heat the bolt for a few seconds then dump water on it. the dampener wont matter you are taking it off, but the front seal will matter. getting the bolt hot for a few seconds should not be enough to heat up the crank etc. Do that a few times, and it should melt the loctite etc on the crank bolt. Like I said just heat a few seconds throw water on it, heat, throw water on it. This should do it. If not like tillman says I believe in one of the instructions I had there is a hole or a location where you can put something in to the flywheel, like a wrench or prybar, then brace it and go to the crank, but one of the three methods should get you there.

 

My impact blasted mine right off, although it's one of the bigger syles of 1/2. I had to slide the radiator forward slightly to get it in there.

Here's a few tips on using impacts guns. First, keep your hose length as short as possible and make sure it's at least 3/8" hose. Long hoses with a small i.d. will starve your gun. You can also adjust the cut-off pressure on you compressor up a little bit. I adjusted mine to 115 psi and that little extra really helps.

 

Too funny. I ended up getting the bolt off in less than a minute on my second round using the handle from my floor jack. Actually the biggest PIA was removing and replacing the fan assembly. That accounted for 75% of the install time.

I seem to remember the UDP install going much faster on my 2001.

 

If all else fails.....swear at it!!!! It may not work, but you'll feel better.

 

Hahahahaha! Thanks guys for the suggestions. So far the score is:

BOLT: 1
MrKABC: 0

We are down for a rematch again on Saturday. I'm going to get an 18mm six sided socket during the week and a can of Nut Buster, I'm bound and determined!

I wonder how I can crank up the psi on my compressor? Hmmm... I'll have to check that out. (thoughtful)

 

Turn the compressor up untill the metal looks like it's stressed. Then turn it down one notch!

Seriously though, the nut buster and airtool combo should do the trick. Just sit there with the airtool for a few minutes, eventually torque takes its toll on everything!

Chris

 

Man I would never put heat on it and there is no Lockite on the bolt, it is just on very tight. Try a bigger air gun or bigger Breaker bar but never heat..if you melt a seal you are talking big bucks to fix it.

 

+1 heat is a no no. I dont recall using loctite on anything, but black silicon on the keyway of the pulley?

 

OMG ... Agree no heat what so ever. Get a half inch cheater bar, raise the car some more and get a 5' piece of pipe if you have to. You are turning it counter clockwise, right (impact wrench too).

 

well to tell you the truth guys, if you mess the seal up it is no big deal, the main seal should be right behind the pulley. Use a little seal puller and pop, slap in a new one. so if you are afraid of messing one up by the time you have the pulley off its usually right there. I know some dont want to mess with stuff like that, but after you do a couple they are a breeze. Where theres a will theres a way. So unless the mustang is a two piece front seal, then they are not that big a deal if you happen to think you have heated one up too much sometime. sometimes you have to resort to tactics that are undesirable but i agree try all the other bar extension methods i spoke of first/ long cheater bar. Big pipe on top of breaker bar. Good luck you will get it.

 

Heat works and it won't hurt the seal. For it to damage the seal you would have to hold a torch on it a long time. Heating the bolt a little won't even get the crank hot to the touch. Just don't get crazy with it. Just heat the head of the bolt alittle and let it cool alittle and it should come right off. I would try OILING the gun, cranking up the pressure and a six point socket first.

 

The Steeda underdrive pulleys are finally on! Thank you all for your valuable suggestions as to how to get that stubborn harmonic balancer bolt off. My final solution was:

Harbor Freight "Earthquake" Impact Gun!!

http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/cta...=321&pricetype=

One blast of this 625 ft/lbs torque baby and that bolt was off the car!

Pulling the old balancer was not very hard, the "jaws" type balancer was good at removal. (see pic)

Installation after the bolt drama was a snap! MAKE SURE THAT YOU REPLACE THE ORIGINAL BOLT with a new Ford one. Also, drawing a belt diagram is critical.

The other pic is of the finished product!

 

I actually gave up on my first set of steeda UDPs...due to that **** bolt...a few months later I found another deal on them and went at it again...had the same issue...but this time before i gave up I used a 3' bar over my breaker and with the car in 4th it broke loose...it did turn the crank and seemed like it was not working at first but the crank seemed to get to a spot where it was tight and not going any further...then the bolt loosened....ONE THING TO MAKE SURE OF!!! USE SOME THREADLOCKER AND TQ THE BOLT DOWN WHEN YOU INSTALL THE NEW CRANK PULLEY!!!....i did not use TL and just snugged it down to where it was spinning the crank...well 2k miles later i noticed that the belt had jumped a groove toward the eng and was eating itself...thought it was the belts fault at first (a dayco polycog) after i re aligned it i saw that the pulley wear tarcks on the idlers seemed off...I reached down and sure enuff the crank bolt was loose!!! the crank pulley had moved fwd and was causing the belt to jump...i was lucky i guess...if i had not found it soon enuff that could have been a nasty surprise !!!

 

Congrats on the install. I installed my Steeda UDP's Saturday but I didn't remove the cooling fans and shroud. I also used penetrating oil and a breaker bar with the trans in 4th and the balancer bolt came right off. And a drawing of the belt route would've been a BIG help.

 

http://youtube.com/watch?v=n-E_Rw5BOIA

^ mrkabc's new impact gun!

 

Hahahahaha! Where was that impact gun a month ago!!!

I got tired of walking by my UDPs on the workbench on my way into the house... they were staring at me and constantly reminding me that I could not get that bolt off... How embarrassing...

NJ3: Congrats on YOUR install! How did you do it without removing the fan? Amazing!

06SatinSilver: I did put RED Loctite on the new bolt... I was worried about a situation like yours!

Now... here is the million dollar question:

DID YOU FEEL A DIFFERENCE?

I don't know if I did! I really WANT to feel like the car moves faster and has more pickup, but I couldn't really feel a "Wow, that difference in acceleration was worth $300 and a backache" difference!

 

not many single modifications will make a very noticable difference, they all add up though. That's why I usually like to install several things at once when ever I modify a car, more satisfaction that way because you can really feel a bigger difference, versus putting them on one by one and not feeling a whole lot of difference each time. Do it all at once, and it's a brand new car I don't care about HP or TQ numbers, I want something I can feel

 

i'm glad you finally got it going.. was starting to feel real bad for you

well, the UDP is supposed to free up around 10hp which you really wouldn't feel alone except on a dyno
like Error404 said.. it's the combination of mods that add up to a significant increase that make you feel a difference.

as for me personally, i chose to sacrify the ~10hp gain of the UDP in favor of having my AC and battery working effeciently.. after all, i'd rather have 10 less horses with an AC when the temps hit 120F in Dubai

 

I would imagine you probably draw quite heavily on the electrical system with the engine cooling fan and a/c in those temps! Upside is you don't ever have to worry about a cold start.

 

Man I'm gald to read that you got that thing off there. I was worried that with all the prying and the huge breaker bars and so forth that you could have actually broken the bolt off whidh would have been a very bad thing.