[SEL] OT- But mechanic tip

[Michael Tucker]

Howdy all,

This is not stationary engine related but it's a mechanics tip that 
saved the day for me on Saturday so I thought I would pass it on so 
y'all can put it into your bag of tricks.  This weekend Lincoln, 
Roger (my father-in-law) and I set out to replace the harmonic 
balancer (aka crankshaft pulley) on my Toyota pickup.  Well, try as 
we did we were unable to keep the pulley from turning to break the 
bolt free that held the pulley on.  We tried blocking the tires, 
holding the break and using the drive train to keep it still, getting 
pry bars in behind the pullley, etc. etc. and nothing seemed to work. 
So, we set off to Ace Hardware to get a chain wrench (like the ones 
that plumbers use) to hopefully be able to hold the pulley in place 
to break the bolt loose.  Ace didn't have one but the helper sent us 
to another place that might.  That place didn't have one either but a 
genuine shade tree mechanic looking fellow said to solidly brace the 
wrench up against the frame and then bump the starter to break the 
bolt free.  We crinkled our brows, asked a few more questions and 
then proceeded on to the local mechanic that they said may be able to 
help us out.  Well, the local mechanic gave us the same advice about 
using the starter.  So with two independent mechanic types giving us 
the same advice we set off to try it out.  With a 6-point half-inch 
drive socket attached to a break-over wrench in a cheater pipe firmly 
in place up against the frame, I bumped the starter and in a split 
second the bolt was loose and we were home free!  Life was good, pass 
the shim stock!

See ya',
Mike

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Mike Tucker
Midway, Kentucky USA
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