OK Guys, I give up on removing the broken water pump bolt. I'm going to remove the timing cover. Once removed I should be able to get the damn bolt out. I just gave a quick look under the car before walking away in disgust. What all will I have to remove? Distributor? (yes) Fuel pump? Harmonic Balancer? Oil pump/all or portion? Any advice? Skin from knuckles?(yes)
Dave, the Distributor? (yes), Fuel pump (yes), Harmonic Balancer (yes), drain radiator and block (yes), Oil pump/all or portion (no) but I would remove the filter to keep it from leaking later, water pump (no), Skin from knuckles?(no), dirt under nails (yes). Remove the bolts that hold the cover to the block (not the water pump unless that is your goal) and don't forget the bolts that go from the oil pan into the front cover. Once it is off check the timing chain and replace if necessary before reassembly. Hope this helps and good luck Mike
Thanks My goal is no leaks and no blood. One step forward and two steps back seems to be my trend as of late.
Just did the same procedure recently due to a water leak. It will take about half a day. That balancer bolt is a SOB.
Check out the 4th post about the crank bolt. http://www.v8buick.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=27977&highlight=crank+bolt+remove
The balancer bolt is a cakewalk, if you let the starter loosen it for you. Take a long breaker bar, with a short extension, and the proper socket. Put the socket on the balancer bolt, then lay the end of the breaker bar on the floor, on the drivers side of the engine. Then bump the starter over, until it breaks the bolt loose.
Another option for the balancer bolt: Just use a small 5lb. sledge hammer....Put socket and wrench on bolt as above, the longer the handle on the wrench the better, use hammer and strike the wrench handle several times until bolt is loose. Someone to hold socket on the bolt helps, but is not mandatory. Safety glasses are also a good idea. This is for if you don't have the starter assist option or the impact wrench option.
So far no one has mentioned it but if you have a good air compressor and impact wrench, put the socket on and let the impact tool do the work. You may have to increase the air pressure but it has worked for me three times in the past.:grin: :grin: This way you don't have someone having to hold a wrench or socket on the darn thing while taking it off. You can put it back on the same way but you have to let the wrench hit it for about ten or fifteen seconds to get the torque up to where it should be.
An impact wrench is a tool I couldn't do without, you can dissasemble a complete engine in an hour, without breaking any bolts I might add :grin: Go get one now
Not always an option for some folks! I did remove my cover and balancer before I knew any of those high-speed ideas. A craftsman breaker bar and a hammer did the trick.
Compressor/impact How much compressor is needed to run an impact? I have a small craftman 2 horse 15 gallon 2.6scfm @ 90 psi. I never thought about getting an impact. Could this compressor run one?
Dave, I was wondering how your progress was going...I think I might be at that point where I have to pull the whole cover just to get that @#$%!! bolt out. Larry Long Live the A-body!!
Time Time Time I have not even looked at it. May is always a pain for me (I'm a teacher) plus I'm rebuilding a transmission (in reality I clean parts and watch). This weekend is not looking good for me at this point. Good luck to you and me!!!!!!!
"Half a day. You don't know me, I can turn a half a day job into a week no problem." Sounds way too familiar. How about this one: "Hey Al, hold this steady for for me". "Sure Tim....OOWWWWW" I've heard the breaker bar/starter trick on the board several times now. I am blessed with an air-powered impact wrench strong enough to twist lugs right off if I am not paying attention and have always used that. I have to wonder just how hard that process is on starters, pinion and flywheel gear teeth, cranks and keeping them straight, engine bearings etc. Yeah, I know, it only takes a couple of seconds. My question is this: If it is so hard to remove for a breaker bar and hammer, it takes so long with an impact gun why is it considered safe on these engine parts when using the starter method?
Remember to read the whole post - I'm the guy who put up the post on using the starter to take the balancer bolt loose. I didn't invent the practice, somebody clued me in to it years ago. I didn't say it was safe, and I did say some well respected folks don't like the idea. But I have personally used this approach a number of times. I don't know how much torque is required for normal starting of a BBB, but it seems like 200 ft-lbs would be reasonable for the starter to supply. I'll probably invest in an impact wrench some day too, but until then, I'll keep doing his job the fun way!
