For those of us with automatics, snubbing the engine crank to permit removal of the crank bolt leaves few options. Removing the starter and jamming the flywheel gear is about the only way to gain enough leverage.

The other day, I found one of my least useful tools, a strap wrench worked perfectly to allow one guy to remove that stubborn bolt. The Craftsman strap wrench will wedge beautifully behind the water pump pulley. The harder you pull, the tighter the strap gets. No damage to the pulley as it really serves to keep the wrench in one place while the strap tightens. In the photo, the wrench is on the installation side but removal is just putting it over on the other side. I had a big 18" 1/2 drive breaker bar and was pulling for all I was worth before the bolt finally cracked loose. It worked just as well to install. One of the few good things I've found this tool good for.

 

Hi Aerocolorado,

I'm new here- just joined. (I'm a proud new owner of a '95 Aerostar, 129k miles, 3.0 vulcan v-6, auto tranny, XLT- still have a few more payments to my uncle before it's all mine for good).

Just curious as to why you're removing the crank shaft bolt? Is the main seal leaking oil or upgrading sheaves?

 

I used the old starter trick on my Toyota last week when I was doing a headgasket. Place breaker bar on solid frame member (it was a transverse engine) and crank the starter.

I tried a strap wrench but it just tore apart it was a cheapy Harbor Freight one though.

And the bolt was only torqued to 88 ft pounds a sissy torque when comparing it to the 150-180 torque other engines specify.

Good tip I thought since mine broke that strap wrenches were useless for this demanding purpose. I'm going to pick up one of those Craftsmen strap wrenches since it was able to fit the bill without breaking its gotta be pretty tough.

Since the 3.0 Aeros turn counterclockwise does that mean that the crank bolt has left handed threads?

I always thought that the bolt must tighten with the rotational direction of the engine to prevent loosening.

 

I used a screwdriver to jam between one of the flywheel studs and part of the frame to stop counter-clockwise movement so I could loosen up the crank bolt. Then I used a long crowbar to jam between the flywheel stud and the ground to prevent clockwise movement so I can tighten the crank bolt. This is more stable than jamming against the teeth of the flywheel gear, and it's less damaging; those studs were designed to work in shear.

The torque spec I saw in Chilton's says 37 ft-lbs +90 degrees to tighten it.

I'm not sure about the correct torquing direction for the 3 liter engine, but I don't believe it turns counter-clockwise in normal operation. In fact, most of the manuals I've read says NOT to turn the engine counter-clockwise on account of its timing belt. So I would check the service instructions before turning the engine by hand.

 

Answers:
Crank bolt is being removed to pull the timing gear cover. Gaskets between were leaking coolant. Just too old and worn to tighten down. Crank seal was not leaking although you get a new seal with the basic gasket kit.

Right hand thread on the 4.0L engine. Not sure about the 3.0L.

I saw that same spec in my Chilton's. Chilton's is wrong about a lot of things of this nature. (i.e. torque on steering rack bolt at 100+ ft lbs., wrong firing order on 4.0 engine, etc) Two other references stated 147-165 ft.lbs. I went with 150 since that was the limit of my torque wrench.

 

I try to use factory manuals as much as possible. When I can't find one I use Haynes manuals. I have a Chiltons for another car and it seems less complete poorly organized with less illustrations then the Haynes.