Simple Question.... Can you take off the crank shaft pully with the engine still in the car?

I'm attempting it right now, I have the MAS and tube off have the 3 bolts out of the pully and I have 2 problems at that point.

1. It looks to me like I'm going to hit the power steering cylinder before the pully is off the shaft.

2. The damn pully won't move!!!! do I need a pully puller?

Any quick help would be great. FYI I'm doing a search on this topic right now as well.

Thanks ahead of time.

 

I just did this this past weekend. Thought I would never get it off. I had replaced the water pump 2 years ago and worked on the opti, forgot what I did to get it off. Did a search and discovered most pound it off from under the car. Working from above I put a block of wood in place on one side to pry against. Stuck a pry bar between the block and the back of the pulley and got my wife to hold a little bit of pressure on one side prying it forward (pulled it back). I got underneath and pounded on the opposite side with a long narrow piece of wood and small sledge, Had that sucker off in probably 3 minutes.

Now the real fun part began. I had slightly less room than necessary to get the pulley from between the steering rack and pulley hub. I ended up loosening up the rack on the drivers side and again pryed it forward while yanking on the pulley.

Once the pulley is off you can use a 1-1/16" boxed end wrench to rotate the crank. Just slide the boxed end over one of the three hub prongs, easiest way I found to rotate the crank. You'll have to orient it with the yellow index mark UP to get the opti out. Thats the only position that allowed me enough room to get it out. Still had to work at it, it didn't just pop right off. Going back on was fun too.

If your going to remove the hub, the book says to mark the position of the hub and reinstall the same way it came off. No key way on the crank though so I can't see that it would matter much. There is no way I know of to get it back in exactly the same position on the crank. I tried though. You'll need one of those "crows foot" shaped pullers for that for sure, and 3 of the same screws that hold the pulley onto the hub, only 2 inches long. These hold the puller up and at the right distance from the hub. That tool is 15 bucks at Autozone. The right sized screws are probably not in the kit thought, weren't in mine.

If you're removing the front timing cover for the first time for new seals or whatever, I pity you. It opens up a whole 'nother can of worms for you.

good luck
dr


[Modified by DavidR, 9:12 PM 6/23/2003]


[Modified by DavidR, 9:16 PM 6/23/2003]

 

Let me make sure I understand you. You are taking off the damper and hub that attaches to the crank snout. If this is correct, there is room for it to come off before hitting the cross frame or power steering rack. I did have to loosen the power steering fluid line going to the rack to make room for the puller. YES, YOU NEED A PULLER to take the hub off the crank snout. To remove the damper off the hub, I used a wooden dowel and hit it from under the car. Then use the puller to remove the hub. BTW, GM has their own puller designed for the LT-1/4. Rent it or buy it ($195) made by Kent-Moore.

 

On an L98 there are three small bults that hold the pulley to the damper and a larger bolt which holds the damper and the pulley to the crank shaft.

 

I'm getting pully and damper confused here... let me reword this... I'm trying to swap out the opti...

I assume i just pull of that pully on the crank shaft that the belt goes around. Is that right or is that multiple parts there?

 

On an L98 there is an external damper (about 1" thick) behind the crank pulley. In any case you should feel a bolt head in the center of the crank pulley which you will need to remove. Then you can see what comes next.

The LT1 also has an external balancer which you need to remove and that will require a puller. Get the type with three bolts that screw into the balancer and a center bolt that presses against the crank shaft to pull the balancer off the shaft.

You may have to remove or lift the radiator to get a wrench on the balancer puller.



[Modified by 65Z01, 11:06 PM 6/23/2003]

 

I would venture to guess that this is an LT1/LT4 engine. Just remove the three 16mm bolts to the hub and i use 2 pry bars to rock the harmonic balancer off of the hub. Balancer only goes back on one way. If you intend to do this some time later again a little never-seize might help make removal a little eaiser. :chevy :chevy :chevy

 

Got it... just had to do a pry bar on top and bottem at the same time.

 

:eek: Be gentle! There are pullers designed for this sort of thing!

For me, getting it back on was much more difficult.

 

It acctually wasn't hard at all... just having 2 people lightly rocking it made it come off easy. No hard forces at all needed.