Stuck bolt

Hey guys,

I finally got a engine stand adapter for a rotary engine,and tonight I decided to tear down a spare engine I had laying around. It is without flywheel or flex plate so keeping it from spinning is tough. I have it to the point where I need to remove the front pulley bolt so I can get the front cover off,and such. There are two problems I am having. One is the bolt just won't budge even with my impact hitting it pretty hard. The other is if I try to loosen it with a large pipe over the end of my ratchet then I can't easily keep the engine from spinning. Maybe if I had a friend help wedge the counterweight on the flywheel side and take to it with the pipe,and ratchet I will work,but I am not sure. Any ideas? Heat? If so is it okay to heat the head only as that is all I can get to with the pulley in the way.

Chris

Piece of angle iron + drill bit + two flywheel bolts = crank holder.

Too expensive/ difficult/ time consuming?:

Two flywheel bolts + 1 long wrench with boxed end over one of the bolts wedged up against the other = crank holder.

In reply to oldopelguy:

You've got the right idea, but back 30+ years ago when I last tinkered with rotaries, the flywheel nut was a single huge nut that went around the shaft. I want to say 54mm? I dunno. I gave away the tool to someone who might use it again long ago. I kinda figure the OP is gonna need a flywheel and nut at some point, he might as well get one now.

I am sure I have a flywheel around somewhere,but I still don't think my impact gun will loosen this bolt for whatever reason.

I think that nut is on there at like 300+ft-lbs. So yeah, you'll need something stout to get it spun off.

In reply to Mazdax605:

I pop the flywheel nuts off using a 24" 3/4 drive with six feet of pipe on the end. I always break that flywheel nut free, then use my trusty home-made flywheel stop (the angle iron trick mentioned above, drilled for both NA and Turbo flywheels) to pop the front cover/eccentric shaft bolt out. Since you don't have a flywheel on there, you're kind of in a bad spot. If you have a flywheel, I'd put it back on and make the job a world easier.

The front bolt's torque specs are nowhere near the same as the flywheel, but the FSM calls for Lock-Tite (red) on it during assembly. Rather than kill it with heat, I just use muscle. If you don't have the flywheel, try bracing the counterweight and strapping the engine down.

If that doesn't work, letting the rotors turn, use your breaker bar to quickly rotate it clockwise, then quickly snap it back counter-clockwise. Sometimes the bolt will break free using the inertia of the engine as it's lever. If that doesn't work, you might have to kill it with heat. I'd check the washers and such on the bolt and near it very closely, though.

Unless I'm completely losing my mind and forgetting how the engines are put together, the pulleys should come off by removing the 4 10mm bolts and sliding them off. The mounting point for the pulleys will still be there, but that's easier to work around than the pulleys themselves.

A little heat goes a long way, don't go nuts but a minute or so with a propane torch may be enough to allow you to remove it with the impact.

I know how to get the flywheels off,and this one was from an automatic anyway. The problem I am having is with teh front bolt,and keeping the rotating assembly from turning on me. I have ofetn thought about buying the fancy flywheel stopper from Racing Beat/Mazdatrix,but I don't want to spend that kind of money on somthing I coul probably improvise. This front bolt is crazy stuck though I can tell you that. I will try a little heat and see if taht works.

Chris

oldopelguy wrote: Piece of angle iron + drill bit + two flywheel bolts = crank holder.

This. I used a piece of flat stock for mine.

If the factory used Loctite Red you need heat to get it off:

Loctite® Threadlocker Red 271™ is designed for the permanent locking and sealing of threaded fasteners. The product cures when confined in the absence of air between close fitting metal surfaces. It protects threads from rust and corrosion and prevents loosening from shock and vibration. It is only removable once cured by heating up parts to 500°F (260°C).

So hit it with the torch, get it good and hot, then use the impact to spin it off.

while red locktite is fun, green is more so. harder to get off=more fun.