I'm a newby member but I have been following the whoas of several montero owners and I thought I would finally join into the fray.

I had a crank bolt break on me a few years ago ('95 SR)and didn't have the funds to take it to a mechanic (I probably wouldn't have anyway, I always love a challenge, I think I can do as good of a job or better,and I'm cheap).

But why I am commenting is because I wanted to share how I proved a dealer wrong by NOT damaging the threads in my crank and saving a ton of time.

How I removed the broken bolt was by using reverse drill bits and a home built drill fixture. The fixure was simply a two inch PVC coupling I got from the hardware store with a two inch pulley pressed into one end and a series (2) nested brass bearings that fit snuggly into the hole of the pulley. The bearings were sized to fit the left hand turn drill bits thus guiding the bits straights in to the bolt. The PVC coupling fits around the crank timing sprocket but the roll pin had to be removed for the pulley to seat on top of the sprocket. I believe now that I could of used an oak or plastic insert with two hole drilled into it, one for the bearings and one for the roll pin. This may also allow for sizing for the guide bearing/sleaves.

Using this fixture and an angle drill I was able to have the bolt out in less than an hour. Before I thought of the fixture I was so worried about drilling crooked I spent about two hours getting no where.

I hope this helps and I thank all of you for your past posts, they have helped me tremendously.

If you need more info just ask. I may even have the old fixture around for pix if needed.