On subject of the harmonic balancer / crank pulley R&R…this isn’t all that creative or exciting - just a straight rip-off of an installer tool. But I didn’t have one - yet, I do always have lots of flotsam and jetsam around the garage. So there’s my make-shift crank/balancer press tool. It worked. (It was an old Dodge Neon).
I can’t recall getting it off (it was a long time ago), but I’m pretty sure it was something like a block of wood or the like and an impact to get the bolt. And then, probably just a big 3-jaw puller.
It’s been over 30 years but when my timing chain went south I had a hard time holding the balancer to get the bolt out. Tried a few things but seems to me I finally stuck a block of wood on the crank to hold it since the oil pan was off anyway. Not really a tool but chunks of wood come in handy.
Not true, I have a few different types of vise-grips that I use for different task… C clamp VG work great when fabricating (I also have removeable plastic tips for them), as well as some small needle nose VGs that I have rubber fuel line hose to cover the ends for clamping off hoses, works great on brake hoses, I have also used them to hold the end of a spring while installing or removing them…I have a crap ton of tools, that overflow 3 tool boxes and I still have to use VGs from time to time, but they are never used instead of the proper tool for the job… I also use them when welding and or grinding so I don’t drop what I am doing and or able to cool off in water…
Ever try to hold on to a transmission or oil pan bolt while cleaning them with the wire wheel on a bench grinder??? VGs come in VERY handy…
Confused. Is that tool you show in the photo used to press the pulley back on? When I had to press the pulley back on for my Corolla I just tightened the original crank pulley bolt. Is that incorrect? … lol …
When I removed the crank pulley bolt on my Corolla as part of a timing belt job, to keep the pulley from rotating, had no impact tool, so I used a home-brew-design plywood stick with bolts poking through at one end to match a couple of holes in the pulley, wedged the other end of the stick against the floor or some solid-looking part on the car. One time use, it broke in the process, but it held long enough to get the crank bolt free. I also made a home brew engine support too, to support the engine from above so I could free the front mount. Factory service manual method. Next time I’ll just use a floor jack from below, much easier.
That’s my favorite home-brew tool, use it all the time for lots of stuff.
The only time that tool was the only solution I could figure out for a rusted stuck fastener, it was to remove a nut attached to a stud that didn’t have enough 360 degree clearance for a socket, or even a combo wrench to fit. It had a little extra clearance at 0 degrees and 180 degrees, so I grabbed hold of it there, from the perpendicular, (head on), with a slender-jaw vise-grip tool. Then I placed a screwdriver shaft between the two jaws, applied a little torque, worked to get the nut to finally move. That was a stubborn one indeed.
Maybe we need another thread regarding the most misused/abused tools. Vise grips are in the top 10 of that list IMO. Right up there with the infamous adjustable wrench (fits-all).
Yes, that is to install the harmonic balancer, depending on the interference fit, the balancer could be too tight and the OEM crank bolt not have enough threads in the crankshaft and pull the treads out of the crankshaft, at that point you are basically screwed… Your Ford 302 might be one to pull the threads… You can also use a block of wood or dead blow hammer and beat one on, but then you take a chance on damaging the thrust bearings… lol
My metric crescent wrench works much better then my SAE crescent wrench…
My Snap-On big flat head is the most abused, I broke the tip so many times that the handle would no longer hold the shank, I just smiled real big when I would tell the dealer I have a lot of really big screws that keep snapping the tips… I mean come on, what else are you going to use that huge flat blade on??.. lol
Thanks for the head’s up to not use the crank bolt to push the crank pulley onto the crankshaft. There must be enough clearance on the 4AFE (Corolla) crank pulley to just use the crank bolt, very little torque was required to push it back on.
Like you @George_San_Jose1 I’m a DIY’er, but my understanding was what @davesmopar said (and learned on the web from people like him ;-)). The installer tool (even my fake one) is a) able to get full threads into the shaft, and b) doesn’t ham-fist the threads while it works. So it prevents it all stripping out. Then it also allows you to torque to spec once the crank bolt goes in (although I guess you could do that even after hammering it in with an impact).
Many years ago, a sergeant that worked for me was rebuilding his engine in the base Hobby Shop; it was time to install the harmonic balancer. It just was not happening, he got a bigger and bigger hammer and finally settled on a sledgehammer and kept smashing and smashing it. The longer he did this the harder he hit it. Then, finally it went on, but seemed a bit skewed…
What happened was the back of the harmonic balancer cracked off… It seems that the Woodruff Key was not put into the key way flat and the back end was high and not in the key way. I’m not even sure if the Harmonic Balancer was even lined up with the key…
After that, no one was sure the engine would ever run again and he sold the car for junk to someone with a running engine, but shot body…
And no, I do not know why the key did not get sheared off. I was not that interested, but I wanted to see the mess… He had smashed the front of the harmonic balancer so badly that it never would have gone all the way on anyway…
Yeah I had to look at that a couple times then realized it was to install it not take it off.
As far as vice grips go, I have a variety with the large welding grips, and the kreg grips used to keep wood flush when putting a screw in a pocket hole, plus conventional vice grips. But I have one small needle nose vice grip that it is amazing how often that is the best one for confined spaces. Very useful especially if grip strength is on the other side of the hill.
Just as one example only, here is a puller for late model GM & Mopar non threaded harmonic balancers…
Fits GM Vehicles 5.3 L, 5.7 LS1, 6.0 LS2, 6.2 LS3, and 7.0 L; CHRYSLER, JEEP, DODGE: 3.5 L V6, 3.6 L V6, 4.7 L V8, 5.7 L V8, 6.1 L, and V8.
Common issue with all kits in my experience. I have a couple of “master kits” that still required additional tooling to fit my GM vehicles. Prime example is the ball joint kit. I have two full kits (master and GM specific) and still needed a special cup that was a separate purchase.
Given dave’s clarification there, I should also clarify (just in case anyone happens along and is inspired to DIY one) that the tool pic I posted was incomplete. The “real” tools have a bearing of some kind that presses on the pulley. The bearing allows you to crank on it without grinding around on the end of the pulley. My substitute was actually a small stack of greased up washers - probably with a nylon one up against the balancer.
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