Back in the spring I managed to get my hands on a good running 1989 Honda Accord LXi Coupe for $600.
Wasn't long before I started having serious oil leaks which mostly dripped onto the exhaust.
The car had sat for at least 4 years so I wasn't really surprised, just annoyed.
I parked it a couple months ago so I could pull the engine and tranny for better access to replace all seals and gaskets.
While I'm at it I'm going to replace the timing belt, tension, oil pump, water pump, all hoses, several of the motor mounts, and anything else that looks like it ought to be replaced at this time.
I'm also going to be rebuilding the front suspension.
Took some time to get parts ordered and received, get the gravel driveway cleared of several other dead cars, get my engine hoist back from a friend's place where it has sat for 10 years and buy an engine stand to make it easier to work on.
So, finally got started a couple weeks ago and managed to get the engine and transmission out of the car. Separated the tranny from the engine and got the engine up on a stand.
Started pulling things off to get to timing belt and front crank seal.
I'm willing to bet the previous owner over-torqued the crank pulley bolt and probably didn't lube it first as directed by the shop manual.
I'm using a pretty stout cordless impact wrench (1200 ft/lbs) and that bolt isn't budging. I did double check that I was trying to turn it the correct direction. I switched to a breaker bar and a cobbled together pulley holder (the one recommended in the factory shop manual seems to still be available from Hondapartsnow but costs $179. More than I can spend at the moment. Of course the pulley broke but the bolt still didn't move.
I can get another pulley new from Dorman so that in itself is not a show stopper.
However, the project is stalled until I can get this bolt loose (assuming the pulley isn't rust welded to the crank).
Any suggestions?

 

Talked to my wife about it and she suggested that since the pulley was trashed anyway to just hack/weld whatever so I could get a holding device attached.
So I took a big drill bit and bored a hole through so I could insert a heavy rod from the outside in toward the center.


Once it's broke just go ahead and drill it!

That gave me enough leverage to get the pulley bolt loose.
Once I did though I discovered that the pulley could be rotated about a degree or two without moving the crankshaft.
There's supposed to be a woodruff key holding that thing in place so I figured it was either missing or damaged.
Pulled the pulley off and it turns out the original key was lost and the previous owner cut off a piece of an allen wrench and used that as a substitute.
Sloppy fit and might explain the over-torqued bolt. I didn't find any evidence that the threads had been lubricated either - bone dry.
At least the threads in the crank don't seem to be damaged.

 

Eeeek

 

How does the key slot look in the crank? They can be repaired or even widened to take an oversized key. I repaired several Geo Metro cranks over the years. The three banger was rough on crank sprockets and keys.

 

I only glanced at the key slot and though it looked ok I agree it needs to be looked at more carefully. I'm actually contemplating pulling the crank and putting in new bearings. It would be so easy right now but it's not really in the scope of what I had planned. The condition of that slot will probably be the deciding factor there.

 

Dang, Jamnar, you seem to have a knack for finding the oddities in the cars you have. I'd get a woodruff key that's SUPPOSED to fit that crank and check the fit before going any further with that project if it were mine.

 

What kind of impact?
I have a Milwaukee 1/2in high torque rated for 1200 ft/lbs and I havent found anything it hasn't been able to break free. Has the nut buster setting as well. Worth every penny.

My cornwell guy gets some awesome Milwaukee discounts 🤙

 

Well I guess my 800 ft lb DeWalt is outclassed by your Red tools. That thing is deafening however. I actually wear hearing protection if I'm doing anything more than a couple of lug nuts.

I don't use it anywhere often enough to justify that level of tool

 

Big Red isn't to loud. But then again I'm in an open shop compared to an enclosed garage.
I did look at the dewault when I was shopping around. Just not enough when I touch 20+ cars a day.
I have a Bauer from harbor freight I use at home. It's good. But after using the Milwaukee I kinda wish I got something better for home

 

Man, I use brute strength and a cheater bar. Basically because I can't afford an impact!! LOL