I am a failure as a mechanic and I broke every socket I own...

Carlyle 1/2" breaker bar with a patio umbrella as a cheater bar.

Been there, done that.

Pull the coil wire, pad the breaker bar with rags, jam it against the fender, bump the starter.

Works on V8's, never tried it on a motor installed the wrong way.

here is what we do in the Fiat world. Take socket with long extension and a pipe on it.. place on nut with pipe facing towards the expected rotation of the engine.. just -bump- the starter with the coil lead or sparkplug wires disconnected, you do not want to start the engine or even turn it over more than one revolution. Should undo the nut with no worries

The engine in this car runs counter-clockwise. Do not wedge the breaker bar and bump the starter, that will tighten the bolt.

Kenny_McCormic wrote: In reply to patgizz: To remove the head, you must first remove the timing belt, to remove the timing belt, you must first remove the crank pulley.

You can't just leave the belt in place, but pull it off the cam gears? Never had the head off a Honda myself.

In reply to Keith Tanner:

You probably could, but general practice is to replace the belt, water pump(timing belt driven) and idler anyhow, and I suspect the lower guard is trapped by the balancer. Then you've also gotta make up a cam gear holder.

Keith Tanner wrote:

Kenny_McCormic wrote: In reply to patgizz: To remove the head, you must first remove the timing belt, to remove the timing belt, you must first remove the crank pulley.

You can't just leave the belt in place, but pull it off the cam gears? Never had the head off a Honda myself.

I did that to get the head off a few weeks ago. Now everything is back from the machine shop and a new timing belt and water pump have to go in.

This sounds like a job for my "AK-47". Crude, loud, kicks hard, made in China and works every time. I haven't found anything that this won't remove,(or break) eventually. Make sure to use an impact socket that has a good fit on the bolt.

In reply to HappyAndy:

Poor practice to use impacts on crankshafts, the hammering action can mess ups the rod bearings.

Kenny_McCormic wrote: In reply to HappyAndy: Poor practice to use impacts on crankshafts, the hammering action can mess ups the rod bearings.

How's this? I've never heard that before. I can't see why the shock of an impact is greater than the shock of a running engine. I've used an impact every time one would fit in there.

old_ wrote: The engine in this car runs counter-clockwise. Do not wedge the breaker bar and bump the starter, that will tighten the bolt.

Then shouldn't the crank bolt be reversed also? You would not want to being spun off by the direction the engine spins in

Oh and Jav, I came in here planning on saying something about using inferior tools. Then you mentioned Sears. So now I'll say it, get some real tools

Seriously, Crapsman is junk now. I think it was great in my dads day, but I can use a 1/4" drive Snap-On ratchet to break a bolt lose that broke a Craftsman 3/8" drive ratchet. Just junk. I've also broke two Craftsman1/2" breaker bars. One I snapped the drive off like you did, the other one, I spread the top apart, the part that holds the drive.

Kenny_McCormic wrote: In reply to HappyAndy: Poor practice to use impacts on crankshafts, the hammering action can mess ups the rod bearings.

Have never had that happen. It's SOP to remove and install the crank bolt.

Honestly, if a 2135TiMax can't remove the bolt, some cheezoid electric impact ain't gonna do it.

That explains it. When I did the timing belt on my '84 Prelude sometime in the late 80's, I thought it was just me. I learned several new words to associate with Hondas that day.

Trans_Maro wrote: Pull the coil wire, pad the breaker bar with rags, jam it against the fender, bump the starter. Works on V8's, never tried it on a motor installed the wrong way.

I like this idea. Yank the plugs too. Or maybe make a ] out of 2x4 chunks and lay the end of the pipe on the ground inside the ]. I think the crank won't experience any egregious stress.

You're much more patient than I am, Javelin. I would have gone frothing mouth berserker after the 3rd or 4th tool breakage.

Another vote for paying someone with a 3/4" impact.

The local Honda indy charged me $30 to spin it off and then snug it back enough so that I could drive a couple miles home.

It just laughed at attempts with 1/2" impact guns - mine as well as 3 different commercial shops.

Well this is timely, since my son and I just dragged home a 98 Civic with no spark yesterday. Guess we'll start looking for additional leverage.

1. No, not left handed.
2. Yes, a bitch.
3. Has to come off to replace timing belt.
4. Starter trick won't work.
5. Never heard the "Don't use an impact" warning. Never has an issue doing so.

You would not be the first or last person to show up at a Honda service department, ask then to remove the bolt then reinstall it to 80 ft-lbs for the drive home. I always got mine off with a decent 1/2" impact and impact sockets, but sometimes it took a while. Locking the crank from turning does help.

can you rent a 3/4 drive impact anywhere? i have one and it laughs at rusty salt crusted axle nuts.

Found this video that may be useful: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=icj0j3LH9L4

Javelin wrote: I'm doing a head gasket job on an 89 Honda Civic 1.5 for my special needs co-worker.

Javelin, you didn't say so specifically, but it sounds like you're doing a good thing for someone in need. Thank you for that.

And no good deed goes unpunished, huh?

David

How the hell do you break a breaker bar? Like I wanna see pictures of that, I didn't think it was possible

Breaker bars are mostly junk. They're made for people without nice stuff, so they have to be cheap or the people would just buy nice stuff instead. I've seen long-handled flex-head 1/2" Snap-On ratchets on sale for $99. I gave up on breaker bars after i broke them all (with cheater pipes). I've had MUCH better luck with regular old 1/2" craftsman ratchets with pipes on them then i've had with breaker bars.

A breaker bar should basically be a considered a solution for when you need to turn something to a precise position without flipping the direction switch on a ratchet back and forth a bunch of times.

I broke a 24" flex head ratchet (MAC, not Snap-On) without a cheater. It's amazing how much force one can create by pulling up and using one's legs/back to provide the force. I can lift 500-600lb (briefly) by this method so that meant how much torque?

I know that the fasteners were laughing at my 2135. And that my lower spine hurt like hell for a week afterward. But I got them all loose, just had to borrow someone else's BREAKER BAR.

I used to have a Cornwell 1/2", it was depressingly easy to crush the ratchet wheel's teeth, only took 300ft-lb or so. Kept a spare set on hand at all times, until the Cornwell salesman quit and the company's horrid business practices came to light and I refuse to give that company any money ever again. The MAC ratchet mechanism was okay, but I broke the ears off of the flex portion itself.

That model was discontinued, the (free warranty) replacement was a new design unit (beefier in the flex lugs, I noted) that there was a spiff on, buy ratchet at $x and get a free jacket. The tool salesman gave me the jacket anyway

Knurled wrote: I used to have a Cornwell 1/2", it was depressingly easy to crush the ratchet wheel's teeth, only took 300ft-lb or so. Kept a spare set on hand at all times, until the Cornwell salesman quit and the company's horrid business practices came to light and I refuse to give that company any money ever again.

PM me.

You are not a failure you just need more better tools.