trouble removing centerbolt

hey 94 Geo Metro 1.0 L manual

I am having trouble removing the crankshaft pulley centerbolt.

Is there a trick to taking this off???

There is an indexing notch on the centerbolt , but the manual says to remove the centerbolt before removing the crankshaft pulley bolts.

But mine is a bugger! I'm assuming it comes off counter-clockwise.

Thanks.

I have seen posts that describe using a breaker bar, which you wedge against the bolt. Once you have it snugly in place, turn over the engine, and it should come loose. I recomend you use the search tool, as I have seen LOTS of posts that should answer your questions, as this IS a difficult thing to work on.

Jai

if you don't have a air impact the easiest way is to use the breaker bar and starter method to remove it, just pull coil wire so car doesn't start. also unless your replacing the front seal no reason to remove center bolt

I have used this method on a couple of cars. The last time was on my 96 1.3L metro when it needed an oil seal replaced...worked like a charm. Keeps the bolt from turning while you work on it.
Remove #1 spark plug, or any spark plug for that matter. Rotate engine until that piston is all the way down. Use a length of 1/4 or 3/8 soft rope and feed several feet of it into the piston through the plug hole. Leave some hanging out or you'll be in a lot of trouble :eek: ! Now rotate the engine...the soft rope will compress and stop that piston without damaging it. Now you've got both hands free to get hold of that breaker bar. You may have to use a length of pipe on top of the breaker bar to get enough leverage to break it loose. Some have suggested an impact wrench but I don't think there's enough room to get up in there.
When you're done, rotate the engine in the opposite direction just enough to relieve the pressure on the rope and sloooowly pull the rope back out. If you try to jerk it out quick it'll tangle and thats bad news for you.
Just another thought...I had to take loose the engine mount right over the AC compressor and let the engine drop a little in order to have better access to the bolt, and even then it was pretty tight.
Have fun!

Do not remove the center bolt unless you have to replace the fron seal or the oil pump. The bolt has thread locker on it and if you remove it and put it back on without loctite, it will vibrate loose distroying the end of the crank and the cog. If you need to do a timinig belt, all you need to do is remove the 4 or 5 bolts holding the pulley on the cog. The number of bolts depends on the year of the engine.