Have looked through AA but cannot find the answer to a quicky - namely :- Is it wise to Loctite the Crank pulley bolt ? or come to that any of the bolts associated with head gasket changing. Personally I hate the stuff, and have many a scar caused by trying to undo Locktited bolts.

- (#13865) gordon davies, 21 Oct 04 17:31

The instances of this bolt unwinding are quite alarming. There are many comments on this forum and the problem is not confined to our type of vehicle. A right hand threaded component, screwed into a clockwise rotating shaft, being "shocked" into unwinding every time the starter operates, seems to be a recipe for disaster. However, having a left hand threaded bolt would bring other problems in that it would be almost impossible to remove without shearing the bolt. I fit a simple locking device and there are details in the "Tasks" section on the home page.
Yes, Locktite is very useful but, in this situation it seems to work a bit too well. Before fitting my locking device, I made a habit of checking this bolt whenever I did a belt inspection but, as others have found, sometimes, without warning, the first they know about it is when the pulley drops off the ruined crankshaft.

- (#13865) John Davis (Leics), 21 Oct 04 17:58

John
T
About the only place I didn't look for info was .... Tasks. Well worth the trouble of making one, especially when you consider the possible consequences. Could you patent your ideas and sell them to Toyota for a huge sum ?
I'm waiting to hear from Ford, Detroit regarding a suggestion that they modify all Ford light switch so that it has only 2 positions - OFF and Dipped Beam
( full beam stays unchanged) For the very rare occasions when side lights only are needed, a separate very simply toggle switch will be used. Must be worth at least £5 / car with 10,000,000 being produced annually should see me through in my old age !!!

- (#13865) Gordon Davies, 21 Oct 04 18:18

Gordon, if you're talking about Ford in the US, it's common for American cars to have DRLs (day running lights), and these generally amount to nothing more than dipped beam being on the whole time. Sometimes there's a long wire in the circuit to act as a resistor a la "dim-dip" over here, but not always.

A "cool" mod in the states for VWs is to fit a european light switch, because it re-enables sidelights- "city lights" as they call them.

So early retirement may not be on the cards just yet...

- (#13865) David Miller, 22 Oct 04 01:35