Removal Of Harmonic Balancer

[rukus]

The engine is out of the car and on an engine stand.

We've tried using an alternator belt to stop it from turning, and tried holding it with a bolt on the back of the engine to stop it from turning when we try and loosen it, but no go.

Engine is at home, and i dont have access to a strong rattle gun. What can I do?

[frogman]

If you dont have a rattle gun, find the longest piece of bar/tube you can & slide it over the ratchet handle, leverage is the key!

[rukus]

If you dont have a rattle gun, find the longest piece of bar/tube you can & slide it over the ratchet handle, leverage is the key!

yeah but the engine turns.. ;o

[wrxhoon]

If you still have the ring gear on its easy , all you need is a ring gear stopper tool . If you dont have one i can lend you mine ( its home made but it works . I have a rattle gun too but it may not undo it .

[Duncan]

Or if the flywheel is off put 2 of the bolts back in and a pry bar between them to hold the engine from turning.

[Cubes]

Or if the flywheel is off put 2 of the bolts back in and a pry bar between them to hold the engine from turning.

I've done this, works well.

[pnblight]

Or if the flywheel is off put 2 of the bolts back in and a pry bar between them to hold the engine from turning.

yes good method but make sure you

1/screw the bolts all the way in (to prevent thread damage)

2/keep the level as close to the back of the crank as possible (to minimise level on the bolts, to you dont damage them)

pete

[rukus]

got it off

big breaker bar, and 2 blocks of wood shoved in next to the crank to stop it from turning..

;3

[Swiper the Fox]

got it off

big breaker bar, and 2 blocks of wood shoved in next to the crank to stop it from turning..

;3

Good luck with the cam belt pulley....lots of heat and a cold chisel got ours off....split it in two...one of the most frustrating jobs ive encountered....new one required to replace it.

[jetpilot]

2 people required with large screw drivers plying the top.

1 person on the bottom underneath plying the the bottom part.

Like triangle formation and it will come off easily.

Since you have 3 African Americans and forces at once on the same object rather than effing around with screws and and shit like that.

*= screw driver * O *

O= harmonic balancer *

[jetpilot]

*O*

* ==> my picture of Balancer and the 3 screwdrivers.

Also the Nut on the balancer turns anti clock wise. If the engine turns your going the wrong way arent u?

[MerlinTheHapyPig]

when i did my timing belt, the harmonic balancer bolt was pretty easy, but pulling it off was an absolute bitch, used a puller and a heap of crc and it came off in the end. I was worried about busting the rubber in the harmonic balancer because the puller was pulling so hard...

[Cubes]

What sort of puller did you use?

Never use a puller that is a claw type that grips on to the edge of the balancer.

[MerlinTheHapyPig]

What sort of puller did you use?

Never use a puller that is a claw type that grips on to the edge of the balancer.

yeah, it was the claw type. i had a spare balancer from another motor, so didn't really care if i broke it. I had to pull out the radiator and aircon to get enough room, though i'd been meaning to pull out my aircon anyway, so killed 2 birds with one stone so to speak. I think i may invest in one of the pully pullers that you screw into the 2 holes on the balancer next time.

[Cubes]

Reason I say is early days I damaged a balancer using one.

Now I only use what I think is called a steering wheel puller.

Essentially looks like the letter Y with a big bolt in the middle.

You will notice on balancers they have 2 m6 I think it was bolt holes near the center bolt, these are used to fix the puller to the balancer, you then screw the bolt that pushes against the crank essentially pushing off the balancer. If that makes sense.

[sh@un]

This is indeed one of the harder maintenance jobs by a fair way. My mechanic friend ended up taking 2 extra hours to do this job on my car when we changed the timing belt. Said he used an oxy set-up to heat the harmonic balancer lightly to make it come off the crank more easily

[Duncan]

cubes you still have to be careful with those, the bolt holes in the balancer are pretty small we snapped one of the bolts once. make sure you get high tensile ones

[Craved]

wow. i have used the claw type on a few engines (rb25 - BMW 2.3L- CA18det and lancer 1.5L ) and never had anyof them "stuck" like this... maybe i just got lucky

oh, i never use the front most rim on them though, always as far back as possible on the balancer

[Cubes]

Yep I got the high tensile suckers.

[MerlinTheHapyPig]

wow. i have used the claw type on a few engines (rb25 - BMW 2.3L- CA18det and lancer 1.5L ) and never had anyof them "stuck" like this... maybe i just got lucky

oh, i never use the front most rim on them though, always as far back as possible on the balancer

just be careful using the claw puller, because the skyline balancer (well rb20 don't know about other motors), has rubber between the 2nd and 3rd pulleys, so if you use a claw puller behind the largest pully, it will put stress on this rubber section and can break it.

I managed to get mine off this way without damaging it, and it was stuck on pretty hard, but i had a spare one handy so it didn't really matter if i broke it.

Correct way to do it, is to use 2 high tensile bolts in the bolt holes and the right sort of puller.

Edited July 16, 2006 by MerlinTheHapyPig