrol and a rag in its future.

[CitroJim]

Yeah look like a good option for other bolt repairs I just wouldn't trust on a hub. I drained the coolant last night to prepare for the new water pump looked this morning 1/2in of oil on top .

Oh gosh Darren

[darbuck]

Hi Matt I ordered one of them I may have get some bearings aswell. This thing is costing me a fortune. I thankfully am not relying on it at the moment. I want to make sure everything is ok before I put it on the road so I just have normal service items to worry about. I have noted the rack is leaking, couldn't check when I went to buy it it was too wet took a chance because the bodywork and interior were very clean and the engine ran relatively well steering is tight . Shaft is corroded so I think I will be replacing that aswell. I could of bought a better newer car for the money this is costing. I hope it's worth it long-term.