Identify the Noise - Results / The Next Horrible Horrible Part ofthe Story

And the winner is <drumroll>

nigel.

The crank pulley was indeed the rattle. It wasn't disintegrating as
described, but the bolt was tight but not firm to the washer

Here is my situation as it stands:

I've had the car for 6 months and 11000 miles.

The guy I have given this job to (pulley, timing belt, water pump, which
is leaking) has managed to snap the crank bolt off using his air gun,
and can't get the rest of the bolt out.

The service history is an odd one - owned and maintained by a fire
service, they tell me they have the correct interval on their paperwork
for a timing belt, 96k, and as such would not have changed it. This
would, i'm led to believe mean that this pulley would likely have never
been removed before, but the guy is claiming the bolt has broken because
it was loctited in, which is something you just don't do with lower
bolts apparantly.

I now don't know what to believe. He seems genuine, the council that
have the records of the service history seem genuine too and the guy now
wants to charge me 3-400 quid to remove the whole engine to send it to
an engineer that only *might* be able to get the bolt out. Failing that,
new DW engine.

How the hell did I end up in this mess???

Please feel free to point out anything obvious that I have missed
through having no idea what i'm talking about - this is like a jigsaw to me.

 

me.
All the PSA crankshaft bolts I have removed have always had locking compound
on the threads.
Can't see any reason why the engine has to be removed, bring the engineer to
the vehicle would be more simple.
However, the mechanic should never have used an air impact wrench in the
first place. Far safer to use a lever on a socket.

 

How the hell did I end up in this mess???

That is in fact where we currently stand, in the latest development.
Provided that goes as planned I should get out of this for under 500
with new belt, new pulley and new water pump, but i'm no longer willing
to get my hopes up after the day i've had.

You're the second person to say that to me today. What happened is he
tried a socket first, then his existing air gun, then went and obtained
a more powerful one (presumably it was one of those some-day-soon I
would have needed one anyway type of purchases). The question really is,
is it appropriate to use something so powerful on something that
delicate, and if not, what would the alternative be when a socket isn't
budging it?

Credit to the guy though, he seems to be meeting me in the middle at the
moment, which after our previous conversation I wasn't expecting. I'm
just hoping and hoping that this bolt gets drilled out, after which i'll
know that this isn't the end of a 3 grand car after 6 months.

Sigh..

 

We live and learn, as they say.
I have to admit those bolts are very difficult to remove. The bolt is
something like 12mm in diameter so takes some breaking. He must have used a
VERY powerful impact gun on it.
I have always used a long bar on a socket with a length of steel tube over
it to make it at least 30 inches long, having selected fifth gear, and got
someone to stand on the brake pedal.
I have always got them off this way, without damage.
The only other way is to heat up the bolt end quite a bit, as this heat will
sometimes soften the goo holding the bolt.

 

You need a spark erode. This will burn the bolt out and leave the crank and
threads intact. You may need to clean the thread with a tap to make sure the
thread is good.
Mike

 

Hi,

Mmmmm that's pretty common to use an impact air-powered wrench.
The other solution is, as you say, a 1m-long (sometimes 2m) lever...

I've never heard of broken screws while attempting to remove this 22mm bolt,
however I've already heard of some "horror stories" where the whole
crankshaft brokes.
And yeah, they are loctited.

It's pretty common not to re-loctite this screw at the end of the process,
too.


Regards,
G.T
205 Diesel & turbo-Diesel : www.205d.com