Which way on the crank nut?

Daveje · Post by **Daveje** » Fri Apr 17, 2009 10:40 am

I'm changing my timing belt and need to get the crank pulley off.Is this a regular lefty-loosey nut? My car is an '85 with a nut that takes a 22mm socket. I plan on jamming something in the flywheel and using a breaker bar, seems real tight. I don't have an impact wrench.

mbouse · Post by **mbouse** » Fri Apr 17, 2009 11:31 am

it is a "regular" threaded nut, counter clockwise to remove.

put the car in gear, fourth. set the parking brake. get a large breaker bar.

curse loudly, then pull on the breaker bar..don't curse and pull at the same time. simultaneous cursing and pulling sends your stomach muscles in two different directions.

Daveje · Post by **Daveje** » Fri Apr 17, 2009 12:04 pm

Thanks Mike, I just curse in my head so I should be OK. I've tried what you said the past 2 nights, no luck,but at least I know I'm turning the right way now.

fiasco · Post by **fiasco** » Fri Apr 17, 2009 2:04 pm

Daveje wrote:Thanks Mike, I just curse in my head so I should be OK. I've tried what you said the past 2 nights, no luck,but at least I know I'm turning the right way now.

If the problem you are having is with the belt slipping and allowing the pulley to turn when you are trying to turn the nut - here's what we did last week. Wedge something in to stretch the belt and hold it tight - we used a rubber mallet.

If you are just not getting enough torque on the nut to turn it (i.e. no belt slipping), then I don't have much help for you. Try a longer bar? I have a couple of iron pipe clamps and have used the 3 ft. iron pipe on the end of a ratchet to make a really long breaker bar.

-- se

mbouse · Post by **mbouse** » Fri Apr 17, 2009 2:49 pm

could be your choice of curse words. are you cursing in Italian?

manoa matt · Post by **manoa matt** » Fri Apr 17, 2009 3:49 pm

Rent, buy, beg, borrow, or steal an impact wrench. You'll be glad you did, and no cursing only, "Why didn't I do this two days ago." You should be able to rent an electric 1/2" drive impact wrench for 1/2 day for around $20. Or you could buy something like this that plugs into the cigarette lighter: http://shop.oreillyauto.com/ProductDeta ... yCode=3574 I paid $20 for one last year. Cheap Chinese shit, but it has come to the rescue on more than several occasions, and definatly worth it. Is two days worth of work, cursing, frustration, and your time worth $20-$30?

With an impact wrench you don't even need to "lock" anything. By placing the car in gear to lock the crank, you are transfering all that force to gears in the transmission and differential, two very delicate and expensive items to replace. Or the nut breaks free and the breaker bar slams into the fender.

22mm Sounds small for the crank nut, is the 85 different? Most are 38mm = 1.5 inches and tightend to 180 foot pounds.

Daveje · Post by **Daveje** » Fri Apr 17, 2009 4:10 pm

All true Matt,that's why I thought about locking up the flywheel somehow like I do on my old Thunderbird. I'll check the Harbor freight down the block and see what they have for a wrench though.
I don't know if they changed the nut,I don't know anything about Spiders beyond this car which I bought last month. I keep reading it's a 38mm nut but mine is a 22mm,that's why i was worried it might different than typical and be a lefthand thread or something since i've been putting some good grunt to it and it still won't come loose. God knows I don't want to break anything(on me or the car).

fiat218 · Post by **fiat218** » Fri Apr 17, 2009 5:15 pm

when the garage removed my alfa nut lol. it was lock thread on
they had to get a special tool to get it off,not sure what it was, they could not budge it
cost him a 100 bucks , i just laughed

GrantAB · Post by **GrantAB** » Fri Apr 17, 2009 8:25 pm

If your going to try a impact wrench, try to find someone with an air powered one...I have a Milwaukee and it just sat there and made noise..tried a breaker bar with a 4ft ext..the belt slipped,crank turned and valve broke....that was 5yrs ago and just took the motor out yesterday.......good luck!!!!

ventura ace · Post by **ventura ace** » Fri Apr 17, 2009 8:39 pm

fiasco wrote: If the problem you are having is with the belt slipping and allowing the pulley to turn when you are trying to turn the nut - here's what we did last week. Wedge something in to stretch the belt and hold it tight - we used a rubber mallet.

Steve, I believe you're thinking about the camshaft pulleys and aux shaft pulley. For those, we relied on the timing belt to hold onto the pulleys while breaking the retaining bolt loose (with the engine locked by engaging 5th gear and blocking the rear wheels).

For the crankshaft nut, you just need to lock the engine to the tranny (car in 5th gear), and keep the car from moving (parking brake, block the wheels).

A

Daveje · Post by **Daveje** » Sat Apr 18, 2009 12:19 pm

I found out this morning that mine was actually a bolt and it was indeed a left-hand thread,meaning I had to turn it clockwise to loosen it.Somehow I had a feeling..... This was after running out and buying an air impact wrench and taking the radiator out. Anyway, it came off pretty easy. So, be warned,if you need a 22mm socket it's probably a left-hand bolt.
I'm in the middle of changing the belt,the old one was pretty loose,I think it was the original since the car only has 29k miles and the old belt was stamped Fiat.
If the camshaft and aux shaft are all lined up,where should the crank marker point? At the middle of the 3 pointers? Mine points to the upper pointer. Just wondering if maybe I slipped a notch since the old belt was loose.

ventura ace · Post by **ventura ace** » Sat Apr 18, 2009 1:07 pm

I don't know how they are marked on an '85 (and the left handed bolt is a new one for me, too), but the engine turns clockwise, and the first mark that lines up as the engine is rotating is the 10Â° before TDC, the next mark is 5Â° before TDC and the last one is TDC. I would double check by taking a spark plug out and putting a wooden dowel or screwdrive on top of the piston and rocking the engine back and forth a little to determine TDC.

Alvon

Daveje · Post by **Daveje** » Sat Apr 18, 2009 1:12 pm

Thanks. I think I'm good then,I'm hitting the 0 degree pointer. In any case it's lined up the same as I took it off and it ran fine before.

alexGS · Post by **alexGS** » Mon Apr 20, 2009 7:28 am

I didn't get to this thread in time... a few years ago I had to do a quick'n'dirty bottom end rebuild on a 1988 FIAT Croma after it ran a big-end bearing while I was testing the repaired speedometer (long story). It had a 22mm crank nut (with Made in Germany stamped on it), and, in case anyone's confused, this FWD transverse-engined FIAT of the 80s has a 1995cc 8-valve twin-cam, with Weber-Marelli IAW injection. The intake and exhaust sides are reversed compared to the engine in the Spiders. I wonder how much of the stuff would fit in a Spider. It had a useful 120bhp as standard.

And, you guessed it - the left-hand thread caught me out. With blocks of wood wedging the crankshaft (sump removed), I had managed to tighten the crank nut almost half a turn by the time I decided to try turning it clockwise

Which way on the crank nut?

Which way on the crank nut?

Re: Which way on the crank nut?

Re: Which way on the crank nut?

Re: Which way on the crank nut?

Re: Which way on the crank nut?

Re: Which way on the crank nut?

Re: Which way on the crank nut?

Re: Which way on the crank nut?

Re: Which way on the crank nut?

Re: Which way on the crank nut?

Re: Which way on the crank nut?

Re: Which way on the crank nut?

Re: Which way on the crank nut?

Re: Which way on the crank nut?