~Josh

I ahve the entire alternator braket with power steering pump attached.

Being plastic, will the pulley most likely break off if I try to remove it?

The reason I'm asking, is because instead of spending $30 on a puller, I can just buy a new pulley and break the old one off with a hammer.

So... should I buy a puller or a new pulley?

Stevo92z28

You can also just rent the puller from most auto part stores. I would not hammer it off. Have a chance of messing up the shaft and/or hitting something else.

~Josh

^ Yeah I thought about renting a puller... and then I've decided that I'm wanting to buy a billit aluminum pulley anyway since the bracket and pump are going to be polished. Rather not have a plastic piece on there other than it's light weight.

Breaking it without other damage shouldn't be too hard since it's on the ground where I can put a hammer/chisel at any point.

I guess I've already made up my mind...

Thanks though.

~Josh

A common failure on many C5 Corvettes with even slight modifications is the power steering pulley. The stock, plastic pulleys were not designed to withstand the added horsepower and rpms, which many Corvettes are exposed to after several modifications. This on top of the fact that some of the OEM plastic pulleys are now 12 years old could leave you with a weak point under your Corvette’s hood.


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Y2Kvert4me

The plastic pulley is attached to a steel hub, and that is what's pressed onto the shaft.

You can smash the plastic off with a hammer, but you will still need a puller to get the hub off the pump shaft.

You'll figure this out soon enough...

dougbfresh

Some on this forum really crack me up, they'll spend hundreds on mods and won't spend the little extra on manuals/tools to do stuff right.

Y2Kvert4me

How many of these have you successfully changed without breaking? Just curious.

I already had an aluminum pulley ready to replace it. So I went about it the easiest way possible.

If spending $100+ on a factory GM tool to salvage a $15 part I'll never use again is the smart thing to do, then I'm glad I did it wrong.

~Josh

^ Thanks for the tip... so I'd need something closer to a windshield wiper puller to get the little piece off...

Any tips for installing the replacement?

I guess just sand the shaft a bit with fine sandpaper and maybe use the wood end of a hammer against the center of the new pulley, then hit the hammer gently with another hammer?

Y2Kvert4me

Advanced Auto sells an "ok" universal PS pulley removal/installation tool. It's around $30 if I recall. It's not the highest quality tool ever, but is sufficient to pull the old hub and draw on the new pulley.

I have the 5 spoke aluminum Synister pulley (no longer made), and drawing it on proved to be a VERY tight press fit. I ended up heating the pulley in the oven to about 250° ( or whatever the lowest setting is) to get it to go on.

I cannot comment on that Zip pulley, but if it seems to fit TOO tightly like mine did (to the point you're afraid of stripping out the tool's threads), then heat the pulley up a little before trying to install it, it makes a world of difference.

~Josh

Thanks!

Neato

I have done it many times w/o any issues and the tool is around 20 bucks on Amazon

SteveDoten

tool from Autozone works great, you need an installer also

Tom is on point for this topic, nice collar you will need to pull to finish the job

that pump is an a$$ pain to swap, I've only done this a few times while the motor/ebcm is in the car

http://www.autozone.com/autozone/cat...+Pulley+Puller

Josh, put the beer down for this job

dougbfresh

I have the puller(s) and the installer(s) in my garage as well as the manual for all the cars I own.

dougbfresh

A puller is not $100 You can use a puller for many other jobs so GO BUY SOME TOOLS other than a HAMMER

~Josh

Thanks Steve.

I went ahead and broke the pulley with a hammer since all I wanted was to get at the bolts so I could seperate the pump from the bracket.

It will take time to polish, and the entire engine isn't going back together for another few months... I'll buy the billet pulley and the installer when I'm ready.

Thanks again everyone.

Mike04

That plastic pulley plain sucks. I hit it with a hammer just to get it out of the way for the mounting bolts

dgrant3830

Yeah, I broke mine trying to pull it off with the puller. The metal part was still seriously stuck on the shaft. $10 later at a machine shop and another $16 for a new pulley, no problem other than the 1.5 hours it took me to put the new one on. A real PITA

Neato

Sounds like either you did not have the correct tool or you did it wrong
It really is easy

Y2Kvert4me

That's terrific.

Since you couldn't answer the very simple question I asked above, we can assume you've never actually done the job.

If/when you do, I truly hope you follow the service manual procedure to the letter. Which means disconnecting all brake lines and removing the EBCM/BPMV unit to gain access. As is typical of the service manual, that is completely unnecessary to accomplishing the task, but if it makes you sleep better to do it that way, have at it!

If you'd like another example of needless service manual procedure, look up the instructions for changing the left hood latch. When you get the wipers and cowl removed, and find it gained you absolutely zero additional access to the latch, you'll wonder why you just did all that.

My point? The service manual is a nice reference to have, but is certainly not the only possible way to tackle a job. There are often much easier ways.


And there are also better pulley options out there too so that you'll never have to deal with that silly plastic pulley again.

Neato

Nice pulley !

I just moved the ECBM a bit and left it connected.
As far as the manual(s) go , they are for reference and do not substitute for common sense.

GM has many , many BS things in them .
They are written by Tech writers , not mechanics.