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I have a 95 Camry LE (v6) and I'm in the process of replacing the water pump. One of the prerequisites for accessing the pump is crank pulley removal. User cdunn (thanks a bunch for the suggestions) provided me with info on the starter bump method for crank bolt removal (since I don't have an impact gun) and managed to fail at every attempt. When filming myself doing this, I would turn over the engine with the camera facing the crank bolt. I noticed that when the socket was on the bolt (and socket attached to breaker bar which is snug against my control arm) and I bump the starter, the crank doesnt make a full revolution...it seems to either get stuck - like theres not enough torque - or it senses something blocking it and doesnt turn. After removing the socket, and bumping the starter with nothing on the bolt, the crankshaft turns fine...help!

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  • Have you got the bolt out now using the starter?
    – HandyHowie
    Mar 20, 2016 at 11:56
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    Are you sure that you're rotating the engine the right way? Remember that your bolt is going to be removed counter-clockwise. The engine needs to turn clock wise so that they can cohesively work together. If the engine is a counter-clockwise running motor, it will not work. I'm not sure on those V6's which way they go.
    – cloudnyn3
    Mar 20, 2016 at 12:48
  • @HandyHowie negative it won't turn enough Mar 20, 2016 at 13:21
  • @cloudnyn3 yes I observed the crank turn clockwise during a test run without the socket on Mar 20, 2016 at 13:22
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    @NathanielDavidson Unless the bolt is seized inside the crank, I don't think it has anything to stop it from turning. Other than a dead battery. If you removed your timing components that could be causing it to hangup if pistons are hitting valves. That starter should have more than enough power to break a bolt loose.
    – cloudnyn3
    Mar 20, 2016 at 13:52

1 Answer 1

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This is compression of air working against you

Over the course of two crank revolutions for your Camry you have 4 cylinders compressing air and fuel. When you see the engine get to a point of rotation and it rotates backward a bit after releasing the starter, that's air acting as a spring and resisting.

If you take your sparkplugs out of the engine it will allow the engine to turn over without working against your efforts.

This is normal behavior, nothing's wrong.

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  • Thanks I will try that in a few hours , after work. Thanks! Mar 20, 2016 at 13:25

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