GNWF's Plea for Help, Timing Belt change problem

[Goingnowherefast]

If I've been around for a while and never needed too much help until now. Here's the story: Just hit 100K, Doing Timing Belt replace, water pump replace, Valve Cleaning and boost leak diagnosis etc.

Job was going good until taking off the crankshaft pulley stretch bolts. In the pictures you can see that the one on the right is just messed up, and the one on the left looks like the owner before me maybe attempted the same job and looks like he broke a hex tool off in there? The other four bolts looked brand new compared to those still in. Any ideas where to go from here? I don't know how to get the bolts out easily and I need to get the pulley out to do the install.

I could potentially bring it to the dealership to get it sorted; that would mean destroying my K04 fund and I don't want to do that.

http://imgur.com/fFkUwyf,DFciLKz#1
http://imgur.com/fFkUwyf,DFciLKz#0

 

[vlkswgnbgmn66]

http://m.craftsman.com/craftsman-10-pc-damaged-bolt-nut-remover-set-low/p-00952166000P

Go buy some of these.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[707Stang]

^^^^^ yup.

 

[U.G.MKV]

^^^^My first thought when I saw the picture.

 

[thirdlobe]

This is crappy and I have seen this before. If you use that Craftsman part make sure to use one that does not just slip over. You will want to use one that you may have to knock in with a rubber mallet.

Best of luck!

 

[Zach L]

Drill them out. I forget which size I usually use, but I think I mention it in my timing belt DIY somewhere. Or just take one of the bolts and eye it. You want a bit slightly larger than the bolt shaft. Once you drill the bolt head off you can remove the crack pulley then you'll be able to spin the remaining bolt shaft out of the sprocket with only your fingers.

Those are one time use stretch bolts which should always be replaced every time their removed. They're made of a soft, almost pewter-like metal that allows them to stretch which is why you'll almost always have at least one or two of them strip when removing. You will encounter those bolts on virtually every VW made in the last 40 years.

 

[eurocars]

Last time I encountered one that was stripped, I hammered a torx into it and got it out that way

 

[Bonzerrelli]

Last time I encountered one that was stripped, I hammered a torx into it and got it out that way

If the extractor doesnt work

http://m.craftsman.com/craftsman-10-pc-damaged-bolt-nut-remover-set-low/p-00952166000P

Go buy some of these.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

These are what I would use too. I know Irwin makes a worthy set. I haven't tried the craftsman but its the same concept. Please try these methods b4 u try to drill. Those bolts are very hard and would take forever. Plus if u drill crooked ur screwed.

 

[pabohoney1]

From the pictures it doesn't look like the Craftsman bolt extractors are going to work for you. The shoulder on those is not going to fit between the trouble bolts and the center shaft. That is assuming you cannot remove the center shaft before pulling the pulley. If that's the case, they'll work fine.

 

[Goingnowherefast]

http://m.craftsman.com/craftsman-10-pc-damaged-bolt-nut-remover-set-low/p-00952166000P
Go buy some of these.

^^^^^ yup.

^^^^My first thought when I saw the picture.

This is crappy and I have seen this before. If you use that Craftsman part make sure to use one that does not just slip over. You will want to use one that you may have to knock in with a rubber mallet. Best of luck!

Drill them out. I forget which size I usually use, but I think I mention it in my timing belt DIY somewhere. Or just take one of the bolts and eye it. You want a bit slightly larger than the bolt shaft. Once you drill the bolt head off you can remove the crack pulley then you'll be able to spin the remaining bolt shaft out of the sprocket with only your fingers.

Last time I encountered one that was stripped, I hammered a torx into it and got it out that way

These are what I would use too. I know Irwin makes a worthy set. I haven't tried the craftsman but its the same concept. Please try these methods b4 u try to drill. Those bolts are very hard and would take forever. Plus if u drill crooked ur screwed.

From the pictures it doesn't look like the Craftsman bolt extractors are going to work for you. The shoulder on those is not going to fit between the trouble bolts and the center shaft. That is assuming you cannot remove the center shaft before pulling the pulley. If that's the case, they'll work fine.

First of all you guys are F**king awesome, thanks a ton for all the help. So here's what happened... I was able to get the lower right hand one out by hammering in a bit enough so that it caught. The really messed up one I used that extractor set that you guys posted, worked like a charm (really great buy). I'll post a picture of it but you can clearly see that some dude broke his tool off in there and just left it in.

So after that I was able to get the crankshaft pulley off fine and complete the install. Now on to the bad stuff, I was extremely rushed to put everything back together and in my haste I fucked up and I must have moved one of the gears enough to be off by one tooth. The car runs and drives but it is throwing a misalignment code and is not running the best. It's definiatally not like bending valves or damaging anything but it's still not right. So now I am stuck in this dilemma: Bite the bullet and bring it to a dealership to adjust and blowing my BT fund, or somehow finding a garage I can work in and trying to solve it myself. I'm completely torn

 

[Jet08]

I would solve it yourself, I had the exact same problem as a result of the new belt being very stiff, the second time around the belt change/correction took only a third of the time. Having the belt on the engine and running prior to correction took the stiffness out so it is easier to get the proper alignment the second time.

 

[Zach L]

Now that you've done it once, it should take 1/2 the time if you do it again. This is not terribly uncommon for people to be off by one tooth. I'd just go at it again. Remove the belt, get the crankshaft to TDC (top dead center), then re-install the belt.

 

[Goingnowherefast]

I would solve it yourself, I had the exact same problem as a result of the new belt being very stiff, the second time around the belt change/correction took only a third of the time. Having the belt on the engine and running prior to correction took the stiffness out so it is easier to get the proper alignment the second time.

Now that you've done it once, it should take 1/2 the time if you do it again. This is not terribly uncommon for people to be off by one tooth. I'd just go at it again. Remove the belt, get the crankshaft to TDC (top dead center), then re-install the belt.

So after the words of encouragement I ended up doing it again myself and low and behold it was clearly one tooth off. Doing it the second time around took maybe three hours with no problems whatsoever. I'm glad I did it myself too because it's running great now and I celebrated by buying a VWR Rear Sway bar and Golf R intercooler

 

[707Stang]

Spectacular! !! Great job man! Its gotta feels some sort of awesome, especially since you fixed it yourself.

 

[Zach L]

Awesome! Thanks for posting a follow-up... so many ppl fail to do so. Great to see outcomes like this on the boards! So many ppl would have been too lazy or too scared to give it another shot. Props to you sir! Enjoy those new parts