stuck flywheel bolt

[Guest sword dancer]

I'm trying to replace my starter clutch but cannot get the flywheel bolt to budge, even with an impact wrench set to its highest torque (210-250 lb-ft). Is this a left hand thread? I'm trying to turn it counter-clockwise. What am I doing wrong?

thanks

[Gearhead]

I had one so tight once (on my Virago, not the Venture) that I had to make a special tool to hold the flywheel and use a big breaker bar with a cheater pipe.

 

Jeremy

[GeorgeS]

Did you try Applying some Heat, to the Nut, with propane torch ??? Might help.

 

Also, apply Liquid Wrench, several times, with Heat, and give it a few days, to work into

the threads.

[Guest sword dancer]

Thanks for the reply. Before I go the cheater bar route, I just want to make sure I'm turning it the right way. I'm also considering applying a propane torch to the flywheel to expand it. According to the shop manual the tightening torque should be 93 ft-lbs, so I don't get why the impact driver won't budge it!

[Guest sword dancer]

George-

So I should apply heat to the head of the bolt, not the portion of the flywheel around it?

And it is conventional thread, right?

thanks

[jburrell]

Heat to the bolt shrinks the bolt slightly. Heat to the flywheel shrinks the flywheel. Cold expands items. Hope it works out for you.

[Gearhead]

Heat to the bolt shrinks the bolt slightly. Heat to the flywheel shrinks the flywheel. Cold expands items. Hope it works out for you.

 

Huh? Ya got that backward!

 

According to the shop manual the tightening torque should be 93 ft-lbs, so I don't get why the impact driver won't budge it!

 

I'm not convinced that impact wrenches really put out what they're rated to. Plus, an impact wrench's performance depends greatly on the stiffness of the socket and any extensions used as well as how solid the part is with the nut (crank assembly in this case). What happened on my Virago was this. I removed the flywheel once, my 250 ft-lb impact doing the job on the nut. When I reinstalled, I didn't want to bother with a tool to hold the flywheel so I could torque the nut back on properly, so I gave it a couple "carefully calibrated" hits with the impact in the tighten direction. Evidently I got too much on it because when I tried to remove it again at a later date I ran into the problem mentioned above. Not only that, once I had the nut off it was a real bear to get the flywheel off its tapered fit on the end of the crank.

 

Nobody's answered yet on whether it's right hand thread, I don't know for sure, sorry. Also, IMHO, I don't think Liquid Wrench will be effective because it spends its whole life in a well-oiled environment.

 

Jeremy

[Guest sword dancer]

Yes, usually heat expands metal, so applying heat to the bolt would make it tighter against the threads in the flywheel. Tomorrow I'm going to get a 3-4 foot length of pipe to use as a cheater bar and see how that goes.

thanks to everyone for their input.

GO RAYS!

[GeorgeS]

Make darn sure, you have the EXACT Correct Size Metric Socket on the Bolt.

 

Bolt is 6 point, DO NOT USE 12 Point Sockets. !!!!!

 

Heat the rotor, should expand it. Give the Liquid Wrench Time to work,

 

Apply several times, and some heat, will help it work into the threads.

[hipshot]

the stator bolt tightens to the right.

i had to HEAT the bolt, let it cool completely, then sprayed "deep creep", on it .

i let it sit for two days, and STILL had to use a 14 inch cheater pipe on my 1/2 inch drive socket and "breakover bar.

 

 

that was the "easy part".

getting the stator off, was a whole 'nuther story.

just jt:missingtooth: