Hey guy so im doing a timing chain job on my 2012 Honda Civic si and I’m having trouble removing the vtc actuator bolt , I was wondering if you guys have any good ideas of loosening the bolt , I currently have my crank pulley off I was thinking of putting it back on and tighten the bolt back up with an impact then get a 19mm socket with a breaker bar and wedge the breaker bar in the control arm this will keep the camshaft from rotating then use a 17mm with a breaker bar to get the actuator bolt loose .. I’m worried I might break the crank pulley bolt before the actuator bolt comes lose I’ve also tried putting a wrench on the camshaft and breaker bar but I don’t have enough power I need both my hands ! Please if anyone could help thanks

 

I’m worried I might break the crank pulley bolt before the actuator bolt comes lose

Wow. Crank bolt vs actuator bolt and you think the actuator wins? Tough bolt.

 

lmao thanks for the reply brother ! I needed a second opinion I just didn’t want that crank bolt to snap in the crankshaft then that would of just been a big pain in the *** , now I did pull the bolt for the crank pulley so I’m gonna have to snug it up with an impact before I put a breaker bar on it I’ll keep you posted if it works out , I seen someone grab 2 adjustable wrench’s and put them on the exhaust and intake camshaft and vise grip the two wrench’s together but I don’t want to strip the camshaft or gouge a cam lobe

 

Hey man I can’t seem to get my crank pulley all the way flush with my crank shaft does the bolt tighten it flush ? I can’t remember if it was flush when I pulled it off this is what is looks like now

I’m trying to hold a ratchet on the crank pull to stop it from moving but trying to wedge the ratchet now my chain has slack in it not sure how I need to wedge my ratchet I have the ratchet on tighten feel like it’s becoming a mess real quick I think it jumped on the intake gear I’ll have to make sure it’s all line up before I button it up I need to get this bolt off

 

so I was able to break my vtc actuator bolt loose but I think in the process it jumped timing which is no big deal but not when I go to rotate engine back to tdc I can feel binding so I don’t want to force anything also I think the actuator may have unlocked it self when the bolt came loose now I’m wondering what the best way to get this back in time is the tensioner and chain are till attached to engine I have new ones I’m going to be re installing but I need to figure out how I can get the marks back on time here’s a few pictures.. I am working on the car rn so an answer asap would be really appreciated!!

 

Why is the balancer look like it's cockeyed. Also, it's splined?

 

I ended up getting the vtc bolt off with a huge cheater pipe , and I’m pretty sure it just the angle of the photo it’s straight in there but you can still see the splines on the pulley I couldn’t push it any further I’m thinking it’s supposed to be like that right ?

 

It should contact it. Splined? Is the crank splined? If so why the need for a key? Has this been thrown together with other parts?

 

Yes the crank pulley is splined , that crank shaft isnt tho but this is the factory pulley on the car I couldn’t push the pulley in any further than that I’ve tried but I think it bottoms out on that metal washer behind the timing cover, maybe the bolt presses it on the rest of the way ? Although when I took it off the pulley slid straight off