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I pulled the power steering pump back out and made sure that everything internal was oriented correctly per the factory service manual. While it was out I drilled out the restrictor plate to 11/32". My power steering is now excellent.
Today, I won the fight with my stuck crank bolt and replaced my leaky front oil seal. A really useful tip that I picked up from WheeliePete on YouTube is that you can remove 4 bolts and the power steering pulley to reveal some slots in the main crank pulley. You can jam something sturdy in there to stop the engine from turning over if all other methods fail.
A method I was taught by some professional mechanics might be of help in removing that front crank bolt.
Use a 1/2 drive, deepwell, impact socket, and a 1/2 drive breaker bar that's a couple feet long. 24" or so does very well. Preferably one with a built in universal joint. Put the breaker bar on in such a way that it's in contact with a frame member. One that would be in the direction the breaker would move if the engine were turning over. This is critical. I believe it's the passenger side that you need, but I may be wrong.
Hold the breaker bar up against the frame member as firmly as possible.
Remove the center lead from the distributor. BOTH ends! Also, make damn sure the transmission and transfer case are in NEUTRAL. You do NOT want the truck to move! Then, while one person holds the breaker bar tight against the frame member, have someone else TAP the key to the start position. Just a momentary tap to the start position. MOMENTARY.
The starter will rotate the engine, but the breaker bar will hold the bolt stationary. Thus, the engine it's self will cause the bolt to loosen in it's threads. It sounds backwards, turning the engine around the bolt, but it works perfectly. Every time I've had to remove the oil pump to replace the front oil seal, I think 4-5 on my pickup and 2 or 3 on the 4Runner, I've used this method. And yes, I'm the one holding the breaker bar. My wife taps the key for me. After the bolt is broken loose, it comes out very easily with a normal ratchet driver.
Doesn't work for tightening the bolt tot he correct torque, but it sure works for removing it
Just make sure to do it safely!
Yeah... I tried that. Starter wasn't budging it. Impact wasn't doing anything. I broke that socket on it. I bought a new 19mm impact socket. I wedged that 1/4" extension in there and tried until it was too rounded off for the new socket to get any grip. I welded that socket to it, put a 3/4" to 1/2" adapter on my 3/4" drive breaker bar. I slipped an 18" section of 1.4x.250 round tube on the end of that guy and put my whole weight into that.
I put in a Timken HB17 center support bearing, greased my u-joints, and filled up the rear differential with 80W90 GL-5 today. I took it for about a 15 mile drive. That's the best it's run and the least it's leaked since I've had it.
Yeah... I tried that. Starter wasn't budging it. Impact wasn't doing anything. I broke that socket on it. I bought a new 19mm impact socket. I wedged that 1/4" extension in there and tried until it was too rounded off for the new socket to get any grip. I welded that socket to it, put a 3/4" to 1/2" adapter on my 3/4" drive breaker bar. I slipped an 18" section of 1.4x.250 round tube on the end of that guy and put my whole weight into that.
03-28-2020, 01:57 PM
