I think the crank bolt stripped while installing the bbk pulley on a 93 lt1. the 3 bolts around the outside are fine now. They are snugged up to the torque specs and everything. The crank bolt however will not tighten up. Not only that, but now i cant even get it out. What on earth needs to be done? is it stripped? I started the car and everything sounds fine. the belt didnt slip off or anything. Didnt get above idle though.

 

Why did you remove the crank bolt in the first place? You said it won't tighten up but you can't get it out...that's kind of confusing.

Did you bolt the balancer/pulley assembly back on?

 

after i re-installed it tightened down a little. then i felt it just kind of let go. i can turn it both ways by hand with a socket. it wont tighten down and it wont come out either. it just stays in one place and spins.

 

Sounds like you're going to have to get creative. Once it's out depending on how mucked up it is, you might be able to just tap/clean it up.

I'm still confused as to why you took out the crank bolt in the first place.

 

Yeah me too,that bolt dont have to come out unless you are removing the crank hub.You just need to remove the 3 bolts holding the balancer on,remove balancer,install under drive pulley,then the balancer and tighten down the 3 bolts (lock tite)recomended.

 

Try getting a pair of pliers on the bolt and turn it has you pull towards you.

 

ive tried. it wont come out. it gets tight while im trying to loosen it and the it just goes loose again. I dont know what to do.

 

that crank bolt is still just spinning around. Its on all the way against the hub but it will not tighten any further or loosen any. it wont move back or forth but it has play in it. ive tried needle nose vise grips but that didnt do anythng. what to do?! the hub is still in place and tight.

 

Why did you take it out in the first place? Try using an impact to get it out and hope you didn't mess up the crank snout up too much

 

didn't know we didn't need it off.

 

what's the worst case scenario?

 

Wost case the crank is messed up beyond repair and you have to pull the motor and replace it.

 

cost?

 

You won't need to pull the motor and replace the crank. You can drill it out and helicoil it. The threads are 7/16" x 20.

 

You can get a cheap cast crank for about $200 but you need gaskets to and depending on the miles you don't know what you'll find when you get in there

 

He said worst case. Im not saying that has to be done odds are he can have it drilled and helicoiled like you said

 

YOU DONT HAVE TO PULL THE CRANK OUT! like ramair95ta said just tap and reclean the theads and get a new crankbolt

 

The worse-case scenario is having to helicoil it. The crank threads are easily accessible - there's no reason to pull the motor.

 

It sounds stripped to me. You can try and put pressure out on the pulley/balancer while turning the bolt counter clockwise to see if it will get past the messed up threads and then work its way out. You can also try and impact it, but if that fails, you are pretty dead in the water as the threads are for sure messed up beyond any reasonable method of extraction then. If you do manage to get it out, I would use a Timesert rather than Helicoil as the quality is better and the overall thread you would have is more permanent for a fix than Helicoil...though the Helicoil will work. Just making another suggestion if you like.

As far as removing the stripped bolt, the best thing is to somehow get pressure behind the bolt pushing out whether it be behind the bolt or pulley or whatever to get pressure pushing out as you turn the bolt out. It should hopefully try and grab a thread that way and start working it's way out from there...sort of like a sheet metal screw that gets overtightened.

 

Also, if you have to drill and timesert/helicoil, make certain you are drilling straight and level. Even if you need to have someone eye it from a perpendicular angle from your eye to make sure it is straight.