Problems removing Harmonic Balancer

[umpire613]

Maybe I am not as good as I should be. but man I am struggling to remove a harmonic balancer for my 2.9 lter. I have pulled the engine and stripped eveything else off.. getting ready to load a new short block. So I really need to get the balancer off ,as well as the timing chain cover.. but cannot remove the cover with out balancer out of way.. any way..
do i remove the bolt for the balancer and then bottom out my puller in the bolt hole? or do i back the bolt out an inch or so then use the bolt as my pressure point to pull against the balancer. cause man i have tried with the bolt out and a center pivot on the end of my puller and for the life of me I can not get that thing to budge. HELP if possible..

 

[gotmudd]

you should have three bolts that hold your crank pully to the balancer. if you have already taken the pully off spin your balancer bolt back in all the way then mount your three sided puller using the pully mounting holes and the balancer bolt as your pressure point, three complete turns of a ratchet should have it in your hand

 

[umpire613]

Still not sure?

NO this is a 2.9 liter and it has one bolt in the center of the harmonic balancer. I removed that, and there are 4 holes in the balancer around the one center bolt hole.. I have removed this and put my puller in 3 of the holes but did not go to the bottom of the bolt hole. only to the top edge of the balancer and I am thinking that the balancer is all one piece and i need to use either the bolt partially loosed ie an inch or so, or a metel rod/tube down the bolt hole, cause I tried with nothing in there and nearlly snapped the 3 bolts I had in the puller

 

[Jspafford]

I had the same problem you did. I broke off two sets of bolts on two different pullers. One was a snap-on.

I tried it with the center bolt out and that DOES NOT work at all.

You have to leave the center bolt in and loose a coule turns, then put your puller on there. I got it to move, but then broke the puller again.

At this point I got a long prybar and a 2x4 and worked my way around it in a circle prying on it and it came off.

Might not be the best way, but it worked.

 

[umpire613]

Thanks, I will try with the bolt back in it, if all else fails i will yank out the crank and take it to a machine shop and then let them break their pullers on it then just bolt the crank back in and ship off the core.. i just want the balancer and the cover in one piece.

I got new world heads, new jba headers, new cat, new dynomax exhaust, new rockers,lifters, plugs , injectors, o2 senors, all new engine sensors, new clutch,flywheel,new hurst shifter, throwout you name it it's new.. just sitting in the boxes waiting to get this garage queen on the road..

This has been a 5 year project -- and it goes live this summer.. or I am selling the thing..

 

[gotmudd]

[/IMG] if my crude drawing resembles what you have for a balancer, then use either the two holes [east and west ] OR the two that are north/ south with a two sided puller with the center bolt as your pressure point. to clarrify on the two sided puller that would be one that only uses two bolts - one on each side

 

[umpire613]

your drawing is dead on... i was using my 3 prong puller but will try my 2 sided next weekend.. I got to ump baseball all week and no time to try until next sat.. but will post up no mater the out come..

 

[kunar]

yeah, they have you pointed in the right direction. put your center bolt back in about 2 or 3 turns, and let your puller push against that. i use a steering wheel puller from harbor freight and i dont have any problems....

 

[Sasquatch_Ryda]

yeah, they have you pointed in the right direction. put your center bolt back in about 2 or 3 turns, and let your puller push against that. i use a steering wheel puller from harbor freight and i dont have any problems....

I've used my cheapo princess auto (canadian version of HF) with my 1/2" impact to remove them

 

[IMenriched]

there is a heavy washer deep in the HB tht needs to be removed....it is VERY snug & hard to get out.

that is why you can get it move with center bolt loose...untill it is removed enough to put tention back on the bolt.

Had to do the same thing, leave the bolt loose and in stages with puller remove the Harmonic Balancer.

 

[umpire613]

Washer ?

Not sure where you are saying this washer is placed ?
Under the bold ? on top of the balancer? or down at the bottom of the bolt hole cause when I looked it appeared to be one whole unit no washer but will give it go to search for a washer. I put half a can of WD40 in the hole and around the base so maybe 4-5 days of soak will loosen it up..if all else fails I'll break out the 20 pound sledge hammer.. (just kidding 10 pound hammer)

 

[IMenriched]

Not sure where you are saying this washer is placed ?
Under the bold ? on top of the balancer? or down at the bottom of the bolt hole cause when I looked it appeared to be one whole unit no washer but will give it go to search for a washer. I put half a can of WD40 in the hole and around the base so maybe 4-5 days of soak will loosen it up..if all else fails I'll break out the 20 pound sledge hammer.. (just kidding 10 pound hammer)

under center bolt...sorry didn't clearify that very well. {the bolt passses thru the heavy washer then pushes on the crank...puller center bolt/shaft won't pass thru the washer} hard to get washer out.

just do the stages thing...once off, you'll see it.

I removed the center bolt and then dimpled it with drill bit....reinstalled bolt 3-5 revs loose...so that...the puller shaft/bolt didn't walk around as you apply pressure. Just be carefull that you don't get too much tention back on the harmonic Balancer bolt...remove puller...reloosen harmonic Balancer bolt...reattach puller and procede again sliding the HB off. this will take a few times of loosening the HB bolt and reattaching the puller, but it get there.

Oh yeah, if you run out of room for the puller to function, (with out removing the radiator) a 2x4 (2-3ft long)works very nicley, as mentioned earlier by Jspafford. once you it get moved a bit, it isn't so hard to get moving again. place 2x4 on back side of HB & Hammer on the end of the 2x4...i was suprized how easy mine moved after I got it intially move with puller...just make sure you remove the HB bolt before applying the wood.

 

[umpire613]

Thanks for all the help and direction.. Just a word of note there was not washer on my balancer.. It was after all these years and 135k miles semi rusted to the crank.. the balancer goes in about 1/2 inch sorry didn't mic it.. I chased all the bolt holes in the balnace to get a good grip on the thing. I then put in some shorter bolts grade 10, for the puller.. bottomed out the crank retaining bolt, then back it out about 1/8 of an inch, stuck a wrench on it to hold in place, and proceeded to back it off.. it moved no problem after the wd40 soak and all.. then backed out the puller, another 1/4 of an inch and kept going until it was free enout to pull by hand.. Thanks again.. it was so fast I even got my new head prepped and painted, and new slave clutch installed and bleed, and the rest of the engine bay detailed along with rebuilding the valve train with rockers.. all in all avery nice day..

 

[IMenriched]

Glad you got it off without TOO much issues!!!

I didn't think there was a washer either, at 1st, just a odd way to make a shoulder for HB...got to digging there was a little line appeared in the interior of the HB...turn it over and looked at it from the back & it looked like something should come out...the washer was all most 5/8" thick, so its more like a spacer. BUT not to say that isn't one on yours, just that the one I extracted needed more than its fair share of persation to get it out. and curtainly could have been a manufacturing revission from yours to mine.

None the less, yours is off, no worse for the wear, that what is important.
I broke my HP...took a chunk out of the OD into the belt groove. maybe that is what made me look closer at it.