So a few weeks back I noticed a small oil leak when I pulled my V out of the garage. I wasn't too concerned, and figured I would dig in to figure it out when I had time. I drove it to work last week and noticed a pretty strong odor of oil burning and a 8"x8" pool of oil under the car. I initially thought maybe the rear main had gone bad but then saw the oil looked to be coming from the front of the motor. I noticed that the belt was not in the ribs on the crank pulley, but on the smooth center of the pulley. Long story short, I tore into it and saw that the crank bolt had almost completely backed itself out, and the pulley had moved about an inch out .

I checked everything out, inspected the bolt for any thread issues, locktited the **** out of it, and torqued it back to spec. I've never seen a crank bolt do this before, but definitely could have been much worse.

 

CRAZY! Hope you didn't re-use the stock GM bolt. Those are torque-to-yield bolts and can only be used once. If it's the ARP bolt, you an re-use it.

also, did you torque the bolt to spec?

 

Yea you should grab a new bolt for 6 bucks, or an ARP for 25.

 

Mine did it three times!!! I eventually installed a new pulley, new crank, and a new bolt. Not sure which one fixed it lol

 

these threads scare me. Looks like ill be checking mine when i get home. Is the bolt easy to get to or does stuff need to be removed to gain access?

 

better have one hell of a breaker bar cause its tq spec is like 240ft lbs.

 

Raven....shouldnt yours be pinned? I thought that was part of the Maggie instal?? Makes me wonder if I need to check mine....

 

Dont have a torque wrench that goes that high, but Ill still check it and make sure my pulley still at least attached.

 

My crank pulley wobbles like a ****. I've checked the crank bolt numerous times and its still on there tight. Not sure if I should just opt for a underdrive pulley or have the dealer replace the stock under warranty.
Anyways glad you caught it before it got disastrous!

 

I had a crank bolt back out on my old Lightning. It wasn't a pleasant experience. I lost it under full load/boost.

 

I think I'm the only person who has removed the crank bolt and never had issues after that. I used a new bolt and torqued it down to "thats pretty mother freggin tight". I dont have anything to measure that kind of torque because it is some 200lbs + 180 degrees or something stupid like that. Its been 8k or 9k miles now and has not backed out yet.

 

If it's wobbling like a **** and is still under warranty then get the dealer to fix it. Having a bad harmonic balancer could lead to serious problems.

 

I love the technical specs.... I am going to spot check mine when I get home. I would have to torque it down the same way as you since mine does not go that high either.

 

that is what a 2' long breaker bar with a custom 2' long solid rigid steel conduit extension...picked up special from a construction site.....

 

Mine came out when I was N/A. Since the maggie, the crank and pulley have been keyed. I have an Innovators West pulley so I also needed a longer bolt for my car. I ordered the bolt and washer from IW and when I tightened down the bolt I broke their washer. I have no idea how much torque is on it but I put an ARP washer on it and got it even tighter and it's been fine lol

 

FML....it either has backed out again, or the front crank seal is leaking from it coming loose initially. Guess I'll be tearing into it again tomorrow....

 

I just assumed you replaced the seal the first time. The harmonic balancer coming loose doesn't cause oil to leak - a bad front main seal causes the oil to leak. If all you did was tighten the crank pulley back on there then it shouldn't be a surprise that the seal is still bad.

 

200ft-lbs isnt anything try torqueing dog bone supports for an LM2500 jet engine we got a special wrench call big bertha lol with a torque multiplier gearbox atached to the end of it

 

This is incorrect. The front main seal seals on the lip of the harmonic balancer. If the balancer comes out to far, oil can come out of the timing cover. It DOES NOT seal on the crank like most cars. I lost some oil when mine happened and then it was fine after I reinstalled the balancer. Until it came off again of course.

 

^ which is also why it is imperitive that the front seal goes on perfectly centered when putting the timing cover back on.