yellohvette

LOL - I know that sounds stupid but it damn near came off tonight driving home! The only thing I can think is that I didn't torque that crank bolt down tight enough. I'm laughing right now because it is the only thing keeping me from breaking something! A LITTLE bit of oil is now seeping out onto the ground so obviously the seal isn't holding up. It only ran like this for about 30 seconds before I shut her off (fortunately AS I was pulling in the driveway!) The pulley is pushed up against the steering rack and the crank bolt has backed out the entire way. Oil pressure was still around 38psi before I shut her off so I HOPE that means the seal is still good!

Question(s):

1. How screwed do you all think I am?! Is the oil leak an indication that the seal is toast or is it just letting some oil by now that the pulley is not snug up against it? I REALLY don't want to remove everything to get to that seal if i don't have to (obviously).

2. I was planning on just removing the steering rack and reinstalling the pulley and torquing it down EXTRA tight - can I reuse the bolt? How much force can these bolts take? I was afraid to strip the crank threads or break the head off the bolt when I reinstalled it.

3. Any other thoughts? (besides "Take it to a real mechanic" )

Thanks everyone!

- Jeff

Grimes

iTrader: (3)

if it's a gm bolt, then you have to get a new one. you shouldn't have to torque it down extra tight, just follow the correct procedure.

SpaZMaN

iTrader: (5)

What pully was it?

1baddls1

iTrader: (31)

get a new GM crankbolt (GM PN 12557840) from a local dealership (will matrix price you to $7-10 even though MSRP is $4.xx) or get it from thunder racing or another sponsor
$30 arp bolt is only worth it is you plan on swapping cams a few times or your not N/A

go to home depot / lowes / sears and get a torque wrench capable of 250 ft/lbs and it will have a 2 foot handle or so

with 2 people (one on each side of the car) you can crank it over to the 240 ft/lb spec

if the car is on jack stands you may need to anchor it down by the rear diff to a truck (hook it up to tow hitch & draw the line tight) so you dont pull the car off the stands... which almost happened to me LOL

ChevyChad

iTrader: (50)

LOL Let me save you a LOT of time and effort and frustration! This very same thing happened to me with my vette after I swapped cams. Same scenario you just described. Good news is your oil is most likely only from the crank pulley coming out from the seal. Key advise from here on, so pay attention! The pulley is a press fit. Once you have spun it, you will NEVER get it to hold right. How do I know, because I tried just replacing the crank bolt THREE FV<K!NG TIMES! I followed the install procedure to the T! If you have a C5 you know how annoying this is because you have to remove the damn steering rack to replace the stupid bolt! Great design there GM! After the 3rd time, I knew something was up. It was the actual pulley itself. Every subsequent time it spun, it got worse and lasted shorter. I finally realized what I am telling you right now. You need a new pulley! I went ahead and got an ASP underdrive one because my philosophy is if you need to replace it, may as well upgrade. So there you go, learn the lesson the easy way and take my advice.

yellohvette

ugh - ok. so it sounds like you all think the same thing as I do - that just bolting the F'er back on should be "fine" and that probably nothing else was damaged when something like that happens? I know you can't tell from just sitting on the computer but does your gut tell you that everything is "ok" internally?

Thanks for all the replies!!! If anyone else has anything to add that would be great!

EDIT: ChevyChad - wow that's depressing! lol but makes sense and is AWESOME information. I wonder why no one else ever mentions this in the camshaft write-ups! I MIGHT just "repair" it and take it easy on the car until I have a FULL weekend to do an underdrive pulley - time isn't on my side right now and I'm pretty good at getting that steering rack in and out at this point LOL. I GUESS LockTite IS NOT the answer right? haha

- Jeff

ChevyChad

iTrader: (50)

Oh one more thing, a little loctite on the new bolt won't hurt, and as mentioned above, be careful while under there torquing the bolt down to final torque. I put my car in 6th gear and that helped it from actually turning the wheels out back.

mikep2002

iTrader: (10)

Does this car have a power adder such as a supercharger? WOw that sucks that was alot of work you went through to get to that damm bolt. I been there did the same thing as you only big difference I had the power adder which put more strain on balancer. Being its a vette and the bullshit you gotta go through to get it done.

My advice is stop the games and just pin the crank. It will not come loose again. It is such a pain in the *** to pull the rack. Good Luck

You may want to do some searches on crank pinning! Good Luck

ChevyChad

iTrader: (50)

NO NO NO! you can't just bolt the old one back on! Did you read my first post???

ChevyChad

iTrader: (50)

Pinning would be great if it is FI for sure. I pinned my crank in my Trans Am for the procharger and it held fine. Didn't look pretty when I took it apart, but it was holding nonetheless. My new crank in my new engine being build is going to be machined for a key However, for doing the job while the crank is still in the car installed, a pin will work great.

yellohvette

yeah i was writing a reply when you posted - sorry about the confusion!

so under NO circumstances should I consider reusing the stock one for 6 more days? (ps this is my daily driver - maybe i'll just get a new OEM pulley from GM *ugh*)

ChevyChad

iTrader: (50)

I used a whole bottle of loktite the 3rd time. It held for a couple weeks of easy driving. I can guarantee tho that if you take it up to redline you are going to spin it again. But if you are just going to do this as a bandaid while your new pulley is on order, you will be okay to drive around on it. Just take it easy and don't do any "spirited driving"

yellohvette

^ ChevyChad - Thanks a million! That is a bit more reassuring. Last night the search wasn't working too well on here. This morning I've read at least 5 posts of this happening! I will be going with an Underdrive AND pinning it sometime soon! It doesn't help that i didn't follow the procedures 100% for putting the crank pulley back on (100% my fault!)

Loctite and old pulley, it is, for now

ChevyChad

iTrader: (50)

No problem man. You do need a new bolt every time tho. Those bolts are torque-to-yield and they can not be reused except for pressing the pulley on. Once the pulley is all the way on, put the new bolt in and torque it to spec.

mikep2002

iTrader: (10)

When and if you pin the crank I would not locktite it. Put anti-sieze on the crank bolt after you pin it. No need to loctite the bolt at that point. Always be careful putting the pulley back on and starting the bolt.

Irocss85

iTrader: (1)

yes. add some red loctite. and if you dont mind risking the same thing happening again try to just reuse the pulley. but since its such a pain on the vette, if it were me Id take chevychad's advise and buy a new puley and bolt. the Gm instrutions are to press the pulley on, then reuse the OLD bolt and torque it to 250ft/lbs. remove the old bolt and install a NEW bolt with red loctite on it, and torque the NEW bolt to 37ft/lbs, then mark with a marker a line across the dampner and bolt. now add another line 100deg. clockwise, and get out the breaker bar and pipe to slip over that. continue tightening the bolt until youve reached your 100deg. mark that you made. and, you can always reference back to those lines as your run the engine to make sure it hasnt moved AT ALL.

Irocss85

iTrader: (1)

holy crap this board moves fast.

ChevyChad

iTrader: (50)

Follow that install procedure. It is correct

yellohvette

update: things went well! got up at 8AM and just finished putting it back together. NEW bolt, Red Loctite and OLD pulley and NO A/C lol - couldn't get that belt on and wasn't gonna screw around with it...a few questions that i'll post here and then throw in a new thread just in case this one isn't getting looked at and I'll link this thread to it so i don't get answers in both places! https://ls1tech.com/forums/generation-iii-internal-engine/669754-remove-c-belt-now-power-steering-not-working.html#post6578010

1. Will NOT having the A/C belt on cause any issues? Balance on the crank, etc?

2. Car is hard to turn to the left (it's like there is NO power steering), but it turns "just fine" to the right. Did i screw up the steering rack?! I know it needs a little power steering fluid (it's low, but there is still some on the dipstick so it isn't empty)

Again, that's for the help to everyone in this post! coudln't ask for better support and hints/tips/info!

- Jeff

2xLS1

iTrader: (25)

FWIW, the spec on the new bolt is 37 ft lbs then turn an additional 140 degrees, not 100 degrees.