Is there anybody that knows for sure that the crankshaft pulley bolt is a right handed thread bolt? I called Renntech yesterday and talked with one of their tech's to ask if it was right or left handed thread before I started the disassembly for a pulley kit, he told me that it was right handed. I would surely think he was right, I was following the directions by taking off the flywheel/flexplate inspection cover. It had stated to use an appropriate tool to hold the flywheel. The most appropriate tool that I could think of after looking at what I was dealing with was a 12" long 5/16" Craftsman screwdriver, you know one of those big one's that you use more as a pry bar than a screwdriver. I had threaded the screwdriver through one of the big holes of the flexplate and flywheel up to the center where there were four spacers to lodge it in, then I slowly turned the crank bolt counterclockwise. When the screwdriver lodged against the tranny housing, I started trying to break the bolt loose. I was using a 20" x 1/2" drive breaker bar, it wouldn't break loose with what strength I had in my arms so I put my shoulder against the wheel and used my right leg to push the breaker bar. I was pushing with about all I had thinking man I hope I don't break something, about that time the breaker bar finally gave and I thought the bolt was broke loose. But I was wrong, the thing that broke loose was the screwdriver. I pulled the screwdriver out and I had snapped 3" of the end of the screwdriver off, then spent over an hour trying to find where the end went. So now the job is on hold till I can confirm that it is a right handed bolt.

 

I'm not sure about L or R hand threads but if you can fit an impact driver on the bolt it might be easier to remove. Just an idea.

 

Yeah, that thought crossed my mind if I could get my impact gun to fit up in there. The install directions said not to turn the engine counter clock wise so I was a little worried about trying that. I will probably call Renntech Monday to double check about the bolt threads and ask how or what they do to hold the flywheel. The inspection cover hole is very small and hard to see what to get hold of. The install directions said to tighten the new pulley to 200 Nm + 90 degrees, the tech that I talked to Friday told me that 200 Nm was around 155 foot pounds then turn the bolt another quarter turn. My 1/2" drive torque wrench tops out at 150 Fp, so I know that bolt will be tight as hell, I just don't want to screw anything up. So in the meantime I'll probably do some cleaning things up on the bottom side while the car is raised up. Thanks for the input Iamfink2, I was hopping that HDDP would see this thread since he's been into racing I figured he may have removed a pulley from one of these Crossfires.

 

Honestly don't know for sure...I haven't removed the pulleys... I'll try to find out for you... I the meantime put some WD40 and solvent into the thing, They put LOCK TIGHT on the bolt when it is installed at the factory...


I can tell you this, a new flywheel is $650... LOL.

 

It's a right handed thread, I got it off. Instructions on install when putting it back in said 150 Foot pounds, then turn it another 90 degrees. SO it's tight as hell.

 

It's right hand. When I did my Renntech install, my dealer let me use their flywheel locking tool. It's a gear segment with 2 pins. After dropping the exhaust and the starter, the pins go in where the starter bolts were as the gear segment engages the flywheel ring gear. There is then NO movement when breaking loose the bolt.

It took a 5 ft long pipe (floor jack handle actually) on my 1/2" drive breaker bar to break the bolt loose. I installed with a new bolt because the service manual specifies a maximum "stretch" length to discard the bolt at, which makes sense because of the torque required to tighten. It took the 5 ft pipe on the breaker bar to again tighten the bolt to the correct spec. I can't imagine getting the bolt loose with an impact. I jacked up my compressor to over 150 psi, and only my 1/2" drive impact fit in the space. It wouldn't budge the bolt. Thus the locking tool and 5 ft pipe.

 

It's so silly that Mercedes torques the crankshaft pulley to over 150 ft lbs. all that bolt is doing is holding the pulley to the crank, and I'm assuming there is a key in which it engages on the crank snout, so it really makes no sense for this over kill. The more I learn about Mercedes benz products, the more I start to wonder about their designs and engineering. lol.

 

My 1/2 impact gun zipped the bolt right off...I did the whole Renntech package install in less then an hour and never even jacked up the car.
Maybe since my car only had 1,000 or so miles on it, the bolt wasn't seized on yet?
Who knows...

BTW...the crank pulley is keyed and pulls right off by hand once the bolt is out, which is right hand threads...I know I'm late to answer that lol.

 

I think they just really want to make sure that bolt wasn't going to back out. I agree with you though. A lesser torque value and a bit of properly applied .032 safety wire would do the job nicely.

 

I think why the bolt is so tight is because the crank turn clockwise, in my experience's with cars and other things that I have worked on, if something's turns at a high speed clockwise the bolt was a left handed thread. To get it broke loose the tech at Renntech suggested taking out one of the bolts that holds the flywheel to the torque converter and replace it with a longer one to stick out far enough to lodge against the housing of the tranny so that's what I did and it worked. I got a question for you guy's that have the pulley & ECU kit, do you have a sprint booster on your car?

 

haha, then why don't they put left hand lug nuts on the left side of the car?

 

I think some cars do, my brothers '69 dodge dart had reversed threads on the drivers side of the car.

 

I owned several old Mopars when I was a young man and they all had left handed threads on the right side wheels.

 

I remember those.

 

I knew I would find someone here that had an old dodge with left hand lugs. Lol, I guess there really is no reason for left hand bolts, other than driving a mechanic crazy.

 

You don't need to take the pulley off. If the crank seal is good I would not remove the pulley. Torque just holds it in place.

 

looks like this thread was about replacing the crank pulley?

and it was from a long time ago, lol