1994 LT1/ZF6
107k miles

I have the water pump off (Meziere getting installed) and I want to remove the opti because I am at a crossroads on whether to replace it or do the venting mod. To my knowledge it is original @ 107k miles (I've had the car less than a year) - it has never given me any trouble and it doesn't appear to have gotten wet at all. I'm hesitant to replace it since I want to install a hotcam in the not too distant future - which means buying a pin drive opti.

So, that brings me to my question. To remove the opti I need to remove the balancer. I believe there are 3 bolts holding it to the hub and from my quick look last night they appear to be a bit rusty and I am sure will be a pain to remove. My air tools are offsite and regardless I don't see my impact fitting down there. If I go at them with a breaker bar am I asking for trouble? Will I likely round the heads off? Will the torque needed be great enough to turn the engine? Ordinarily I'd just put the car in gear and apply the parking break - but as luck would have it the drivetrain rear of the ZF is sitting on the ground - with the exception of the D44 which is currently in DTS's possession for some 4.11s.

Any advice for me?

 

It's not much of a problem with the tranny in. The torque is only 60 ft/lbs.
I'd suggest 6 point sockt, though.

Yep normally, put it in gear, ebrake on. You'll have to take it out of gear to rotate the engine to get clearance for one of the 3, put it back in gear of course.
The balancer only goes on the hub one way, and has an arrow that matches the arrow on the hub.

If you have access to the flywheel & bellhousing, you can use a short piece of chain with one bolt on the bell and one bolt in the flywheel to stop rotation. I don't think the engine by itself will hold enough to break loose the bolts.

The balancer is probably rusted tight. Overnite soak with PB Blaster helps a bit. You have to get under the car with a long wood dowel (or whatever) . Put the dowel against the balancer RIGHT UP AGAINST THE HUB, NOT on the OD of the balancer. Give it a wach with a hammer, move to the other side of the engine, hammer, repeat.

When reinstalling the balancer, a very light coat of antisieze where the balancer mates to the hub will eliminate this in the future.

 

Thanks for the reply. This would me much easier with the drivetrain intact. Good tip on the anti seize and I assume a 6pt is a must to avoid rounding.

I wonder if I put the trans in 6th and have someone hold the yoke with
a monkey wrench if there will be enough mechanical advantage to keep the engine from turning. Probably not but it may be worth a shot.

 

Oops, read it wrong.
Yea, IMO, a wrench on the yoke, even propped against the floorpan should work. The bolts aren't all that tight, 60 lb vs something like your wheel bolts at over a 100.

 

When I have the tranny out I have used my flywheel turning tool to hold the engine when removing damper.

I have also had luck using another wrench on one of the other bolts to hold engine still while breaking them free (I use the hub bolt on the last one)

Or I have stuffed a little L shaped pry bar in one of the three damper holes IOT hold the damper when removing the bolts.

I've never had to resort to using a helper.


Just showing there is more than one way to skin that cat


then again a wrench may work too...here's the method I used to use IOT torque the hub bolt..



I said used to because I've been using a superdamper for about a year now.

Good luck

Mike

 

Well the tranny is still bolted up and I don't plan on removing it. The current plan is to have someone hold the yoke with a monkey wrench and see how it goes. In theory, the mechancical advantage through the trans gearing in 6th should be 2:1 if hte trans is in 6th. Plus all the leverage gained by the length of the monkey wrench should be more than enough. If the bolts securing the balancer to the hub are only torqued to 60 pound feet then this shouldn't be a problem - of course I have time and rust surely working against me to make the breakfree torque quite considerable.

I'm short on time so I probably won't get around to this until next week.

Thanks for the input guys - much appreciated!

 

Good luck, let us know how it went. If it were me I'd do the OPTI when doing the cam.

 

I just put a C clamp or vise grips on the flex plate. It'll bind up somewhere when you turn the crank. I lucked out and have a 5/8 socket that will just fit between the cross member and the damper and can still get the ratchet on it. Good luck.