How to remove crank pulley bolt?

I'm in the process of trying to change the timing belt, and about 30-45 minutes in I got to where I had to remove the crank pulley bolt, and my impact/compressor is not strong enough to get it off. There is no real inspection plate to where I can access the flywheel to jamb a screwdriver in to hold the flywheel(this is how I've done it on past vehicles). I found one rubber 1" x 1" or so inspection hole where I can see the flywheel....but I can't fit a screwdriver in to wedge against the flywheel. My car is automatic so no holding the brakes either...also I'm not comfortable with the starter trick either. Any thoughts/ideas?

If all else fails I guess I can spend an hour or two welding up a special tool to use as I know what I need, but was hoping there was some other way? Thanks.

nevermind, I got it...I found another inspection hole that had a rubber plug in it and I used a allen wrench to stick in one of the holes in the flywheel. Worked like a charm...

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Originally Posted by snrusnak

nevermind, I got it...I found another inspection hole that had a rubber plug in it and I used a allen wrench to stick in one of the holes in the flywheel. Worked like a charm...

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Hi, would you be able to post a pic or a link of where this flywheel plug is? I might need to use this method.

I don't but it's on the front side of the engine, towards the front of the car, I want to say it's around the area under the oil filter. If you jack the car up and look under there you'll see it.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by snrusnak

nevermind, I got it...I found another inspection hole that had a rubber plug in it and I used a allen wrench to stick in one of the holes in the flywheel. Worked like a charm...

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Hadn't seen this post before, and I'm glad it was revived. You did this well over a year ago, and I'm assuming with no side effects. It SOUNDS great, but I'm just wondering about the possibility of damaging/bending the flywheel or anything tied directly into it, because of the leverage being applied via the pully bolt. I'm not challenging your method - just a DIY guy with no formal auto training, so it's just a question. I did the timing belt on my '05 manual tranny using 5th gear, so that wasn't an issue for me. But I have my daughters '06 automatic coming up soon, and would really be pleased to use the method that you did, as long as the risk of pinning the flywheel like that is low (or better yet, zero).

Well I won't provide you with a warranty but I don't think you'll cause damage. I've done it 3 times on my wife's aveo. First time was timing belt change for maintenance, then we had a coolant leak and I thought it was the water pump gasket so I did it again, then still leaking and I realized it wast he water pump itself so I did it a third time. The water pump was brand new with the gates kit, it was a POS though. I replaced with a duralast(IIRC) from autozone and solved the problem. I also realized having the water pump wrench is nearly a must so for the second and third time I did the job I had bought it and got good at the job, can probably do it all in 2-3 hours tops now. First time took most of a day(spend at least an hour fiddling with the water pump without that wrench).

We drive A LOT. I have a 2010 ram and it has 75,000 miles on it. My wife's probably put another 20,000-30,000 miles on her aveo since I made this post, no issues since then. You won't damage the flywheel. I honestly was more concerned with the aluminum engine block vs the flywheel. It is a thin spot in that area, and I was afraid of the aluminum cracking before the steel flywheel breaking. Just use common sense, I had no issues other than some minor scratches in the aluminum block from the allen wrench.

Thanks for the extra info about how many miles went on after the repair was done. Tends to help confirm that nothing bad happened as a result. And good to know you've done that flywheel pin multiple times, although I know YOU would rather have done it just once :(
Naturally you must have done the same thing on installation to torque the 2 angles. That's the part I don't understand about using an impact driver to remove the bolt, because it can't be reinstalled with the gun (unless someone feels that a guess is good enough). I changed my other daughters Civic belt/pump and it was SO nice to have the built-in sleeve in that crank pulley which allows removal via a matching countering tool. The only thing involved is the pulley itself, with no chance of damaging anything else. Too bad they all don't build them that way.

Yep you are correct I torqued it the same way. No guessing here :)

I know this is long after others in the thread have requested, but here is an image of the inspection hole the OP is talking about. I just changed my timing belt today and this thread was incredibly helpful. Hope this helps others in the future.

http://www.aveoforum.com/forum/attac...withwrench-jpg

^yep that's how I did it. Thanks for the pic I'm sure it will help others.

We actually sold our aveo this fall, the wife replaced it with a new wrangler :). Miss the mpg sometimes though lol.