[porkchop61]

Hi all-
I could not get the infamous bolt loose when doing my timing belt change this past weekend. I actually tried the previous weekend, and decided to bring it to the dealer to have them loosen it for me. I brought the car by on Friday afternoon, and they also couldn't get it off using their traditional holder and breaker bars setup. They had to use the 3/4" impact gun to get it loose. They then re-tightened it and I drove it home.

Saturday morning I started the job, and when I took the wheel off, I saw this:

They never said that they broke the hex when I was at the dealership. When I put the holder on the pulley, a second piece just fell off (look at the crack at the 6:00 position). So now I'm missing 1/3 of the hex. I can't really hold the pulley effectively with the wrench now when I put it back on.

I'm going to call the dealership this morning and ask what they can do about it. I don't feel comfortable leaving that pulley on there.

My question is, can the pulley be replaced with a new one? This pulley is also a damper for the motor, so I would assume that it's matched to this specific engine? For that matter, the way it is now is already unbalanced as it's missing a large piece of metal from one side.

Has anyone had any experience with this type of situation?
I know I'm going to probably get stuck paying for a new pulley with labor to install it from the dealership

Thanks
Glenn

 

[drowned12]

That pulley can be replaced for something like $30. You're also supposed to replace the bolt when it's undone which costs another $6 (the service manual says this, along with applying oil to the threads). I suspect you can probably warranty it since that's a part that's not supposed to fail.

 

[Aviography]

You need to challenge the dealership, if you had broken it before they touched it, then they would have identified it to you, I hope you called the dealership as soon as you noticed this Saturday morning, the more time you wait to call them, the less likely you will get any consideration for compensation.

This is ugly, I used two different 550 ft-lb pneumatic impact wrench on mine and it wouldn't budge, I ended up taking the car to a friend's shop to have all the work done, he chuckled later that I must have almost gotten it loose since he was able to loosen it with the crank pulley holding tool and a breaker bar really easily.

Clearly the pulley is no longer perfectly balanced, but since the missing material is close to the center, it may not be too bad for short temporary driving, but it does need to be replaced if not for you don't know what other physical damage has been caused, which is not obvious yet but will develop in the near future, your engine will be toast if the the pulley fractures while the engine is running.

 

[SSMV6]

Looks like they cooked the pulley trying to heat up the bolt with a torch. You definitely need a new pulley.

My question is, can the pulley be replaced with a new one?

Yes

This pulley is also a damper for the motor, so I would assume that it's matched to this specific engine?

No it is not matched to your specific engine, but you will need to get one that the correct size and weight for your series engine (ie J30A4, J35Z2, etc) Look through some online OEM parts sites to find the correct pulley.

 

[porkchop61]

Thanks for all the replies.

I went to the dealership Monday morning and asked to see the Service Manager.
I went in his office along with the Service Adviser and the Mechanic that did the job. I explained to them what happened and showed them the pictures. They basically told me that I broke it when I initially tried to remove it. I told them when I put the wheel back on the car, it did not have any pieces missing! They said I could have cracked it when I tried to remove it, which is total BS.
So basically it came down to my work against theirs, so I lost.
I ordered a new genuine Honda pulley online for $73, but I didn't know about the bolt needing replacement (I didn't see that in the manual). I did clean and oil the old one as shown in the manual before re-installing it.

I realize things happen when doing repairs at the dealership, but my biggest complaint is that they never said anything to me when I picked-up the car. That's just not very honest in my opinion.

My Wife has purchased all of her Accords from this dealer over the years, so it's not like I never had any relationship with them before this. My Wife said she will now re-think ever buying another car from them. So now they may have lost a customer over a $70 part.

Thanks for the advice, I guess I'm just on a bit of a rant over this.
Glenn

[EDIT]
Just looked at the V6 supplement manual, and no mention of replacing the pulley bolt (page 6-14).

 

[Aviography]

The bolt does not need to be replaced, I've never read that being necessary, and my trusted Honda indy shop also didn't mention it.