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Hey guys – I have learned a very expensive lesson today. When I pulled off my crankshaft pulley with the pulley tool, I overlooked the stopper for the center bolt and mashed it into the hole for the crankshaft bolt. I really did a job on it. The original CS bolt was not in great condition to begin with but after putting it in the CS hole and taking it out it was all tore up. I purchased a tap & die set that had a 16m x 1.5 tap but I can’t get it to catch because there are no threads at the start of the hole. I can actually hand crank the bolt about one turn but it stops after that and I don’t want to force it. Just for grins, I’ve ordered two CS bolts from the local Toyota dealer to see if I can get one turned in. If I have totally screwed the pooch here, which I’m afraid is the case, what are my options? This car is a 2004 Avalon with 199,000 miles on it that I’ve had for one month. Can I simply press the pulley back on and leave it at that? Can I press it on and maybe weld something to the end? I took the pulley off as the car had not had the timing belt replaced in 105,000 miles. I have successfully replaced the timing belt and am now just trying to reassemble the car. I mention that as I think this will probably be the last timing belt this car sees and I may never have to pull of the pulley again.
Appreciate any suggestions you have.
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What kind of TAP did you get. Should try a tapered TAP first then use a bottom tap to finish. To Tap the hole you turn clockwise 1/4 turn then reverse and repeat a little further. Use cutting oil (any oil will do). Better off purchasing two good TAPs rather than one crappy set. Verify the thread diameter and pitch.
Jotmon1 – I purchased a tapered tap set, it’s the Titanium $85 set from Harbor Freight, they were the only ones that had a set in stock that could support a 16m Metric. I def verified the thread count and size, not only by lining up the tap on the old bolt, but I used the die to clean and rethread the old bolt. I did use cutting oil as well. All great suggestions, appreciate the feedback.
This exact thing happened to my gf’s friend’s car on her 93 accord. I tapped the hole and put a time sert in. The time sert kit was expensive, but well worth the money. It saved her from buying a crankshaft and paying me for labor for removing the engine and everything else lol. I did go through a few drills though and they weren’t cheap. The hard part was finding a drill that would accept a 1/2″ shank but luckily my uncle is a contractor so he let me borrow his. The time sert kit comes with a drill, counterbore, tap, driver, and the inserts. I ordered it from a site called belmetric.com. Make sure you have tapping oil on hand because drilling through that crank burnt a few of my drills. That’s why I had to buy so many lol… I also went the next size up and was able to find a bolt and washer that would work with the time sert. All in all, it worked out and it’s been 2 years since I did it. But like I said, you might need a bigger drill to accept the 1/2″ shank, but if you can find one, I’d go this route.
Thanks much Hondaguy453. Worst case, I could rent a drill from local tool rental company, I assume. Great info and will research that option. Great info as always on this forum!
Holy cow! You’re right, that is expensive but given the alternative, might be my best option. I just jumped on Belmetric’s site, great resource. I have a question though. If my current bolt and hole are M16 x 1.5, is the time sert kit I want to get also going to be an M16 x 1.5 or should I try to go next size up? The other challenge if I go next size up is I would then have to bore my hole in my pulley bigger also. Thanks again.
I asked the dude at the shop where I bought my new bolt the same thing and he told to go with the next size up. I didn’t think about your pulley though. It wasn’t an issue with the honda because they have a huge gaping hole for the crank bolt lol… Hmmm… Maybe someone else can give some insight.
Crankshafts are hardened steel. That means you’ll have a heck of a time cutting those threads as a result. Next time, put the bolt in the hole before using the puller to prevent that damage from happening again. I realize that advice is way late. Sorry.
You may have to work at it for a while, but I’m thinking the tap should work. I would avoid drilling if you could. If you don’t get the hole completely straight, you could make a bigger problem.
Unfortunately in situations like this you just have to keep trying until you figure something out. I would start with the tap again before I went to drill.
Lastly, a Harbor freight tap may not be the way to go here. If it breaks off in the crank, you’re done. You’ll need to get a diamond tip drill to get it out.
If you keep running into problems and you’re afraid you’ll make things worse, you might make the call and send it to a repair shop to have them address the issue. They may have the tools, equipment, and experience to deal with it. In the end, it will likely be cheaper than purchasing a new engine or crankshaft.
Good luck and please keep us updated on your progress. Also, if possible, post some pics of your predicament.
All great info as usual Eric and I really like the idea of putting the bolt back in the hole before using the pulley tool, albeit a late suggestion for this project. Dang, this is not a great place to make a mistake like that but one of those mistakes that won’t happen again for sure.
I’ve posted pics for everyone’s reference. One picture
Crankshaft bolt before re-threading –
Crankshaft bolt AFTER re-threading, and I attempted once to put back in the hole but didn’t want to force it –
View of Crankshaft hole from wheel well –
Close up view of CS bolt hole –
**UPDATE** – After two hours of slowly working the tap last weekend I was able to get my camshaft threads set and cleared. The new bolt from the dealership worked great. I put everything back together and all worked fine.
Having said that I have a new concern/problem/question. After putting the car back together, I set off on a 400 mile business trip, 200 each way. I traveled about 100 miles and pulled over to get gas. Once I filled up, and started the car, I had a CEL come on along with a VSC and Trac Off light. Fortunately I was able to get to the nearby AutoZone before they closed and had them read my CEL codes, which were a P0018 and a P0019 light, indicating some possible timing issue with the Crankshaft Position Sensor (P0019) and the Bank 2 Sensor A (P0018). Due to time constraints I decided to continue on my way. The engine was not making any erratic noises, it was running smooth as silk and while I was fearful I may damage something I was confident that all was ok. I finally reset the codes today and they have stayed off. I checked all fluid and oil levels, had to top off coolant only. I reseated the gas cap on the night of the failure as well as today. While I have only driven around town for less than 10mi today, the lights did not come back on. Is it possible I slipped a tooth on the timing belt? If I did how would I know? Is this something you can see once you line up the marks on the timing belt and the cam shaft gears? I need to turn this car over to my son in collage but I don’t want to hand over a problem that I can’t fix from far away. Appreciate any advice. BTW – I know I could break this down to the timing belt in 30m now that I know where everything is and since I don’t have to replace the water pump and some of the other things getting to the timing belt should be relatively easy.
Thanks in advance for any advice – you guys are always great.
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