Crank pulley won't come off. WTF!

[VWHL7]

So I've spent about 8 hours on this now and am completely out of ideas. I'm trying to do the timing belt on my 2.0 16v and the crank pulley bolts just won't come loose. On top of PB blasting it to all hell and stripping the torx', I've tried easy outs and dremeling the sides of the bolts as to vice grip them with no luck. I'm just going to take off the crank sprocket but my impact won't do it. What have you guys done to remedy this situation? What should my next step be? NEED HELPPP! If it weren't for these four bolts I'd have finished this ages ago.

[ArsenicPants]

is the motor still in the car?
through the transmission inspection hole, find a way of jamming the flywheel in place. a long thick screwdriver might even work. put a gigantic breaker bar on the crank sprocket bolt and heave on it. sometimes it helps to make the bolt slightly tighter at first in order to break the threads.

the crank hex bolts have a really nasty habit of stripping, like, all the time. in the future, make sure the hex bit is seated ALL THE WAY into the bolt by giving it a few taps with a hammer. tapping will also help break the stuck threads a little. when you go to remove it, if it feels like it's even slightly stripping, STOP turning, hit the hex bit into the bolt some more, and try again.
when you put them back in (or new ones), put some anti-seize on the threads and torque them to spec

[VWHL7]

thanks for the help! Yeah, the motor is still in the car, car's on jack stands. I'll be heaving with the breaker bar next. Is there a way to salvage the pulley and gear or am I looking at buying new ones?

[ps2375]

drill the heads off the bolts, then the shanks will come out with your fingers.

[VWHL7]

a little more detail would be greatly appreciated^

With the pulley on or off the car? Is the assumption that the rust/seizing is caused by the head bolt and not the threads?

[ps2375]

Um, assuming you can't remove the pulley, drill the heads, the pulley comes off, then you can remove what is left of the bolts by hand.

[20v_boost]

I'll tell you what I've done but it ain't pretty. After stripping mine, I welded an L shaped Allen wrench to a bolt, loosened it, and repeated for the remaining bolts. Actually I brazed it on but mig might be better. After that I replaced the bolts with stainless and bought a set of metric hex bits for my ratchet. Haven't gad a problem since even on other cars.


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[VWHL7]

Got the pulley off! I did the "grinding/remove whatevers left by hand" method and it worked! However, now that I have it apart I see that the pulley is actually 2 pieces. What is the smaller/inner pulley? Or is it part of the crankshaft pulley's assembly? since I've removed the v-belt I don't actually know what it connects to.

Also, what size are those bolts? Since I don't have heads on them anymore I need to find out. I'll definitely be going the stainless steel route... I never want to have to deal with this again. 3 days later and potentially the wrong ordered part; my patience is dwindling.

[ps2375]

Take one of what's left down to the hardware store, I think they are 8mm, but I could be wrong. You could measure it too. You want the same length also. And an allen head bolt will allow room to access it for next removal, as a hex head bolt might not have room for the socket.

[VWHL7]

Where did you buy the stainless steel bolts? I found out they are M8x1.25x37mm. Google isnt helping much.

[20v_boost]

www.mcmaster.com


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[ps2375]

You'll prolly have to find a store like Tacoma Screw or Fastenall, I just get what is at the hardware store on a grade 8 bolt and use anti-seize on the threads. For some reason VW has chosen to use a very soft material and unless the head is completely clean allowing the bit full engagement, they tend to round out. Seems to be the pattern across all years for VW.

[antichristonwheels]

grade 8 is an SAE bolt rating

the soft auto strip factory bolts are a metric 8.8 hardness which is about an SAE grade 5

you want replacement bolts that are 10.9 or 12.9 hardness. These are typically what you will find. Just don't think an 8.8 on a metric bolt is "grade 8.

[ps2375]

well, I shouldn't have used the "grade 8" term. Most any bolt you buy will be better than what came factory from VW. And be sure to clean the head out before trying to remove them.

[vdubdudebrown]

What did you ever do about getting that crank pulley? I was wanting to do my timing belt too, since I have the whole front/belts/etc. off. I got the 4 hex bolts off but I still have the big torex on the crank. How did you, or did you, ever get that off? I hit it with the impact, heated it with a torch, then impact again, did it all again and again. Noting, won't budge at all. I was like thinking "what the hell is this a reverse thread or something?"

Dido to everyone on the 4 hex bolts. For me the problem was that the inside of the hex was so rusted I couldn't get the wrench in there all the way to get a good bite on it. I just kept grinding the inside of the hex with a small screwdriver to get as much rust out as I could. Then did the heat/tap the wrench in, and used a breaker bar in it. From my experience, all 4 of the bolts were just seized up at the head. When I got them off, the threads were clean as hell. No rust. As soon as they popped, they came off pretty easy. Again too. Dido on the stopping if you feel it stripping AT ALL! Just take it out and try to get the wrench in there deeper. I felt it starting a few times but stopped right away. Glad I did. If that would have stripped I don't know what I would have done. But now... What about this torex nut on the crank?

[9aba16vt]

why is everyone trying to take the crank pulley off?
that is not needed to do the belt..
AND where are the Torx everyone keeps talking about?
Not one torx is used on the front of the engine...




once the 4 hex bolts are off... take the harmonic balancer off and voila! T belt. it might look that it is held on by the 12point 19mm but its not. The gear is

[ziddey]

Don't need to take the crank bolt off if doing a timing belt job.

But if you're trying to replace the front carrier seal / crank seal, it'll have to come off.

You'll need to get a new one since they're supposedly one-time-use, and it'll require a ridiculously high torque.

I've always been able to get the bolt off with a long 19mm 12-point wrench. Got a bunch of different sized Harbor Freight ones for I think $12 on sale.

Rest it against the ground and give the starter a quick blip. Works every time.