Removing crankshaft pulley bolt

[sk8ermonkey]

Hello all! This question is in regards to removing the bolt on the crankshaft pulley. I have a 1996 Explorer XLS 4WD SOHC. I tried removing it with a hand wrench, and it is just too tight! Does anybody have any suggestions as to an easier way of removing this bolt? ie. does anybody have any experience in doing so? using a pneumatic perhaps?

Thanks in advance.

 

[riffman]

well...taking one of a 302 i had, i broke it loose with a 2 foot long breaker bar. but the rods were still connected, and the pistons were frozen in the cylinders, so i had plenty of resistence to push on. try an impact wrench. just make good and sure you get a tight fitting socket on there. DON'T use a 12 point socket with that bolt. its a pretty important one, and you won't want to round it over.

 

[sk8ermonkey]

Thanks for the info. I just need some clarification. What is a 302 and what the heck is a breaker bar. I was reading the Service Manual for the car and they mentioned using a breaker bar. Is it possible to rent one of them?

 

[riffman]

a 302 is a ford V8. 5.0L or 302 cubic inches of displacement. a breaker bar is like a long ratchet without the ratcheting head. just used to put monster torque, through leverage, on a nut or bolt. it is possible to rent them (autozone) but they are pretty cheap, and a good tool to go with a socket set to have lying around anyway.

 

[yob_yeknom]

Your '96 has the OHV, not the SOHC.

A breaker bar is just a long bar that you can put a socket on. It doesn't have the ratcheting mechanism so it's stronger than a ratchet, and it's longer to give you more leverage. I'm sure you could rent one at Autozone, but you might as well go ahead and buy one because it is a very useful tool.

edit: Heh, I must've been typing while you replied. We think alike.

 

[riffman]

hehe...whoa....scarry!!

 

[sk8ermonkey]

You guys are being extremely helpful! One final question: how in the world do you "jam" the crankshaft from turning?? What did you guys do? I'm running into heavy problems trying to jam it.

 

[yob_yeknom]

Do you have the belt still on? Does it turn even with the belt on?

They make a tool (no idea what it is called) that is you use to hold the fan pulley still while you turn the bolt. It's just a peice of metal that you put the end of a breaker bar into and it has a piece of a belt through it that you wrap around the pulley. You push on the breaker bar and it pushes up against the piece of belt and tightens it against the pulley. (very helpful to have someone help you do that) You might want to give on of those tools a try.