Decided to go with the underdrive set, in the final stages of install - when...

I got the crank pulley bolt out, followed the instructions of the kit (BBK, by the way) and bolted the old harmonic/crank pulley back to the new crank pulley as required. Now the new crank bolt won't thread into the crank, and neither will the old one. I checked thread pitch and diameter. The old shorter bolt was stretched towards the head only slightly. The rest of the bolt was fine.

I've done a few other vehicles with similar problems but eventually they threaded in and were fine. I don't have a tap, this one's metric anyhow. I'm under the impression the old bolt was tapered, as all I've ever dealt with were. The new bolt isn't. Could this be the problem?

What if I remove some of the material on the new bolt to get enough of the bolt into the hole on the crank? Anyone see any issues with that?

Kinda hoping for a 10 hour turn around on this question... I have a drop dead time to get this truck on the road on the 4th.

-Kerry

 

I just installed a BBK set as well on my 98. I didnt experience any problems threading the new extended bolt into the crank. Maybe BBk sent you a wrong bolt for a wrong application. I wouldnt be surprised if this is the case beacuse they sent me the wrong instructions at first and i drove around without the old balancer mounted to the new pulley spraying oil everywhere through the gap between the new pulley and the old stock bolt.

As far as i remember my new BLACK bolt was defenitely tapered, and it threaded in without any problem. So i would say they sent you the wrong bolt. In case you have to reinstall the original for now until they send you the correct bolt, remember the stock bolt is TTY and cannot be reused. Also once you do get the right bolt make sure to use silicone liberally to make sure you seal out any leaks. Good luck and Happy 4th!

 

It's not the bolt... it matched the old one's thread pitch and diameter. Yes, it was black.

Last night while I was thinking what I could have done to the threads, it hit me. I must have screwed up the threads on the crank with the puller I used. I should have kept the pulley bolt partially in the hole to protect them from the puller bolt.

I know the old bolt is not supposed to be reused, it did grab a little bit when I attempted to reinstall it. I may use that old bolt to chase threads. I don't have a tap to speak of. I've gotta go with what I have at this point. Gotta get the truck on the road.

-Kerry

 

Good luck Kerry, Hopefully the old bolt will retap the threads for ya. If so, be sure to use the new one as the old one is a 1 use, torque to yield bolt. The new one is probably a Grade 8. Nice way to spend a holiday huh??

 

Well it looks like I get to find an M12 x 1.5 tap... the old bolt just damaged the threads all the more. Anyone ever have to re-tap one of these cranks before? Is a blind tap best? I think it only damaged the first few threads.

-Kerry

 

That should work fine.

 

Did ya get it fixed yet, Kerry?

 

Got the problem resolved... until I need a new crank or shortblock.

Just in case anyone is interested, the crank bolt is an M12 x 1.5 x 45mm or thereabouts.

Another tech note... why did BBK drill and tap for the 1/4-20s, include them, then not use them? Does this pulley fit another application?

Anyway I installed the pulley, then proceded to torque the old harmonic balancer to the new aluminum pulley per directions... I found out 10 ft-lbs was more than enough to strip the threads. Since I had these other bolts, and the holes seemed to be in a spot that would serve as a counter torque to help hold my previously stripped out bolt, I installed the 1/4-20s on the side of the pulley that was going against the timing chain cover. Dumb move....

When we finally got the truck back together (I was installing the e-fan and putting in fresh coolant hoses, as well), and fired it up, my oldest son got to watch the engine act as a mill. The 1/4-20 bolt heads began to mill around the crank seal.

Stopped the engine, removed the pulley to take a look at the mess. Not too bad, no leaks, the seal looked intact. Removed those 1/4-20 bolts and reinstalled the pulley... yes, I reused the TTY crankshaft bolt. Hey, I've already proved I'm a dummy twice, let's do it a third time?

Got the truck running again and the harmonic dampner has a wobble to it, but I can't be sure that it wasn't wobbling somewhat before all this mess. The truck has almost 90K... not sure how much more of me it can handle.

-Kerry

 

Sounds like too much hastle for 4 or 5 hp. I'll stick with the stocker on mine

 

I'm thinking the same because of my stupidity, but when I reprogrammed the Predator this afternoon and took the truck for another 15 mile round tripper with the wife, there's an aweful nice sounding, smooth running, placebo installed somewhere.

That DI/DO Bassani '02 F150 H-D exhaust set-up, I modified the truck for, sounds pretty good. When I first installed it, it didn't sound like it does now...

I've got a set of headers for another weekend job... doesn't look like it'll be the near future, though.

I should tell you that I was able to break the tires loose from a stop sign. I've never been able to do that in dry weather until now.

-Kerry

 

Wow! I thought my install went bad. See my "Front Main seal leaking" thread in this forum. I feel bad for the amount of pain you had to go through. I really think that the folks at BBK need to pay more attention to what they put in that box, beacuse I too had the problem with the 1/4 20s. i had to source my ovn bolts and use those instead. When I called them they said that this kit is for a few applications but they do not decipher what is used for which app in the instructions. Im glad you got everything figured out, I sure was glad when i put the thing back together for the third time and no more oil was leaking.
BTW My truck was also able to break the tries loose after installing this kit. Look at my sig for mods list.