JAKE

NO angle guys. Do not hit on only one side of the balancer. Has to come off as straight as you can. Otherwise, if it's very slightly cocked to one side, that'll cause it to bind even more.

A couple/few of good hits (testosterone, length of wood and heavy headed hammer) on one side, then same thing 180* opposite; repeat until it drops right off.

You can even leave one of the three bolts threaded on - couple of threads is all you'll need - which'll serve to 'catch' the damper once is comes free.

Sure, you can use Blaster or some other kind of rust dissolver if you'd like. You can also borrow or buy a 'speciale' tool and go through what's called for to use it. I never had to resort to those though even on 100K+ engines.

Leave the timidity in your storage locker; FEARLESSNESS wins the day. EL WHACKO!!

Jake

tblt44

I just dont want to mess something up,I'm only hitting it like medium using a 3/8 socket extention on the indide of the hub with a claw hammer and a 4 lb dead blow.I have not done the 2 x 4 yet not much room and I wanted to hit closest to the center as I could.

also will PB blaster damage my crankshaft seal??? I syre hope not

this is one sorry design,I cant even change the w/p seal without removing the opti.Why didn't they put a radius at the top of the opti so you could replace that if you were in there.

Al Borman

These pully/balancer's are a 2 piece design. These 2 pieces are held together with some super duper rubberized gorilla snot. If you whack the pully/balancer from the outside, you WILL damage the unit. You will see noticable wobble after you re-install and engine is idling. So always whack it on the inside. I use a 5 foot metal bar(weight lifting bar) and 4lb sledge. If you give it a few good whacks, rotate engine, a couple more whacks, and it will pop off. You can turn the engine easily by hand using a socket and breaker bar on the center snout bolt. Don't waste your money on a 200$ kentmore pully remover unless you plan to do this type of work 3 or 4 times a year to legitimize the investment.

PS.... Lose the socket extension and get something much longer with more gurth..... trust me, you will have it off if under 5 minutes. You want something that is long enough so that you are positioned just behind the passenger side wheel.

tblt44

Well I started hitting it on the outside and I have small marks on it.I hope I didn't damage it.Never hit it really hard in my opinion.I will check it when/if I get it back together.I just got a heavy duty 4'" 3 jaw puller today.I will get it off with this,I will cut and modify it as needed for this job,just in case I have to do it all over again one day.I could do this in less than an hour if I had the corvette tools needed.As stated before I'm not replacing anything but the 2 top timing cover seals and hoping the crankshaft seal is not leaking.
If I could have replaced the w/p seal without pulling the opti I would have just sioped and done that.

tblt44

Well got a puller $25 today.
I will post picks of how I get it off with this puller,no more banging on this thing.I probley will need to modify it a little but what ever it takes to make it work.I'm going
I just hope my Harmonic balancer is OK

Al Borman

I am not sure what kind of "puller" you bought, but you do not want to pull the pully/balancer from the outer lips as shown in this photo, as this could also distort/displace the rubber ring that attaches the 2 pully pieces. If your pully/balancer is really seized badly to the crank snout, this method could also dent the pully where the puller prongs are positioned.

The method in this picture is not recommended for removing a badly seized pully/balancer:
.

tblt44

This is how Im going to it,I just have to modify the puuler I bought because it is too big.
I think I'm going to make new short fingers for it

http://shbox.com/1/pull_pulley.jpg

If not is this new one anygood
http://www.rockauto.com/catalog/moreinfo.php?pk=390117
Only if I damage mine to get it off

tombrammer

All that whacking didn't work for me either when I pulled mine. I used this puller from O'Rilley auto parts, you can rent it. See this link; http://www.amazon.com/Lisle-Harmonic...sr=8-3-catcorr
I had to loosen and lift the steering rack just a little too. Good luck.

tblt44

Wow I wish you would have posted a few days ago,that will work.I have just finished modifying my 3 jaw pully and will let you all know how it works.
Did you damage your pulley or was it ok????
If mine doesn't work I will order that one asap.

Mikes1991

Im rooting for ya dude. Your gonna get that sucker off Im sure of it. Let us know when it is off. Im sure it wont be long now

tblt44

Got it,I modified my puller to get the pulley off.It took all of minutes when I finally got my puller riged.I will post pics later.
Opti is out and I found the leak.It was leaking behind the opti.Now I just got to clean it all up buy some new hoses seals and put it all back together.Thats the easy part.I am bypassing my throtle body also.
How much play should my opti bearing have in it?????

JAKE

CONGRATS! Amazing how such "little" things can cause so much aggravation.

Are you re-using the stock balancer?

Jake

tblt44

Here are some pics of my wrench and my timming cover,looks like my leak is behind my opti,what do you all think???
As you can see I took a puller and cut it off then redrilled new bolt hols so it would work.
This will be an easy job next time.In 1 hour I could have everthing off

Mikes1991

Dude you are the man. Happy for ya. Next time you wont need the pully. Just sand down the crack a little and the damper and put antiseiz all over it and it will actually fall off next time. Nice pully you made there. Im slowly zeroing on my problem

onedef92

Good job. From the looks of those plug wires, it's time to swap those jokers out, too. Ditto for the plugs. Might as well while you're in the midst of such a labor-intensive job.

tblt44

got plugs,wires and belt

94vettelover2

If replacing the waterpump seal you will need a special tool otherwise you may damage the seal upon install.Like I said no hammer on engine parts-there is a time & place for using a hammer,just not on engine stuff.Good job.Working on cars nowadays takes patience.

tblt44

from what people say you can use a sharpie pen cap.
for the opti seal I guess I just got to tap it in
cant really tell but it looks like my leak was from the opti seal so Im not doing the crank seal.
doing the wp and opti seal only

tooooooo many special tools for these cars

JAKE

Yep, main reason I try to find work-arounds. Otherwise I'd end up with a tool chest full of seldom used "special" tools. LOL

Jake

LannyL81

If memory serves me, the remaining part on the crank nose will have to come off in order to get the timing cover off to replace those seals. I just cannot remember at this time what it is called. It will also require a puller, but you use the three bolts to attach the puller to instead of jaws. There is no key way or alignment on this...but good idea to mark-it so to be able to put it back in the same spot.

I would suggest replacing the front seal as well.
The Sharpie cap works great on the wp drive seal...have one sitting in the drawer right here.