Attempted to remove harmonic balancer using crow's foot puller. The smaller bolts that pulled on the crows foot all snapped. Fortunately I was wearing goggles when it happened.

Now I have 2 bolts that broke off clean with the balancer. A screw extractor and balancer have never been my friend. Are there any alternate ways to remove the pulley? If not, guess it's time to get rid of it!

Below is the method that I used with grade 9 bolts. (Hijacked a pic from another thread here). The smaller bolts are snapped off clean with the balancer. Any ideas on how to get the balancer off?

Thanks.

 

You did remove the center bolt first I hope.

 

Yes, I did the center bolt out first. That was super easy.

 

This has gone from bad to worse. I was prying at the balancer from behind with a pry bar. I bumped the starter a few times to that I could keep prying different areas around the crank pulley. Now I can no longer bump the starter. All the lights come on but I can no longer bump the starter. I jacked the engine up and down a few times to see if I could get at the pulley better. Maybe I tore something? I listened carefully but didn't hear anything out of the norm.

 

you cannot use the style of puller that you posted a picture of....you have to use the style that has a long centering rod that goes through the balancer hole to push on the crank...you will never get the balancer off with the one you posted a picture of

the little screws that broke off should come out easy with a left hand drill bit....those little broken bolts are only 6mm if I remember....you can get a left hand bit and extractor all in one bit at any hardware store....

I'm not sure why the engine won't turnover anymore....unless the broken bolts are jammed against the timing cover....but I didn't think the bolts would go through that far

Bryan

 

Thanks, I have a set of left hand drill bits and a dedicated set of extractors but they never work on this car. I don't know if you remember my oil plug situation, but I tried and tried but eventually had to put a new oil pan on.

I will go ahead and try again then post the results.

Are you sure this is not the right tool for the job?

I am using the tool and technique that he is using in this video on the same stock pulley type.


Could you post a link to the correct type of puller if this one is not right?

 

I have used the puller you posted a pic of above to install new pulleys on a couple of my cars. It works.....the only issue I recall having was clearing the body of the car as the pulley came loose. Was fiddly to do but worked both times.

the broken bolts should (in theory) just back out with little effort since they aren’t under tension....so I’d do as suggested above and use a reverse drill bit. If you have a dremel with a very small cutting wheel, you also might try cutting a small slot in each screw and just backing them out with a screwdriver. I wouldn’t go prying the pulley off with a prybar as you’ll damage something underneath....like the timing cover.

good luck!

 

I'm pretty sure I used a duck foot type puller when I had to replace my original harmonic balancer. No problems.

Maybe you could try a large, 3 jaw puller?

 

I tried the left hand drill bit to no avail. The 6mm bolts I used must be fairly hard. 5 minutes with a drill bit just barely scratches the surface. Even the remaining stud that is sticking out cannot be removed with vice grips. This is starting to remind me of my oil pan.I can try the dremel cutoff wheel I guess, but these babies are in there tight.

 

Sorry, we posted on top of each other and I missed this.

Large 3 jaw puller....hmmmm not a bad idea....I wonder if it will fit and grab.

 

BTW, what on earth is this pulley made of? I am thinking of drilling new holes and starting over. It takes 5 minutes just to scratch the surface.

Also, I have been reading about folks grinding down pulleys. With what? An angle grinder? If so, that would be one tight spot. I'd be afraid of cutting through the crank!

 

the picture that you posted with the large centering point is not the same as the one you need....and that video doesn't show much detail about the puller, at least not to me...

I cannot find a picture of my kit here...you have to have the long rods that go through the center hole to put the puller onto....

The broken bolts should back right out...the little cutoff wheel is a good idea with the small screwdriver....you will just need a very thin wheel

Bryan

 

Ok thanks.

Will try the cutoff wheel trick and screwdriver slot which never seems to work for me. Guess I don't have a choice but to try. Firing up my Dremel right now.

 

rrrrr...screwdriver trick did not work....on to the 3 jaw puller I guess.....have never used one.....looks like I have to grind the arms in select places for that to work?

 

Well every few years I pay a mobile mechanic to get me out of a pinch. I am about to do so. As far as getting the new pulley back on, without reading a thousand threads is there anything that he could do wrong besides beating it on to the shaft (which I admit I have had to do on other vehicles with no ill effects). Might want to pay him to do that too if I can actually get him to show up.

 

I have had to heat up the center of the pulley to get it back onto the crankshaft....I used a hand held propane torch....then used the stock bolt to pull it on the rest of the way

Bryan

 

Thanks. Worked with mobile mechanic for 5 hours straight and so far he can't remove it either.

 

Mechanic went home and is scheduled to come back. Drilled and tapped new holes for large bolts which all stripped out eventually. Any other suggestions? I know the 3 jaw puller was a suggestion.

 

Are you still using the large centering pointed end on the puller? like the one in your picture above?

Post a picture of the puller setup you are using

Bryan

 

Edit: just saw you already linked this video in an earlier post. Disregard this post if you’re already using an insert.


Are you using an insert with your puller?

This mod mini video shows the same type of puller shown in the diagram in the first post. What the diagram is missing is the rod that should be inserted into the crank for the puller bolt to to push against. I read that the pulley bolt was removed, but if the insert isn’t used a large puller bolt would act like the original bolt and keep the pulley from sliding off. This is what A383Wing was referring to in his previous post.

The video shows this around 2:15 in.

 

Amazon has a puller that has the bolt that you thread into the crank. Since I wasn't smart enough to buy this tool early on, I ended up using a bolt that I cut the head off of, stuck it in a vise and used a 1/2" drill bit to put a divot in the top to help center the puller and keep it from wandering when applying pressure.

 

Thanks everyone. Finally got it out, on my own, after getting burnt by the mobile mechanic. He did show me a thing or two even though I paid him partially up front only to never have him return.

He drilled out new holes for m10 bolts and used my taps and my drill to tap the new holes out. I still had to do some retapping and redrilling though.

I then used some grade 8.8 m10 1.5. X 50mm bolts along with a fresh m8 8.8 grade bolt and turned the duck foot around to give me more clearance.

I used an m10x100ish head bolt that i had laying around from another car and began to tighten against the torx indentation in the head bolt with the anvil at the end of the rod in place.

Using my impact, the pulley began to move forward. The bolt became too short though. Went to hardware store who didn't have anything m10 which was longer than the head bolt. Found a 3/8 5 inch bolt and cut a bit off at a time. I just used the rod in the tool this time and did not use the anvil.

Sorry to be long winded but wanted to make my thread searchable in case someone else encountered this!

Got it off.

Freaking nightmare in so many ways but thanks for helping me so much and for your time.

 

All is well that ends well. Good to hear sir

 

That is the bottom line. Thanks.

 

i am going through this nightmare also 😭 first tool broke, tomorrow a mobile mechanic is coming to help me out..wish me luck!