Doing the timing belt on my 2000 Montero w/3.5. I'm at the step of removing the crankshaft pulley. I've got the special tool to hold the pulley, just worried the bolt is going to twist off. Crank is held well in place by the tool, and I tried a breaker bar but couldn't get it to budge. Then I did a search on here and everyone seems to have trouble with that bolt and some guys snap it off. The garage is unheated and is about 30F right now, would it help to put a forced air heater on the engine area? I looked at some bolt shear vs temperature charts on google images and it seems as though warmer temps lower the shear torque, so maybe colder is better? I sprayed it down with PBlaster this morning. I think I might let it sit overnight. Not sure if the PBlaster will help though, saw a pic of one twisted off and it was half way down the threads (doubt the penetrating spray gets in that far). I'm thinking of trying a can of that cold spray, forget the exact product name. Its supposed to freeze the rust and get its penetrating spray into the micro cracks the freezing creates. Got the can from my dad, but he says it has never worked for him (but says PBlaster has). Any ideas before I put a pipe on the end of a breaker bar?

 

The bolt is probably torqued up to 180 ft/lb. It takes ALOT of force to move it first time. What you are doing is the right thing - spray PB blaster on it; let it sit; hit it again; let it sit. PB blaster (or the other thing you have) will work its way in between the threads. Not sure how far, but it will be far enough to provide lubrication and to break up any metal to metal bonding. As far as heating up the bolt - as long as you are not trying to turn a red hot bolt, you'll be fine. You may want to heat up the area, then let it cool off completely before turning the bolt. The expansion and contraction of the metal (both the bolt and the pulley) will aid in separating the bonding if any developed. Just don't heat it too much, so that you don't damage the cranshaft seal.

 

Right or wrong I used my pneumatic impact wrench and it spun it out without use of pulley holder tool.

 

I doubt you can get the impact wrench in there without removing radiator. Before I made my crank holding tool, I used the breaker bar cheat method (laying breaker bar against the frame and giving the engine a kick with a starter). Sketchy as heck and scary, but it worked.

 

Thanks for the help guys. Letting the PB Blaster soak for another day. Did a few sprays of the Loctite Freeze and Release. Kind of scared to attempt it. What happens if it snaps off, is it possible to drill out and tap a larger bolt?

 

Don't start sweating it before it happens. With some PB blaster soak the chances are good that it will come out just fine. BTW, there is not supposed to be any Locktite on that bolt. It is just torqued pretty tight.
Once you do get it out, I'd recommend that you have a new updated bolt on hand for reinstall. New bolt has different profile and it sounds like they are less prone to failures.
If the worst comes to worst and you do end up snapping it, you will need to drill out and extract it. You need to drill carefully and not damage the threads. This way you can use a new bolt once you extracted the old one. There are other ways to aid in bolt extraction. Again, we can focus on those if that is what happens.

 

Came out ok, thanks for all your help guys! I was nervous before doing it, heart was pounding. Had to put a 3 ft pipe on the holder tool and a 4 ft pipe on the breaker bar. Everything bent so much, I thought the breaker bar or something would fail, but the bolt did its pop and came loose. Phew!!!

 

Glad it worked out