Hi Barry
Thankyou for your input . My thoughts on your comments are as follows:
I agree in the first instance with
tuonokid said:
as the pulley bolt is tightening it's shank is trying to turn the crank pulley, not the crankshaft
However by the time you have the initial 40nm torque applied , then the crank pulley , crank timing gears and the crank itself are then interlocked. At that stage using the tool you have or locking the flywheel at the other end with the 6mm allen key makes no difference.
In actual fact I strongly believe locking the flywheel is less detrimental because the diameter of the boss on the other end of the crankshaft that the flywheel fits to is a larger diameter than that of the nose that the Front Pulley bolt is screwed into.
Most people aren't fortunate to have access to that special tool you have. to use with the engine in situ.
Chris at Allison Automotive uses a Sykes Pickavant flywheel locking tool whilst the engine is out , which meshes with the teeth and serves the identical purpose as the 6mm allen key.
However unless you split the engine from the Gearbox , involving a lot of unnecessary work, you can't use the flywheel locking tool with the engine in situ , that is why the tool you use was made.
Using the 6mm allen key locks the engine in 2 minutes flat, is in most peoples tool kit and correctly inserted there is no chance of anything moving , whereas your tool could come off the axle stand, if something slipped or fractured.
Furthermore your tool wouldn't have worked on my bottom pulley as the 2 holes that it fits into were not present.
That replacement front Pulley was fitted in Fords workshop and the only way they could have tightened it to 40 nm +90 deg would have been by locking the flywheel.
The gearbox was not removed at the time and the engine does not have a bent crankshaft and has covered more than double your Puma's engines mileage since it was changed . So hopefully that is sufficient proof and reassurance that nothing detrimental happened to my crankshaft by locking the flywheel to tighten the front crankshaft pulley bolt?
I believe incidentally that Yamaha/ Ford assembling the engine would have used the Flywheel locking tool method to torque the bolt instead of your special tool. Because engines are built on a bench or engine stand in the factory.
Chris from Allison Automotive told me when I spoke to him that when working on the FRP's & other Pumas that he has always pulled the engine out to do engine work including a cam belt change.
As far as I am aware, he hasn't reported any issues by locking the flywheel to date either.
We are all here to help each other and pass on tips and our experiences when working on the Puma, so that they can stay on the road as long as possible but at the same time keeping the driving experience affordable.