Crankshaft pulley mishaps

[mikey]

Once again this forum steered me through a major repair, this time the timing belt and water pump, but I wonder if I screwed something up.

The rope in the #1 cylinder trick worked fine to remove the crankshaft pulley bolt, but something unexpected happened after that. I rented a puller from the parts store, which backed the pulley off nicely, and then I found that the center part of the puller was stuck in the hole which the bolt had come out of! After some yanking and cursing, it came out, but I was horrified that I might have damaged the threads in there.

Anyway, the belt timing belt and water pump replacements went well, I think, and I re-assembled everything. After test driving the car a short distance, and later a twenty mile trip into town and back, I noticed that there was a gap between the top of the pulley and the plastic raised part of the lower timing belt cover, maybe a millimeter or less, which I became sure was not there before. I did the rope trick again, and got my ratchet onto the bolt, and sure enough, the pulley moved back to its proper position as I tightened the bolt. It's now, as far as I can tell, where it should be.

Questions.....Did I just, in my paranoia, not tighten the bolt far enough the first time? The pulley was indeed where it should have been and worked its way out while I drove. Does anyone think I might have caused any damage? And as for the puller problem, has anyone had a similar mishap? The thought that I might have damaged the crankshaft makes me ill...

[takza]

If the center part of the puller had one of those cones on it (or not) maybe you just bunged up the threads some? If the pulley bolt went in OK...and you got the right torque on it...you're probably OK....that bolt has a lot of threads on it. You might have had the key loosen up some...main thing is that the bolt is tight to specs now....you don't mention a torque wrench. Could be the key was out of place some too. In some places you HAVE to follow the specs and be sure the torque is right.

[mikey]

Thanks, Takza.....I feel better, and I'll get a torque wrench on that right away. I'm just surprized that I thought that the bolt was all the way on. It seemed tight until I drove the car a bit. I also should have been more careful when I saw that the puller did not have one of those cone shaped ends, just threads, and threads almost the same size as those of the bolt.

[Petros]

yes, as Takza notes, likely just bunged up some of the threads on the end of the crank. If you get it off again you might spray some solvent in the hole, and use a bore brush (like a bottle brush) and clean out the threads and hole. Blow out with compressed air if you can. And clean off the threads on the bolt, install with some like lubricant like LPS1 or CRC spray.

Not likely to give you any problems, you just got it part way on and chip or metal (a broken thread) bound up the bolt making you think it was tight.

I always put a socket or large heavy washer over the end of crank to protect the threads if I need a puller. Usually if there is little or no rust (with the bolt out) you can wack the pulley a number of times with a wood or hard rubber hammer, than you can wiggle the pulley off. I just did it even on an old rusty engine pulley, took more wacks to break it free.