Timing belt adjuster nut stuck on - WTH?!?

[H.M.]

Trying to do my first timing belt change. Got the timing belt covers off but the tension adjuster nut is locked on. I've already stripped it and now can't get it off even with vice grips (I know, I know, I've fucked this nut up!).

With the belt covers off I have a lot of room to grasp the nut around it's lip, but even that didn't budge the nut, though I put big dings in the lip. So I've got lots of pressure on it.

I've sprayed it down with PB Blast and hopefully when I go back in the morning it will have magically loosened, but what if it doesn't? Any ideas? Torch sounds waaaay too dangerous and there's not room to get anything but a flat wrench or vise grips in there.

I'm turning it counter clockwise.

[evil_demon_01]

Counter clockwise is correct.

Does your nut have the rounded end on it? There is a better nut you can get from the dealer that is longer to prevent stripping.


Onto the problem at hand though - Try and put a chisel on the lip and tap it with a hammer in a counter clockwise rotation.

Have you tried a single hex socket on it?

[H.M.]

Yes, rounded end, acorn-style, bastard child-of-Satan nut.

Got a hex socket on there but there's no room for the wrench to attach and the socket's too hard to get a good grip on with channel or vise grips.

I have that lip left still that I can get a good grip on but I wanted to save that as a last resort after I was sure it was just a standard CCW regular old, nothing-fancy nut that was giving me trouble.

[90exkId]

u should try those sockets they got out that have mini razor blades in them. they are FOR stripped nuts. they work great! juss dunno what the real name of them are called

[H.M.]

I finally got this off after struggling with it for another two hours. It was glued on waaaay tighter than the 33 ft lbs of torque specified.

I was pulling on it so hard with vise grips that the top of the acorn popped off. This let me attack the interior of the nut and the top of the bolt with PB Blaster along with steady pressure while tap-tap-taping.

Another thing that slowed me down was that I had never taken the nut off and didn't know what it looked like. I was trying to stay on the flats of the nut so if I completely tore them up I'd still have the rim to work on. I didn't understand there was a second rim I could grab on to also.

Ripped the bitch apart and got to a Honda only dismantleler 15 mins before they closed on Sunday where I bought another for $5.

That is my story.

[union76]

I was reading this and your story sounds pretty much like what I went through...I messed mine up and rounded it off too...when the vise grips did'nt work I got some damaged nut remover sockets...pounded the 13mm I believe on there with a hammer and that finally got it out. Mine was alot tighter than it should have been as well...what a pain...

[Karl]

glad you got it

my trick for stuck bolts like the crank pulley bolt is to give them a couple good hits straight on with a hammer, it seems to help break the corrosion in the threads.

and the socket with razors that exkid was talking about is called an EZ-out, they do work well.