How do I lock the crankshaft on a BMW 320d ?

my crankshaft fell off due to the rubber insert failing.

removing the viscous fan and cowling.

the inner part of the failed pulley.

crankshaft turns as well.

Place car in a high gear and get someone to sit in it with their foot hard on the brakes.

Jeff brought next idea :

If a manual - select the highest gear and put on the handbrake hard.

Another way is to buy a locking pin, like a spark plug, but with a longer nose so it stops the piston rising.

Or you could take the starter motor off and find a method to jam the flywheel.

Or simply turn the engine to compression, then give the spanner a sharp blow.

Sorry, should have said...it's an auto

Suggest also checking you are trying to turn the bolt the right way.

Easiest solution is use an impact wrench, but I'm assuming you don't have one of those. Next easiest is disconnect the spark plugs, put the spanner on snugly, wedge a piece of timber between it & some thing structural & blip the starter.

I've already tried the blip the starter bit but no joy.

My car mechanic mate just came round. He says torque setting for this bolt is

Also discovered that the tensioner for the long poly belt is faulty as well. The mechanism for that is buried low at the back of the engine; lots of stuff to move out the way...sigh! Could be why the main pulley failed in the end, 'cos the tensioner was permanently stuck on too tight.

On the front of the pulley are 6/7 teeth facing forwards. We both reckon there is a special tool that fits on there and clamps onto the torsion bar that passes just beneath it. We guess that would be what locks the crankshaft.

If anyone can shed any light on this that would be helpful. Looks like a tricky job coming :0(

Will keep you posted.

Cheers

Jeff

the tool for the pulley is BMW no. 11 6 310

I told you it was not simple diy. !!!!! if the tensioner was solid that could break the pulley, the tensioner should be able to move constantly, keeping the forces on the pulley fairly constant.

Make sure it's on securely & let it swing 90 degrees or so before it hits the wood. It'll come undone. Downloading the BMW manuals from ebay would probably be a fiver well spent.

Already given it a good swing to 'snap' the thread. My car mechanic mate who does this all teh time for a living can't shift it either :0(

Will look into the manuals on eBay though...sounds interesting

TIS and ETK - shouldn't cost much more than a fiver for the CDs as they're all pirate copies.

Big impact wrench time then L-)

Jeff (j_e_f_f_d_a_y snipped-for-privacy@daylightit.co.uk) gurgled happily, sounding much like they were saying :

Shove it in Park, then...?

Nope...'cos the engine can still turn in Park...otherwise how could you start the engine. Ah haahhhh ! :0)

Jeff (j_e_f_f_d_a_y snipped-for-privacy@daylightit.co.uk) gurgled happily, sounding much like they were saying :

Ummm, yes. I've had bloody autos for ten years, so I *did* know... Honest.

It was my first thought too...fortunately realisation dawned swiftly for me ;0)

replying to Conor, Odonta7 wrote: This is insufficient to hold the engine locked while the very tight bolt is being undone!

Why are you replying to a question posted 11 years ago about a Fiat Punto?

mailto: news {at} admac {dot] myzen {dot} co {dot} uk

Because everything responded to on the motorsforum comes up as being about a fiat punto. Basically, like so many web based portals to Usenet, it's completely f***ed up.

If you add *example.com to your kill file you won't see these numpties. ;-)

Tim