Currently changing my cambelt.

1. Took off filter+ cambelt upper casing +fan belt.

2. Jacked up car , got under drivers side to remove altenator pulley

3. Turned the air blue as I tried for 2 hrs with a 6mm allen key + penetration fluid to remove any of the pulley bolts.

Before I go any further with this job. Is there some major mistake I have made as the force on the pulley bolts is turning the crankshaft thus sorta defeating the object.

I've tried freeing them up with the tyre back on and lowered to the ground and in gear but I.m actually turning the driveshaft and the little mothers arn't budging.

Are they just seized? - Anyone else have trouble?

Cheers for any advice as its driving me up the wall.

Edited 14 July, 200719 yr by Docbooze

yes,little bastards arn't they!!

spent ages doing mine.

ended up having to chisel them off as my allen key rounded the hole.

yes,little bastards arn't they!!

spent ages doing mine.

ended up having to chisel them off as my allen key rounded the hole.

Yup they're a swine amongst swine's

Blasted them with penetration spray and left overnight. Gonna get some good smallish mole grips and see if I get a hold on the bolts as I think I'm rounding mine as well.

The thing is the little f*****ers are almost welded on after 7 years. Even with the the car in 4th gear I'm still turning the crankshaft. Gonna get a socket wrench on the crankshaft bolt and jam it against summit.

Cheers for reply - Good to know I'm not alone with this particular bastard of a task.

you will be even more pissed off when you actually see the small

amount of thread thats been thwarting you for a day. :-)

The good news is that they'll probably shear off leaving you with the fun job of drilling them out again. HOORAH!

Try hammering the largest Torx bit you can fit into the hex socket (T45 I think it is?)

This worked on mine. You may need to grind the end of the torx bit flat a couple of times to allow the splines to cut into the bolt.

Alternatively, if you really get stuck, set your cam pulley then cut the belt, undo the main pully nut & slide the whole thing off to sort out on a bench with some heat!

I don't know if I need to say this or if it applies for all VW engines but if the crankshaft mark is out don't be tempted to rotate it without the cam belt on!

Once they crack,they unscrew really easily like the innocent things they appear. If the hex bit isnt seated properly in the bolt,it'll round off. And you've got to lock the engine - which i do by shoving the end of a full size extension bar in the clutch inspection hole,under the thermostat housing.

try using a ring spanner over the allen key to get alot more leverage,chock the wheels and stick it in gear, always works!! just make sure the allen key in the bolt all the way or it will round out.

dont you just love it when a simple job turns out to be such a pain in the arse

try using a ring spanner over the allen key to get alot more leverage,chock the wheels and stick it in gear, always works!! just make sure the allen key in the bolt all the way or it will round out.

dont you just love it when a simple job turns out to be such a pain in the arse

Yup -always makes me laugh when you see the pictures in the Haynes maual sliding out an old component. I've just replaced my fuel filter and it took me 2 hours. The original bracket had more or less merged into the old filter. I just chopped the whole bracket off along with the old filter and made a new harness myself from thick wire (proberly more secure than the old bracket)

The only good thing about these allen bolts is that they are not flush with pulley so should be able to get my mole grips on em!

VW Polo Cambelt book time - 2hrs

Average bloke on the street time - The rest of your natural life !!!

Cheers for replies

i've bashed a socket over the bolts before if rounded - i also get an assistant to stop it going round by using a socket/wrench on the top pulley

pete

When you do get them off make sure you give them a good coating in copper grease before refitting.

When you do get them off make sure you give them a good coating in copper grease before refitting.

Why would you re-use them?

Throw them away & buy some new cap head bolts, preferably Torx instead of hex. If you have a few extra pennies get stainless too but use threadlock on them!

When you do get them off make sure you give them a good coating in copper grease before refitting.

Why would you re-use them?

Throw them away & buy some new cap head bolts, preferably Torx instead of hex. If you have a few extra pennies get stainless too but use threadlock on them!

Mine where perfectly fine when i changed the cambelt, didnt see any need to use new ones.