"motsco_ _" <"motsco_ _"@interbaun.com> wrote
> Honda Doc wrote:
> > NEVER use anything but the crank pulley bolt to turn the engine.
> >
> >
> > "motsco_ _" <"motsco_ _"@interbaun.com> wrote in message
> > news:41AC0D24.1040400@interbaun.com...
> >>It's just like a SOHC engine, with adjuster screws and (12mm?)lock nuts.
> >>You can just download the procedure from many sites so you don't need to
> >>buy a manual. . . Some auto parts places in Canada will even print the
> >>procedure pages off their (self-serve) computer.
> >>
> >>Remove the plugs and use the power steering pulley to turn it over.
> >>
> >>Bear in mind that the Britt version of the manual says to do it every
> >>50,000 Km (30,000 miles), and they tend to tighten with age, so some
> >>people adjust to the looser side of the spec. I'd rather hear them tick
> >>than smell them burning.
> >>
> >>Try also hondasuv.com, look in 'CRV /articles'
> >>
> >>'Curly'
> >>
> ------------------------
>
>
> Um, Honda doc,
>
> Where did you read that?
>
> With the plugs out, you can turn over a '99 CRV engine with your gloved
> hand on the PS pulley, and some around here do it all day long. The big
> nut on the PS pump will not come loose for the tiny bit of torque it
> takes to crank the engine over, and the added bonus is being able to see
> the timing markings on the pulley from above.

Turning the PS pulley by hand to turn the crankshaft requires a transfer of
power from PS pulley to PS belt to crankshaft pulley to crankshaft. You're
asking the PS belt, for one, to take the load of the engine instead of the load
of the tiny little PS pump.

One can argue this "reverse power" transfer setup is inconsequential for a lot
of reasons. Maybe the engineering calculations would indeed support this,
particularly for the mere two, slow speed rotations of the CS pulley needed to
adjust the valves. But the reality is the PS belt was not designed for this
direction of power transfer. It might work for the short run but I wouldn't do
it for the long run, if only to promote good practices.

(Some of the online manuals say the PS nut is left-hand threaded, BTW.)

> 'Engineers know the rules . . owners / technicians / tinkerers know the
> exceptions'

.... and some in each category know it's a team effort where no lines should be
drawn in advance about who knows what. All should think things through in
logical fashion as well as draw from experience, IMO.

Some of those exceptions prove to be mistakes in the long run. But hey, the
technician has the customer's money in his pocket. How is a customer going to
trace back to him the use of non-OEM coolant when the car's water pump fails a
few months later? Or how about a dented oil pan because the technician didn't
support the car properly when changing the timing belt? Someone took shortcuts.
They "knew the exceptions," like you say. Not.

I view any allegation of exceptions to the manual with skepticism until it's
well-supported by careful analysis. Yada yada...