Crank bolt socket

[npez]

I looked around the forums and found a thread talking about the VH crank bolt and tmorgan mentioned something about a writeup stating that it needed a 30mm socket. To me it looks like 27mm but I only have sockets that go up to 24mm.

Can someone confirm the socket size, as I need to go out and buy a socket to take it off to get the timing chain covers off.

Thanks in advance.

Nick.

[craigztoyz]

checking as I type......my 30 is what I use, 6 point, a lil loose, a 29 is probably perfect, but the 30 works great. about to use it to pull balancer off new engine, and reinstall it tomorrow.

I feel your pain, good luck.

[Carl H]

30mm fo sho.

[npez]

Thanks for the quick responses. I'll go pickup a 30mm.

Nick.

[Mettler]

Good luck finding a torque wrench that'll do the bolt up to the required factory torque >_<

[npez]

Good luck finding a torque wrench that'll do the bolt up to the required factory torque >_<

I thought of that when I was looking at my 1/2" torque wrench limit so I just went and bought this one for a pretty good deal - they still have one available if anyone else is interestedhttp://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors...55961

I'm thinking that with the significance of this bolt with the oil-pump setup on the VH and the probability that I might run into another bolt that will need this kind of torque, it'll be a useful tool to own. Hopefully it'll do the job.

Thanks,Nick.

[craigztoyz]

What about making sure the oil pump chain gear cannot turn withot the timing gear turning? A pin through them? At no time would it ever be ok for it to spin, and nor was it designed to. It is not controlable, and nto good. the keyway is not that far back, so the best bet is a pis through the gears, and not sticking out, so the balancer does not hit it.

Just an idea.

[npez]

What about making sure the oil pump chain gear cannot turn withot the timing gear turning? A pin through them? At no time would it ever be ok for it to spin, and nor was it designed to. It is not controlable, and nto good. the keyway is not that far back, so the best bet is a pis through the gears, and not sticking out, so the balancer does not hit it.

Just an idea.

Craig,

What you're saying will probably make more sense to me when I take the crank pulley and the lower front timing chain cover off. I still need to get a socket tomorrow to do that. My thought is taking the pulley off, getting whatever needs to be coated done and then buttoning everything up except for the pulley. Like we talked on the phone without some kind of pin to lock the crank I'll probably stick the transmission on and torque it that way. My clutch is rated at over 380lb/ft of torque so I doubt it'll budge.

I may take a look at some diagrams in the FSM so I'm better prepared.

I'll keep your advise in the back of my head as I'm doing the work though. Thanks for the info......

On an aside I looked at the chain guides for the first time, and they look like they are metal backed with a black plastic insert that the chain rides on. Looking at the plastic inserts they have 0 and I mean 0 wear. Are there any indications when the guides are worn? Like torn up plastic or the like?

Please advise.

Thanks again,Nick.

[craigztoyz]

Nick, The wear wouls be even, up the guides and maybe more at the pressure area. Glad to hear. I am getting ready to modify this pan, always had synthetic, so clean inside, even bottom of pan.

Be sure to do the seals. Boy are going to have some fun soon.

Craig

[npez]

Nick, The wear wouls be even, up the guides and maybe more at the pressure area. Glad to hear. I am getting ready to modify this pan, always had synthetic, so clean inside, even bottom of pan.

Be sure to do the seals. Boy are going to have some fun soon.

Craig

Craig,

I added a front main seal to my order from Infiniti and will need to add a gasket for the chain tensioner - I didn't see anything else in the FSM; is there another seal(s) you are referring to? Please advise.

Thanks,Nick.

[Chrispy300]

I've got mine in a million bits at the moment and there is only one seal on the front of the engine. Front main, seals between the cover and the pulley of all things Anyway, everything else is just liquid gasket, make sure you have about 3423 tubes of the stuff.

[tmorgan4]

The only two seals I can recall on the front of the engine are the front main seal and a small paper gasket used on the chain tensioner as mentioned.

[npez]

I called infiniti today and they added the front main and tensioner gasket to my order. I bought a rear main seal as well just to have. I restocked my supply of RTV gray and I have some RTV orange but I believe RTV gray is what I'll use throughout.

Thanks,Nick.

[Carl H]

i have a sears digitorque 1/2" drive wrench which was capable of the almost 300ft/lbs required to tighten the crank bolt.way i did mine was leave the flex plate connected to the engine and while the engine was still on the stand shove a crowbar thru the engine stand 'bolt slots' into the flexplate to keep the engine from spinning...had to have my dad give me a hand to keep the stand stable while all 140lbs of me leaned on the torque wrench...was beyond glad to hear the thing click.use grey gasket, ive found it to be superior to anything else.

[npez]

i have a sears digitorque 1/2" drive wrench which was capable of the almost 300ft/lbs required to tighten the crank bolt.way i did mine was leave the flex plate connected to the engine and while the engine was still on the stand shove a crowbar thru the engine stand 'bolt slots' into the flexplate to keep the engine from spinning...had to have my dad give me a hand to keep the stand stable while all 140lbs of me leaned on the torque wrench...was beyond glad to hear the thing click.use grey gasket, ive found it to be superior to anything else.

Carl,

Thanks for the tip - that should definitely help. I'm about 220 but can bench around 300 so I hope I can put my weight behind it and get to the "click" . BTW let me ask you as I haven't seen this pulley off the engine, and the FSM does a piss poor job of showing what they're doing.

The pulley has the main "haas" bolt in the middle and then a bunch of small bolts around it (some have weights for balancing some holes have no bolts at all). In the FSM they show the pulley being pulled with a puller but do not show whether the little bolts are removed or not. Are you aware what the little bolts do? Do they secure a harmonic balancer behind there or is there some other purpose for them?

I believe 2 little bolts have to be removed to secure the puller onto the pulley for removal, but I'm not sure if the rest have to be removed or if the pulley and whatever is behind it come out in unison.

Any insight on this would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,Nick.

[npez]

i have a sears digitorque 1/2" drive wrench which was capable of the almost 300ft/lbs required to tighten the crank bolt.way i did mine was leave the flex plate connected to the engine and while the engine was still on the stand shove a crowbar thru the engine stand 'bolt slots' into the flexplate to keep the engine from spinning...had to have my dad give me a hand to keep the stand stable while all 140lbs of me leaned on the torque wrench...was beyond glad to hear the thing click.use grey gasket, ive found it to be superior to anything else.

I put the flexplate on and found something interesting. One of the rear main seal cover bolts lines up perfectly to one of the holes where the torque converter attaches to the flexplate.

So in theory a longer bolt through the hole in the flex plate and threaded into the factory location for the OEM bolt (maybe with some washers behind the flexplate for support) could serve as a crankshaft lock. I would think it should handle the 270lb/ft of torque as its 4-5 inches away from the center-point and should see significantly less force. What do you think?

Thanks,Nick.

[Carl H]

nick,you'll find if you clean the pulley face that there will be several blank holes which can be used to pull the pulley off...trick tho is to find a bolt that is strong enough to hold up to the pulley puller's pressure.i forget the threadpitch but iirc the bolt is an m6x1.25...but its been a while.also as far as using one of the rms bolt holes to keep the flexplate from spinning i doubt it will work and only cause a headache since all of a bolt's 'strength' is tensile and not to loads deflected from the sides.

[npez]

nick,you'll find if you clean the pulley face that there will be several blank holes which can be used to pull the pulley off...trick tho is to find a bolt that is strong enough to hold up to the pulley puller's pressure.i forget the threadpitch but iirc the bolt is an m6x1.25...but its been a while.also as far as using one of the rms bolt holes to keep the flexplate from spinning i doubt it will work and only cause a headache since all of a bolt's 'strength' is tensile and not to loads deflected from the sides.

Carl,

Thanks for the info. I'll look for a higer grade bolt today so I can pull the pulley off. I'll have to see what I'm going to decide as far as locking the crank - I may try the bar through the engine stand, the bolt, or some other clever way to lock it in place. I'll let you know what works out the best....

Thanks again,Nick.

[craigztoyz]

Nick, I was refering to up high. Valve covers, plenium, and such. I used gray ulta seal for all the front covers, and my trans.

[Chrispy300]

nick,you'll find if you clean the pulley face that there will be several blank holes which can be used to pull the pulley off...trick tho is to find a bolt that is strong enough to hold up to the pulley puller's pressure.i forget the threadpitch but iirc the bolt is an m6x1.25...but its been a while.also as far as using one of the rms bolt holes to keep the flexplate from spinning i doubt it will work and only cause a headache since all of a bolt's 'strength' is tensile and not to loads deflected from the sides.

On Zeds and GTR's I use the timing belt cover bolts, just the right size and haven't snapped one yet. Not long enough for the VH though...

[Carl H]

lol, so im not the only one eh.

On Zeds and GTR's I use the timing belt cover bolts, just the right size and haven't snapped one yet. Not long enough for the VH though...

[npez]

Nick, I was refering to up high. Valve covers, plenium, and such. I used gray ulta seal for all the front covers, and my trans.

Thanks Craig. Yes I got all new gaskets from Infiniti for the induction side of things(upper plenum, lower plenum, fuel rail grommets, IACV, throttle body, etc.) as well as valvecovers, front/rear main, exhaust gaskets, etc. So when I put the motor back together it should be in good shape. I think I will get some more RTV grey as I don't think I'll have enough to do it all with what I have.

I'm running out to buy a 20-ton hydraulic press to have as the idler pulley bearings don't just "tap" out or press out with a vise and I need them out to get them coated or chromed. I'm thinking having the press will help when I replace all the bushings for suspension/sub-frame, etc. as well so it's probably good to have in my toolset.

Anyway, I'm going to do some more disassembly today to get some more batches out for chrome and coating tomorrow.

Thanks,Nick.

[Mettler]

Hmmm, I found the easiest way to lock the crankshaft was to wedge a piece of 2x4 between a crank counterweight and the side of the crankcasing. Haha, if all else fails, try that

Thanks for the tip - that should definitely help. I'm about 220 but can bench around 300

How many reps, just out of interest?

[npez]

Hmmm, I found the easiest way to lock the crankshaft was to wedge a piece of 2x4 between a crank counterweight and the side of the crankcasing. Haha, if all else fails, try that

How many reps, just out of interest?

Thanks. I'll try that if all else fails. On the reps 4-6

Nick.

[craigztoyz]

Before driving mine tonight with the new motor, I had to tighten the bolt. Honestly my friend was laughing and in awe. breaker bar on the socket(big black of course) and 4 1/2 ft bar. Used every inch of the engine bay to do it. Before the radiator of course. Took a long time, and a lot of hard hard pulls, and constant even pressure, Its tight.

The only way I'd do it, off an engine is Visegrips on the flywheel, flush on the rear flange, never broke on yet, I do not force it though, smooth.

Today as usual, 3rd or 4th gear, e brake, and thats it.

Craig

[Chrispy300]

The only way I'd do it, off an engine is Visegrips on the flywheel, flush on the rear flange, never broke on yet, I do not force it though, smooth.

Huh? Can you explain a bit more clearly? I'm confuzeled

[npez]

Before driving mine tonight with the new motor, I had to tighten the bolt. Honestly my friend was laughing and in awe. breaker bar on the socket(big black of course) and 4 1/2 ft bar. Used every inch of the engine bay to do it. Before the radiator of course. Took a long time, and a lot of hard hard pulls, and constant even pressure, Its tight.

The only way I'd do it, off an engine is Visegrips on the flywheel, flush on the rear flange, never broke on yet, I do not force it though, smooth.

Today as usual, 3rd or 4th gear, e brake, and thats it.

Craig

Craig,

Not trying to question what you're saying, but by definition 270 lb-ft of torque is 270 lbs of force exerted at 1 foot perpendicular [lb-ft=force (in lbs) x lever (in ft)]. So stated otherwise:

270 lb-ft = 270lbs (force) x 1ft

then with a 4.5 ft bar we would get270 lbs-ft = 60lbs (force) x 4.5ft

So if we're applying 60 lbs of force at the end of the 4.5 foot bar, that shouldn't be as hard as you describe - Am I missing something? Please advise.

Thanks,Nick.

[craigztoyz]

Mine may be 300, not sure. I had to do it vertical, took all the bay to get hair of a turn, Is it too tight? Probably not, is it not tight enough, NO. I didnt want to go pneumatic, and a torque wrench that is accurate to 280, is not an easy thing to find on my budget.As long as we are sure they are tight, that is the point.Craig

[Chrispy300]

Reckon it would matter if it was too tight? Why didn't they just key the oil pump sprocket? Would be so much easier...

[npez]

Mine may be 300, not sure. I had to do it vertical, took all the bay to get hair of a turn, Is it too tight? Probably not, is it not tight enough, NO. I didnt want to go pneumatic, and a torque wrench that is accurate to 280, is not an easy thing to find on my budget.As long as we are sure they are tight, that is the point.Craig

Ah - ok I understand. I was guesstimating from seeing you that you can probably do 100lb-ft with relative ease, so you'd be applying (100lbsx4.5ft) 450lb-ft of torque on the fastener I remember reading something (I think it was from q45tech) that the bolt shouldn't be over or undertorqued - I don't recall why though.

If it's working for you that's all that matters....

Thanks for the clarification,Nick.