Drive Pulley Bolt

I am awaiting delivery of a new OEM drive belt, Dr. Pulley 24 gram sliders and variator guides and a Honda variator holding tool.

In anticipation, I am wondering if the bolt that holds the drive pulley in place offers any special challenges.

I know it's torqued to 76 ft. lbs. so is it easy to loosen with a standard 1/4" or 1/2" socket wrench? Or should I have an impact wrench and torque socket handy?

My 2012 is very clean and so far I've had no issues with frozen bolts or screws, and I'm pretty sure the pulley bolt will work as it should. I just want to know the best way to work with it.

Thanks.

Mike

Sure you can loosen the bolt with an impact tool (17 mm socket). But please do not use an impact tool to tighten the bolt. Use a proper torque wrench. While there will be conflicting opinions from others, IMHO if using a power tool to reinstall the bolt it's very easy for something to go wrong very quickly.

Also, it is not necessary to get that official Honda variator tool. There are several posts here showing inexpensive DIY tools. But if you've already ordered the tool...

"Sure you can loosen the bolt with an impact tool (17 mm socket). But please do not use an impact tool to tighten the bolt. Use a proper torque wrench."

I bought a torque wrench that goes up to 80 ft. lbs. just for this occasion ($20 at that wonder store, Harbor Freight). I'm aware I can loosen the bolt in theory. I was wondering more if it's really, really hard to do ... I don't have the oomph that I had a few decades ago. That's why I was thinking maybe have an impact wrench to get it loose.

Delray wrote:

I know it's torqued to 76 ft. lbs. so is it easy to loosen with a standard 1/4" or 1/2" socket wrench? Or should I have an impact wrench and torque socket handy?

As Tim said earlier an impact wrench will undo it no prob's, but may be a bit expensive if you only anticipate using it once/rarely, you may like to consider one of these as an  'affordable alternate' bud ............  

https://www.harborfreight.com/12-in-drive-25-in-professional-breaker-bar-62729.html

......... leverage is your friend

And you can use that Breaker Bar when you decide to remove the rear wheel too.

It's kinda taboo to use a torque wrench to loosen a bolt or nut. A torque wrench is a dedicated tool to apply final torque to a fastener.

I tried to undo the variator drive bolt on my 2013 SWT600 with a standard socket wrench, but it wouldn’t budge. Probably, first time it's undone since new...! I am afraid the bolt will sheer off if I use an extension bar…! However, this is a big bolt, so probably very difficult to sheer it off. I don’t have a piece of pipe handy to extend the wrench handle length, so I’ve put the job on hold for the moment. Has anyone had experience of this bolt sheering off. I am curious to know. If it does sheer off, I can image it will be a real pig to fix.

Dave B

The variator bolt on the FSC/FJS Silverwings is torqued to 76 lbs-ft (103 Nm). I suppose that it’s the same for the SWT model as well.

It shouldn’t be that hard to break it loose. But if you are concerned you might try heating the bolt head with a torch. Getting that bolt head blisteringly hot and then waiting 5 minutes or so will allow the heat to penetrate the bolt and free up whatever is binding things —if it’s Loctite or corrosion.

But if an air gun impact tool was used to tighten the bolt, rather than a hand held torque wrench, your only recourse may be heat and that breaker bar pipe extension.

Of course, given the circumstances, you could try to borrow an electric impact tool to loosen that bolt too. But when you reassemble the variator be sure to clean off those bolt threads, then apply a thin film of oil and use a proper torque wrench.

Just my two cents, but given the size of the variator bolt I think the socket would split long before the bolt. Had no problem with my 2012 when replacing it but as memory serves we did use a breaker bar.

Thanks guys, for your prompt response. I’ll try again. If it still doesn’t work, I guess I’ll have to use a torch to it. I’ll let you know how I get on.

Oh yeah... And best to use a 6-point socket. Much better grip on that tight bolt.

Get the breaker bar and 6 point socket.  1/2 inch drive.  You won't need to heat it I doubt any rust in there.   Bolt won't snap it can take much more torque than 76 lbs.  a lot more. Might take more force to break it loose. Once it moves a hair it's free.  Tools I have many.  

I spent the last half hour of my day removing 4 lug nuts on a Chevy truck rounded off and stuck.  Torch until cherry red and twist socket hammered on. 3/4 inch impact 600 lbs torque and it was not fun but removed them.  Twist sockets bite on rounded off bolts and only work to remove stuff.

My breaker bar is my favourite tool, everything succumbs to a breaker bar.
As mentioned above you need decent 6 point sockets. Not a 12 point socket, 12 pointers are for rounding off bolts and have no other use.

Loosened mine this evening using half inch ratchet and variator holding tool, no issues.

When retightening I did the blip the starter trick to turn, tighten a bit more and so on, all worked well and torqued to 103nm.

Follow-up on my tweet above, I did managed to undo the variator drive bolt without too much trouble this morning. Then proceeded to replace the original SW600 rollers with Dr Pulley 28x20 25gr sliders. The Dr Pulley sliding pieces that came with the sliders were a very tight fit. Moving the roller/slider plate in and out to see how smooth the travel was, I found the plate was binding when pushed all the way in (idle speed) which I didn’t think was normal. The original slider pieces seemed to be OK, so I reused them. Sure enough the plate moved in and out freely.
After putting everything back together, I took the bike for a test drive around the country lanes. I can honestly say the acceleration was very smooth better than the original rollers. Also no slapping of the drive belt around 60km/hr as was the case with the original rollers. I still need to do a test drive on the highway to check out my normal cruising speed around 120km/hr and the corresponding rpm. I’ll let you know what happens.

Those Dr Pulley slide pieces are supposed to be tight. Remember, you have a 50 hp which moves that ramp plate (w/ slide pieces) out. Those Dr Pulley slide pieces also keep the ramp plate from making a knocking noise as the ramp plate wiggles on the variator.

Good remark. If the ramp plate start rattling, then I’ll have to fit the new slide prices. I’ll first do the high speed highway test this week to see if everything is ok.

I have fitted 2 sets of DP sliders with new tight slide guides on 2 different swings and the cvt operates smoothly.

Riders, I used my 6 sided impact socket with a breaker bar and no issues.

If you can't get a torque wrench up to the full 80ftlbs called for, slip a short piece of pipe over the end of the wrench to lengthen the handle. That will add leverage to reach the higher settings with a lot less leverage. It won't change the torque reading, just make it a lot easier to get to it.