Golf Crankshaft pulley bolts Help!!

[carl350i]

Trying to change the cam belt today on a mk2 golf gti 8v 91, but I cant undo the four bolts on the crankshaft pulley nut or even the large nut which hold the crankshaft sprocket on. Ive used an impact wrench, no luck and a 4ft bar, no luck. Any sugestions.

[carl350i]

Finallt got it off. Spoke to VW technician and he said use a hammer and chisel. 5 minutes later all four bolts are out and the pulley is on the floor. Excellent. Need to get new bolts though.

[adrianr]

Don't remember any big bolt on my old MkII, just 3 or 4 b**tard tight cap head screws (internal hex). Top tip for these is to hit the heads _hard_ end-on with a hammer and drift once or twice before trying to unscrew them.

Just used a great tip for the big bolt on my elise - put big spanner on it, brace spanner against ground in the right direction, remove coil lead, flip ignition key briefly and the starter is powerful enough to turn the engine against the bolt and loosen it off.

AdrianR
p.s make sure your engine turns clockwise!

[MartinH2]

I have a Mk3 Golf 1.9 Turbo diesel. It was going very well at 170,000 miles until the crank pulley bolt broke! Yes - somehow a 14mm bolt actually sheared off. The failure was not immediate, a crack developed from one of the threads and seems to have taken a while to work it's way across the bolt.

When it finally failed, it allowed the crank pully to disengage itself and you can imagine the consequences.
If you're removing yours for any reason or even fiddling about in the vicinity, it might be worth changing it as a matter of course (£1.50 from my local VW garage) especially on a high mileage vehicle.

To make you feel better on matters of cam belt failure, my initial diagnosis indicates the only damage is to two of the hydraulic cam followers but I haven't lifted the head yet.

>> Edited by MartinH2 on Sunday 16th May 12:58