Ok, so what happened was my car died, thought it was alternator so i replaced. Then i start the car only to my amazement that none of the pulleys are spinning. Jack up car, take off splash guard and wheel, get a good look at the crankshaft pulley, start engine and see that the main bolt is spinning like a bat out of hell. Now my question is.... what are the main causes of this, and hopefully not, but could there be an engine damage from this happening? I am not sure if the bolt is loose, didn't have time to check it.... or if the key broke or the balancer got messed up.
So anyway... if I have to replace the key, where can I get one (besides honda dealer) and how much of a PITA is it to put back together with the engine still in the car.

Thanks,

-simmeth

 

u should be fine as long as none of the pulleys spun cause if one of them spins without the other then it ****s up ur timing and ur pretty much done for but getting the crank pulley off and putting the key in and the pulley back on is really simple if u remove the wheel lots of room just make sure its tight this time

 

Well the timing cog is on a splined portion of of the shaft, so that cant become mis aligned. i would undo the bolt, and pull off the crank pully, then inspect for damage, it may be that the key fell out, although it is more likely that it snapped, when a key snaps it will usually will mess up the edges of the keyway, so u may need to clean up the edges a bit. when reasemblying it, make sure u get the torque spec right, if it is too loose, it could snap the key.

Now you also have to wonder what causes the key to snap, maby the was some kind of abrupt stop to the engine, or maby something hit the pully.

 

No there's no damage to the engine cause it still runs, but you will probably need a new crank pulley in addition to the key, and hope the crank shaft itself isn't too torn up. I think the only place to get those keys is the dealer, unless you can pull one off of a junk engine.

Seems like the only way this could happen is someone put it together without a key in the first place, or left the bolt too loose.

 

How can I loosen the main bolt for the crankshaft pulley? I have the car on jack stands and the wheel off when I go to loosen the bolt it just spins without loosening and the pulleys don't spin either. It feels like im spinning the engine. Is that going to mess up the timing? Can I put the car in gear to put the bolt on or take it off?

Any suggestions? Besides holding the flywheel.....

 

nope, it wont mess up the timing, and yes you are spinning the engine, there are a few ways to take it off, the correct way is to buy a tool called a crank pully remover that has an end on it that fits into the hex opening on the pully, and then rests on the ground so you can get leverage. the other option is to open the flywheel inspection plate, and stick a big *** wrench or screwdriver inbettween the teeth of the flywheel and the bellhousing.

 

Or you can use an impact wrench to take the bolt off... that works too

 

If it's a manual you can put it in gear (highest gear works best) to lock the engine. Likely you have the left front wheel off to reach the bolt, in that case jam a screwdriver into the brake rotor to stop the wheel from turning. Be careful because the car is naturally going to try to roll forward so it needs to be securely supported.

 

Yeah you could try that, but you need a big impact wrench they are on there good. neither mine nor my friends budged it.

 

http://www.amazon.com/Alltrade-64879.../dp/B0000TMLWQ

measure the hex opening first, make sure what size it is. there is 45 and 50mm versions of that tool, i linked to the 50mm since that's the one i used.