[upflying]

If it's a stick put it in 5th gear.

 

[flipjarg]

It's an automatic transmission.

 

[Storkiln]

Does your crank pulley have four holes around the 22mm crank bolt? If so, you can tighten it up to torque by using some creative bracing. Instead of trying to explain it, I figured it would be easier to just draw it out. Hope this is clear enough.

 

[RobLog]

I need 94ft lbs according to the Chilton manual that came with the car.

Do you have the 2.5L DOHC engine? If so, the torque spec for the crank bolt is 135 +/- 7 ft-lbs according to the factory service manual. Chilton and Haynes are wrong.

With the AT, there is a port on the top of the engine where you can insert a screwdriver to lock the crank. I'll see if I can find a pic.

EDIT:
In the red circle in the photo below, there is a rubber plug ... remove the plug and rotate the crank until a slot appears in the opening into which you can insert a screwdriver to lock the crank while you tighten the crank bolt.

 

[flipjarg]

...If so, you can tighten it up to torque by using some creative bracing. Instead of trying to explain it, I figured it would be easier to just draw it out....

Wow, that is awesome! Thank you for that idea, I am going to keep that one locked away for future work as well. Thank you so much for the work you put into drawing it out. That helped a lot and I just shared it with a bunch of friends too. That's going to save me a ton of hassle!

...In the red circle in the photo below, there is a rubber plug ... remove the plug and rotate the crank until a slot appears in the opening into which you can insert a screwdriver to lock the crank while you tighten the crank bolt.

I went to the hardware store to get some parts and asked around, no one seemed to know except one guy who overheard me. He told me about this exact thing (I think) but I thought he was crazy because he appeared to have done too many drugs... but I am going to look for this!

Also thanks for the heads up on the torque specs... the Chilton manual I have is not the best I've seen. They tried to cover 4 different engine types for this model of car and many of the instructions are very vague. For this crank shaft, I think I will just have to tighten it as hard as I possibly can: 135 ft lbs!?!?! I hope my torque wrench which measures inch pounds can go up that high!

I'll let you all know how it goes (also for future people searching).

 

[RobLog]

Many auto parts stores will loan tools for free, though you have to leave a refundable deposit. The ones I've used had torque wrenches that went up to 150 ft-lbs.

 

[Storkiln]

You're welcome, Flipjarg. I doodled it really quickly, but I'm glad it was clear enough to get the point across.

 

[flipjarg]

Just as I was loosing hope in finding the plastic plug on my Subaru Legacy 2.5L, I found it! In case anyone else is wondering about this and finds this thread, I'm posting these photos I took. Hopefully they will help someone.

On another note, I broke my borrowed torque wrench! It didn't even click to tell me I was at or past the set torque! It just popped off. It had that unmistakable breaking/twisting metal feel and I knew what had happen before I even looked :-/ ... oh well, now I can buy my dad a nice one.

 

[Storkiln]

I hope you didn't try using the in-lb torque wrench you mentioned before. I'm not sure those are meant to handle the strain on ft-lb torque. For 135 ft-lbs, that's asking an in-lb wrench to go to 1,620 in-lb.

 

[flipjarg]

I knew it was way too much for that torque wrench but I thought, I'd set it high, that way I would know I was getting close to half way when it clicks... I never felt the click. Just a cheap torque wrench (no name brand) breaking. It was only $20 for it. I just got the breaker bar out and tightened it as hard as I could like I've always done.

The car is running today. After driving it around a little, I am thinking it has a bad CV joint. However, no signs of a head gasket leak!

 

[Storkiln]

Just to be on the safe side, after some driving, go back in and try to tighten the crank bolt again to make sure it hasn't started to back out. There's enough room up there to do so without having to remove any hoses or fans. It's cheap peace of mind to prevent parts flying off into the fans and radiator.

 

[flipjarg]

Not a bad idea. I have a good torque wrench on the way, so I should be able to get it tightened to specification as well. Thanks!

 

[Outback2002]

Does this screwdriver in the flywheel technique work for the manual cars? I have a 2002 outback 2.5 manual. Thanks