help me get my flywheel off!!! | Ford Explorer Forums - Serious Explorations

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help me get my flywheel off!!!

slapthefunkyfou

Well-Known Member
Joined
March 15, 2005
Messages
134
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1
City, State
Farmington, Utah
Year, Model & Trim Level
'91 XL
I've got everything all taken apart. The tranny is off. Now I can't get those stupid bolts to come loose to take the flywheel off. If anyone knows any tricks to loosen those bolts, I would really appreciate it.
If I don't get that flywheel resurfaced, then this whole new clutch thing will be for nothing.

Thanks in advance, Matt
 



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impact is just about the only/ best way to do it
 






Large breaker bar, And if you have the money go out to home depot and get a mapp gas torch (50 bucks i think) and heat up the area around the bolts with that. I would stay away from air tools last thing you want to do is bust a bolt off in the crank.
 






they have thread lock on them, all you need is the right 1/2 drive, socket and breaker bar. They are stiff, but not impossible. Think leverage, not hammer
 






Thanks for the suggestions. Will a normal propane torch do the same thing as MAPP gas?

I did get 4 of the bolts off fairly easily it's just those 2 that are giving me problems. I have tried the impact wrench but that didn't do anything. I tried using a breaker bar and put so much umph into it that I lifted the entire engine.

I'm hoping the idiot that I bought this from 3 years ago didn't use threadlocker on them for some odd reason.
 






It's like propane but alot hotter it'll actually get the metal red. You can use a propane torch but it'll you alot longer. There shouldnt be thread lock on them, neither of my explorers had thread lock on the flywheels.
 






Be careful, mine were e-torx bits and I stripped one out before I learned I had the wrong kind of socket. It is quite hard to get a new bolt from Ford.
 






I don't think mine are the e-torx. They look just like normal bolts.
 






Is the issue that the flywheel is turning, or that you just can't get enough torque on them to loosen them?
 






use the handle from the floor jack as a cheater bar!
 






Heh... my cheater bar of choice. As long as it fits where you need it, that's the way to go (and it will fit for this, because that's what I used to get mine loose).
 






fastpakr said:
Is the issue that the flywheel is turning, or that you just can't get enough torque on them to loosen them?
The flywheel was turning but I stuck a big-a** screwdriver into the teeth and that stopped it, but now the problem is not getting enough torque.

Since I am so muscular(yeah right) I was using a breaker bar and lifted up the entire engine. That should be enough to break them loose, but I gonna try heating them up.
 






I would be nervous about putting a screwdriver into the teeth. What I did was jam it between two of the bolts, with the handle over towards the frame rail.

I can't believe I'm asking this (and don't take it personally), but you are treating these as normally threaded bolts, right? Assuming you are, I'd go ahead and stick the floor jack handle on the end of the ratchet and put as much weight as you can on the end (trying to ignore the engine twisting against its mounts).
 






I really appreciate all the help. I'll let you all know what happens.
 






im not looking at what you are doing, but the 'engine' twist shouldnt be too huge of a problem... its just the motor mounts doing what they do best.

do you have a stand or jack underneith the engine? You probably dont need it but whenever i drop my tranny im very hesitent to just let the engine 'hang' there
 






I've never had to heat a flywheel bolt, nor has one broken (knock on wood). Impact guns work fine as far as I have experienced. I suppose that a breaker bar on the flywheel bolts and one on the front crank bolt to hold the engine from spinning may work. If you need to heat it, I would plan on putting in a new rear main seal.
 






i put a wrench on it. put a piece of wood on the wrench and hit it with a BFH
 






thanks for all the help guys. I really appreciate it.

I went back to working on it after my nerves had calmed down abit after getting so frazzled trying to get the darn thing off. And what do you know, with a pipe about 2 feet long on the end of the breaker bar, the bolts came right off. I almost feel somewhat retarded now that it came off so easily the second time.

So now tomorrow, Put it all back together. I think I can do it in about 4 hours. That will be record time for me. But, I was wondering, is there anything I should do/check before I get it all put back? I really don't wanna have to take it all apart again in 3 months to do something little that I should have done the first time. I have replaced the clutch, pressure plate, throwout bearing, pilot bearing, slave cylinder, and resurfaced the flywheel.

I know I'm going to spend alot of time in this forum. You guys are full of useful information, and I hope that maybe I might be of some help to a newbie out there someday.
 






:) that makes me smile.
been there done that! somtimes a break is the best tool, that and a long ass breaker bar.

You can bleed the mater cylinder and hydraulic line before you plug it into the slave cylinder, this helps eliminate any air bubbles that get caught in the line. Bleeding the slave is fun!! If you do it right it will take 15 minutes, if its taking longer then that , start over.
The key is to only open the bleeder slightly, not all the way, and open it just for a second.
If you are having problems you can jack the back of the truck up in the air a good 12" (tires off the ground) this helps position the slave so the air bubbles dont get caught. These slaves are notorious for being hard to bleed, but if you do it right they are a snap.
Also take it easy for the first 500 miles at least
 



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I appreciate the suggentions ya'll. I got it back together with really no problems. But I got to ask, do you guys use a tranny jack, or just get a block on top of a rregular jack or do you just heft it into place? I used a cinder block balanced on top of a floor jack to get the tranny off and that worked great(mostly cause I'm too cheap to rent a tranny jack) but I ended up breaking down and renting a tranny jack to put it back. I'm getting to old to lift that much weight on my chest.

Now my clutch feels like a real truck, and it actually shifts gears now!!! I hate to admit it but I stalled it 3 times in the first mile out of my drive way this morning. I'll just have to get used to the new feel.

Thanks, Matt
 






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