Timing flywheel lock pin

[Glsons]

I could use some help. I have all four cams locked into tdc position. (All cam marks pointed in the upright position) Timing marks on timing chain cover matches crank dampener/pulley perfectly. Trying to remove the "Jesus bolt" and there's a small amount of play before the crank stops turning. Is there a possibility of the locking hole in the flywheel being "stripped" elongated? Sorry in advance for not being able to search through gads of pages, I can only use my phone currently and it's a pain to navigate the site on it.

Thank you, any help would be greatly appreciated.

[TriX5]

To remove the "jesus bolt" I'd recommend getting the tool that bolts on to the vibration damper hub. To get the JB off I used that tool and a 3/4" breaker bar 24" long, even then had to stand with both feet and bounce for a bit to get it to move. To put that much torque through the crank shaft I am not sure is a good idea.

When I pin the flywheel there is no movement, odd if there is play.

[Glsons]

I just seen the hub tool that you mentioned. I may have messed something up. I have to now wait for the rain to stop before I can double check it. Need to see if I can get a look at the flywheel through the inspection hole near the lock tool. The lock pin itself is perfect though and sits flush in there. Can easily be removed and reinserted. I just figured that that part would take damage before the flywheel would. I'll have to check and invest in that other tool you mentioned. I didn't even know that existed till you mentioned it. Thanks TriX5

[oldskewel]

If you can get the pulley locking tool, that would be best. Or some people have rigged / welded up a substitute.

But on the flywheel locking pin ... when I did this on my M54 (different vs. yours, of course), I found that when I first thought I was properly inserting the locking pin, I still had about 10 degrees of movement of the crank pulley. So it seemed I could rotate the crank +/- 5 degrees before it would hit a stop.

Knowing that did not make sense, I removed the pin, etc., cleaned things and re-inserted it and it went in another level deeper somehow. At this point, the free motion in the crank was less than one degree. Very weird.

I would not have thought it to be possible to get it incorrectly locked like that. Should either lock in solid, or not at all, but that's what happened.

But anyway, hopefully this quantitative (10 degrees vs. less than one degree) explanation lets you know whether your "small amount of play" may indicate a problem.

Luckily for me, I was working very slow and careful and did not apply torque when it was not securely locked.

I ended up using my torque multiplier to get the bolt off. Worked great for me. Here's the thread on that:
https://xoutpost.com/bmw-sav-forums/...t-removal.html

^^^ and there are some pics in there for a V8

[Glsons]

Thanks oldskewel, that's about how much mine rotates before hitting the stop as well. Unfortunately, it can not go in any further for sure. The handle on the lock tool is butted right up against the housing so I know it's inserted as far as possible. I've used it once before and had no issues. I'll have a look at it ASAP and hopefully nothing is damaged. Waiting for my Vanos gears which are being sent out for a rebuild because I don't have the tools or the patience for that haha thanks guys. I guess I need to inspect it more. Mostly wasn't sure if a flywheel could/would strip or bend with that kind of pressure.

[TriX5]

Stating the obvious but just in case: you are aware the TDC mark on the distribution cover is about 45 degr CCW from "dead north"? Furthermore, there is only one hole in the flywheel that matches the locking pin. Once it inserted there is practically no movement on the crankshaft. The pin fits the hole in the flywheel with only .1 or .2 mm of play. So it is nice and tight. If you can move the crank by "degrees" then something is incorrect.

EDIT: Checked this morning and there is a nice big square hole directly below where the pin inserted. Visible only if you take the stiffening plate off.

It is a good while back that I obtained the hub holding tool off ebay from a source in NJ for $130 I think. I know that with time and tools it can be fabbed but in the grand scheme it is not that much, given that it helps avoid a repair bill of several thousand. Maybe a member in the Southwest has one you can buy or borrow?


Below a picture of the tool.

[andrewwynn]

I made the crank holding tool out of two angle irons cut a notch so I could fit four bolts from the harmonic balancer. Cost: about $6.

[TriX5]

Andrew, I agree, not difficult to make, in the 80s I made a tool like that from a flat steel bar for a 323i or a Golf, too long ago now to remember. I carried it in my toolbox for years until it wound up part of another project :-) When I started to work on the M62 motor I was commuting to Asia. Time was precious and buying a tool the better option.

For the M62 the torque required to undo the bolt from the crankshaft is unbelievable. At least in my case it was, the size of the tool I bought bears witness to what the expectation is......unlikely I will ever get to use it again.

[andrewwynn]

I estimated 700-750 ft·lb. Brutal amounts of torque.

[andrewwynn]

I tried with just the first angle iron and it bent like it was made out of lead. We added a second angle to make a box beam and a third in the bottom to get strength down to the holes.



This pic shows how the bar was held back by the fender and some clever shim placement.

I did snap the anvil off a very large 1/2 inch breaker bar and 3/4 to 1/2" adapter before I bought a 3/4 drive 27mm socket. My handle for my floor jack fit great over the 3/4 breaker bar and I could muscle the sucker loose with a few bounces of my 180# body weight.



This is how I torqued the sucker back on. we reused the Jesus bolt so rather than torque to yield we just torqued to 360 ft·lb, a number I found that similar sized Jesus bolts were spec'd. Some simple math a 4:1 pully and a force gauge.

Oh: though I've heard with M54 you can get away with using the lock pin to hold the crank to remove the Jesus bolt that will not work for M62! It'll just bend the crap out of the pin and pull out of the hole in the flywheel. Found that out the hard way. I also bent the crap out of a couple different rods I put into the spokes of the flywheel. Don't risk it just make or rent the proper holding bar.

Other option I didn't have the balls to use is to set up the breaker bar against something on the port side of the engine bay and crank the starter. Look for examples on YouTube with the caveat that "at your own risk".

It's easy enough to remove the radiator the second time I pulled a Jesus bolt I just used my high torque Impact and it simply removed it like it was a 6mm bolt.