Gentleman, I need some help!
This started as a rad leak believe it or not...

ANyway, after the rad leak was repaired, I find out the water pump is leakin', a few broken studs later I'm into removing teh timing chain cover on my 5.0L, small block Ford

So I need to take the lower pulley off [done] and now the harmonic balancer. But how he asks!!!
I've got one of those rubber tension wrenches that I have wrapped around the balancer and I've got my ratchet on the retaining nut...just can't get the leverage to break it loose. It's soaking in penetrating oil now but I'm open to suggestions:

1.> about how to get it off.
2.> any tips or tricks , things to watch out for
3.> wise words of wisdom....besides don't do it

Thanks again guys

GW

 

If you had not removed the pulleys, you could squeeze the belt(s) together to try to keep everything from moving; might be a little hard now though. A friend of mine told me he put a wrench on the coverter or flywheel bolts to keep the crank from moving also. Probably the most effective way is using an air impact wrench to remove it.

vernon

 

DONT!!! grab, hold or twist the harmonic balancer in any way.. the HB is made of 3 parts in most cases.. Center/Rubber/Outer Ring.. And holdint the outer right can change the balance in way you dont want to feel.. And you will need a bolt type puller.. Dont pull it from the outer right.. it will come apart and finding a good new one can be almost impossable...

 

Autozone will lend you the puller for free.. I used it so many times I got one from Harbor Freight for $10 on sale.. haven't needed it since!..

Sam

 

Lets see, the crankshaft is turning when you try to loosen the balancer bolt. Is it a stick shift, put in gear and set the brake, that might do it. Can you get a breaker bar on it and hit with a large rubber mallet? Like Vernon said maybe you can hold it at the flywheel. Just thinking outloud.

 

Hey - not sure about the 5.0L, but I just installed a timing chain on my 1987 2.9L Bronco II and here is what I learned from it...

1- The harmonic balancer/pulley cannot simply be "pulled" off using a conventional puller tool. I actually had to cut a 3/8" bolt down to about 1" (upper smooth area, no head on the bolt - pretty much a spacer rod for the crank bolt to push against to keep the bolt from bottoming out in the crank) and insert it into the retaining bolt cavity and then reinstall my crank bolt.

2- Then once the factory crank bolt was back in (and sticking out from the harmonic balancer/pulley by about an 1" - 1 1/2") I used a "standard" harmonic balancer/crank pulley puller to pull the balancer/pulley off, since I now had enough travel area for the balancer/pulley to slide off of the crank.

3- you will need to find a longer bolt that is the right diameter and thread pitch to re-install the balancer/pulley. mine is on order right now from fastenal since it required a 12mm OD with a 1.5 thread per mm pitch that is about 90mm in length. The "installation" bolt should be in tomorrow, i should have everything back together and be able to let you know how it went by the end of this weekend.

Once I did this to remove the balancer/pulley it came off in about 10 - 15 minutes (after i had fought with it for several hours before and scratched my head numerous times in bewilderment).

 

I was able to start my balancer with a rubber mallet so that the bolt caught on the crankshaft.

Sam

 

I've removed several. Get the puller the other guys have talked about. Very important !!!!!!!!. There is taper cap that goes on the threaded shaft. Make sure that is on the end and sits up against the crankshaft. The harmonic balancer won't come loose for anything without it and you'll tear up the lead threads going into the crankshaft. Make sure the three bolts going into the harmonic balancer have enought thread into the balancer before trying to remove it. Set the taper cap flush to the crankshaft (take out freeplay) This is where I use the impact. It will take a little and the engine shouldn't turn over. The impact will slowly pull the balancer off. Pretty easy actually. Putting it on is reverse. I just line it up, push it on a little, put the bolt on and hit it with impact. I know, I know, your suppose to use a torque wrench. I've never had a balancer come loose or give me problems with the impact. Good luck.

 

Thanks Guys, this group is awesome!
I have an impact gun and puller so I'm off to cut the grass and do a few chores and then it's time to dig in and get some truck repairin' done.
Wish me luck!
I'll check back jsut before I start just in case one of youse guys has another brilliant flash.

GW

 

The impact gun should do it. In rare cases of a severly worn engine I've already had to reassemble the belts/pulleys to get more tension.

For the dampener, just loosen the bolt a bit and use it as a center post for your puller to push against. Once you get it moving you can back the main bolt out farther and repeat as necessary.

 

Just replaced harmonic balancer on my Taurus.. I was told by a racing friend that hammering the balancer on can upset the end-play of a crankshaft. Using an impact wrench is looking for trouble. Any engine builders out there agree? Only problem I had was getting a long enough metric bolt to start pulling the damper on. Take your center bolt to a parts store (napa for instance) and they have a gauge fixture for checking any SAE or Metric thread. Buy a bolt an inch or inch & half longer plus a few flat washers and the rest is easy - and proper.

 

Definately use a harmonic balancer pulley. When I was 16 I learned the hard way.....I was tearing down a 318 in my old 67 Charger and I used a three jaw puller....ooops!!
Yes I pulled the outer ring off of the balancer. NOT GOOD!

Good luck with it
Bobby

 

I got the Harmonic Balancer off this evening, using an impact gun and a puller.

Any suggestions about getting the timing cover off.
Do I need to take the oil pan off?

GW