It's well known that the crankshaft pulley bolt is put on with a tremendous amount of torque, but how much exactly? What strength of impact wrench is required to get this bolt off to change the timing belt, 400 lb? 600 lb?

For the '00 - '04

KA24: 105-110 ft-lb
VG33E: 141-156 ft-lb

That's the torque you're supposed to put it on with.... doesn't mean it won't take more than that to get it off.

My crappy DeVilbiss impact wouldn't do it - even overdriving it with 120psi - but others have had good luck with decent (non high torque) impacts. If you're buying one to do the job, a 600lb would be a good choice.

I ended up doing the breaker bar trick with mine:: Get a long breaker bar & 27mm socket on there, tie the end of the bar to the frame on the passenger side of the frame, and bump the starter (i.e. start the truck - but just for like 1 second). It's scary - but it works great. (Tying the bar isn't completely necessary - I just did it to keep the breaker bar tight against the frame between when I got it positioned and when I got into the truck)

ETA: Also, you definitely want a harmonic balancer puller and some M6x75 bolts to get the balancer off. It can be done other ways - but the puller works great and you won't risk messing up the balancer.

To get the bolt off mine the first time I undid it was to brace a breaker bar onto a large block of wood and then use the starter to break it free. IIRC you will need a 27mm socket.

Kaiser beat me to it.

Thanks for the replies. After reading other threads on different forums about people having so much trouble, I think the 600 lb. sounds good.

Just remember, the best air gun in the world will not do squat, if the air compressor pushing it is weak.

Not true... cfm doesn't mean a thing with impact wrenches because you generally use them intermittently - plus the better impacts usually use LESS air. Yeah, if you have a wimpy compressor you may find yourself waiting for it to pump back up sometimes - but we're only talking about breaking one big bolt loose.

I'll take a great impact with a crap compressor over the reverse any day.

Then I have issues. I have a 1/2" Ingersol Rand Thunder Gun, rated at 625tq in reverse. When I use my craptastic compressor at home, I can rarely remove crank bolts.

Now if I use the compressor at work, I never have problems.

I bought the professional impact wrench from home depot for around $120 dollars. daggerdoggie recommended it. I have a small 8 gallon compressor. I got the crankshaft pulley bolt off with no problem!