What have I gotten into? Lisle tool to the rescue.

[Bob Kontak]

A massive ramble but talk about getting pulled out of a hole.

First adventure a couple years ago. Guy says "check the plugs out". 2004 or 2005 Ford small V8. The ol' ham fist snaps the first plug right in half. THEN I Google. Ceramic shank plugs just break like glass under torque. $100 FLAPS Lisle tool, maybe $65 on-line. Multi-bit and multi-step process but plugs came out. Essentially a specific application easy-out but a beauty. I have about a 60% hit rate on getting them out now without breaking.

Recent adventure. Chevy C5500 Kodiak dump with Duramax/Allison. Water pump/thermostats. For the love of God, the hoses, inter-cooler and other pipes, brackets and etc. Lay into it and get down to water pump housing. Two low torque 12MM bolts and a nut on a stud hold it on. Its not behind the fan. It's driven by a timing (associated) gear so is it's own entity. A little lower and to drivers side of engine face than fan pulley. The nut/stud is behind the harmonic balancer.

I walk away. In fact went home breathing into a brown paper bag.

Couple beers and Youtube I find a close video. Have to lock the flywheel and use a 3/4" drive 36MM 12 point socket to bust balancer bolt. Video references a Lisle tool that he did not use. He jammed a large drift pin between bell housing parts and warned you could break bell housing. Looked online and a new Allison trans was in the $6k range.

Bought the Lisle kit the Orielly's hub had in stock. Fifty big ones. I'm nervous as this is a small monstro truck and video was a 2500 Sierra. Same transmission? Fit like a glove into the flywheel teeth and the exercise was a non event.

God bless Lisle tools.

See 9:00 in where he breaks his 1/2 drive breaker bar using the 36MM socket. 13:48 where he uses the 3/4 inch drive breaker with a new socket for success.

[pwd72s]

Lisle tools...specialists in solving mechanic's problems created by design engineers.

[piscator]

Well done Bob! Just keep on trucking!

[john70t]

Originally Posted by Bob Kontak

Have to lock the flywheel and use a 3/4" drive 36MM 12 point socket to bust balancer bolt.

Video references a Lisle tool that he did not use. He jammed a large drift pin between bell housing parts and warned you could break bell housing. Looked online and a new Allison trans was in the $6k range.

All cheater bars for crank sockets should be 3/4 or greater with cheater bar. btdt lol
-Don't cheap out.
-Or watch the 1/2" bend and suddenly snap while you drive your knuckles into a mesh full of hose clamp ends, slicing them open to the bone in fountains of blood.
-Or get up in there and use your feet and watch the 1/2" twist that socket off the nut and rounding it off. And then you use a torch and chisel and buy a new $158 nut which should arrive next year.

I saw a guy using a small auto transmission jack to pull a full size delivery truck transmission.
The jack failed and he bent the input shaft and maybe cracked the housing.
Using the wrong tool cost a lot lot more.

Originally Posted by Bob Kontak

Video references a Lisle tool that he did not use. He jammed a large drift pin between bell housing parts and warned you could break bell housing. Looked online and a new Allison trans was in the $6k range.

Notice the drift pin is round where it meets the housing.
Welding on a flat piece would prevent concentrating the load in one spot.

[wdfifteen]

Well done! Holy schnit I would have been frustrated beyond all reason with the spark plug. I admire both your perseverance and your google skills.

[fastfredracing]

I love that all these great tools are right at our fingertips now , with e bay , amazon, and all the online sellers .
I just paid my snap on guy today. My balance is $8.00. I have no plans on making anything other than small hand tool purchases from them anymore , They are a father and son team, and they were leaning on me like the sleaziest of all used car salesmen.
I stood like a rock.

[GH85Carrera]

Fred, about 20 years ago I needed an weird socket for a specific task. I called around to find the Snap on truck closest to me. As I walked up to the truck a wife of some mechanic was paying off her husbands bill, and with her tone and loud verbal attack made it quite clear if her husband bought any more tools the Snap On guy would never get paid for the tools.

She left and the guy was rather quiet. I told him I needed a simple cash purchase and he was relieved.

[93nav]

I watched the whole video. Now that's a job and a half.

[SCadaddle]

Their seal puller tool is the cats meow!

[unclebilly]

Originally Posted by pwd72s

Lisle tools...specialists in solving mechanic's problems created by design engineers.

...created by design engineers who didn’t know how to reload a grease gun.

[Baz]

Great read - congrats Bob on tackling this repair and thanks for sharing, sir.

Here's a link to the Lisle specialty tools webpage.

Wow!

https://www.lislecorp.com/specialty-tools?recordsPerPage=max

[slow&rusty]

Good stuff! I've have a variety of Lisle Tools and they have been life savers through the years.