home made tool to tighten camshaft sproket nut

[artie in miami]

I was thinking about how to make a tool to tighten the crankshaft bolt...I did not want to go and buy one...and did not feel like taking out all the welding equiptment..so I came up with a tool that anyone can make. All I did was go to home depot and buy a one inch pipe floor flange, a one inch threaded pipe nipple (to fit in the flange), some 2 inch long metric bolts (to fit in the threaded holes in the crank pulley) and some washers.

I took the pipe flange and put the threaded nipple in it with some gorilla glue on the threads (so that the nipple cannot come out)...once the glue was dry...it was ready. I attached the pipe flange to the crank pulley using the bolts with the washers on the head of the bolts...I made sure that the nipple was facing out. Then I attached a pipe wrench to the pipe nipple and rested it against either the front wheel strut or the ground. Then I took a 19mm socket on a breaker bar...put the socket inside the threaded nipple and used it to tighten the crankshaft nut. The pipewrench keeps the flange from moving when you tighten the crank nut. Here is a pic of what I came up with.



If you need further pics or info...feel free to contact me...it works great and no welding involved...no expensive tools...the whole thing cost maybe three dollars...I assume that everyone has a pipe wrench and socket set.

artie

[BamZipPow]

Nice thinking and implementation!

[artie in miami]

Here is what it looks like when you put the socket into the flange...the best part is that the holes that are in the pipe flange when it is made are exactly the same distance from each other as the threaded holes in the crank pulley. If you do not have a pipe wrench that is long enough to anchor it against something...put a piece of pipe over the handle of the wrench to make it longer.

The socket fits right into the threaded pipe nipple as you can see below.

[uuuuu]

Wow, I may do this when I attempt to change timing belt. Way to think outside of the box!

[artie in miami]

I decided to make a tool to tighten the camshaft sproket nut and this one cost about five bucks. I got some one inch by one quarter inch steel strap and cut two pieces into a "Y" shape...drilled holes and connected them into a "Y" shape. Then I drilled a hole at each tip and put some bolts, washers and nuts on them...it works great to tighten the nut on the cam. Here are some pics

[71Corolla]

Simple but effective, nice work.

[LynchburgCSI]

Better than ASG14's wooden one.

[2wickedtoyz]

stickied

[dave1811]

Artie:

What length did you cut the metal strap you made to tighten the camshaft pulley? I figured I could use it to also take it off if necessary. Great innovative idea!

Thanks,

Dave

[JohnGD]

Great TN member innovation.

[tacosteelersman]

After seeing your old post, I plan to make one of these tools for my parents 96 Avalon, Thanks for sharing

[sabbates]

I know this is a stupid question, but can you buy the 1 inch steel strap at Home Depot? If not, where? I'd like to make both tools.

[ycartf]

I bought some in the welding section of our local Lowe's.

[uuuuu]

Does anyone have the size of the metric bolts needed (the 2" ones that thread into the crankshaft pulley)? I am pulling together everything I need for a timing belt job.

[hill8570]

Originally Posted by uuuuu

Does anyone have the size of the metric bolts needed (the 2" ones that thread into the crankshaft pulley)? I am pulling together everything I need for a timing belt job.

M6-1.0 . I'd recommend using the starter bump method to loosen the bolt, and only use this tool for tightening it after the job. I've had those skinny little M6 bolts snap off before while trying to loosen the crank bolt.

BTW, if you haven't run across it already, the 2-part DIY at DIY: GEN3 Timing Belt + Waterpump + Oil Seal Change - Part 1 and DIY: GEN3 Timing Belt + Waterpump + Oil Seal Change - Part 2 is well worth reading.