Harmonic Balancer problems...
02-19-2009, 12:48 AM
#1
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Harmonic Balancer problems... Well to make it short, I am camming my 01 T/A and rented a 3 arm puller to get the harmonic balancer off. I am following the ls1howto guide and the balancer did start to slid off, there is a gap behind it and I can see the metal so I know im close, however it WILL NOT move any further. AT ALL. Everytime the puller got tight it was nearly immpossible to turn and then the puller just popped right off in a somewhat violent way. After eyeing up the balancer a bit, I noticed 1 of the 3 "tabs" where you would hook the puller to is broken, must of broken off from the puller, also an arm on the puller broke aswell so I had to switch to the smaller sized arms.
My question is, what do I do now? How can I go about getting the balancer off the rest of the way? I am off work tomm. and would like to make the most of it and do some serious catch up work on my car, this is holding me up BADLY. Would I need a new balancer since one of the "tabs" on it is broken? PLEASE someone chime in, this is really aggravating and holding me up.
My question is, what do I do now? How can I go about getting the balancer off the rest of the way? I am off work tomm. and would like to make the most of it and do some serious catch up work on my car, this is holding me up BADLY. Would I need a new balancer since one of the "tabs" on it is broken? PLEASE someone chime in, this is really aggravating and holding me up.
02-19-2009, 05:02 AM
#2
My opinion:
1. You will need a new balancer
2. Stop following LS1howto for removal and especially for installation.
3. Use a socket or something else against the front of the crank snout (don't use the bolt) to push on during removal.
4. Not sure which 3-jaw you are using, but it may be too big. Can you post a photo?
1. You will need a new balancer
2. Stop following LS1howto for removal and especially for installation.
3. Use a socket or something else against the front of the crank snout (don't use the bolt) to push on during removal.
4. Not sure which 3-jaw you are using, but it may be too big. Can you post a photo?
02-19-2009, 08:45 AM
#3
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My opinion:
1. You will need a new balancer
2. Stop following LS1howto for removal and especially for installation.
3. Use a socket or something else against the front of the crank snout (don't use the bolt) to push on during removal.
4. Not sure which 3-jaw you are using, but it may be too big. Can you post a photo?
1. You will need a new balancer
2. Stop following LS1howto for removal and especially for installation.
3. Use a socket or something else against the front of the crank snout (don't use the bolt) to push on during removal.
4. Not sure which 3-jaw you are using, but it may be too big. Can you post a photo?
Pics would be VERY helpful here especially
02-19-2009, 08:52 AM
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there is another type of puller that grips the outside of the balancer rather than the middle like the one on ls1howto depicts. that is the type i used last weekend(just got done changing the oil pump) and it worked fine for me. seeing as how the tab is broken now that would probable be your best bet.
02-19-2009, 11:10 AM
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Alright thanks for the help. Why do you guys say stop following ls1howto? Its been working great for me so far. I can get pics of the puller an balancer, just give me a min to go down and get them.
02-19-2009, 11:15 AM
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Yeah, stop using LS1HowTo because we all know it's better to try it by not having any directions at all and half assing it. 
In what I could get from your description, I'm guessing that you have the point of the puller bolt on a bolt of some sort that is stuck in the snout of the crank. If so, I'll also guess that you've pulled the pulley out to the point of contacting that bolt. Take the bolt out and insert a socket, with the end the wrench goes in, facing out. Pick a socket that is slight larger than the bolt hole, but smaller than the inside of the pulley. Then put the puller on.
As for the broken tabs, do you intend to resuse the stock pulley? If you intend to trash it at this point, I'd get a drill and drill a hole through each of the 3 arms inside the pulley and use a traditional harmonic balancer puller that uses bolts through the balancer with nuts on the back to pull off the pulley.
There's a good possibility that you can still use the same puller you are now and get ahold of the inside edge of the pulley. If you've gotten the pulley off this far, it shouldn't take much to get it out the remainder of the way. Use the socket as I detailed above and you may be in the clear.
In what I could get from your description, I'm guessing that you have the point of the puller bolt on a bolt of some sort that is stuck in the snout of the crank. If so, I'll also guess that you've pulled the pulley out to the point of contacting that bolt. Take the bolt out and insert a socket, with the end the wrench goes in, facing out. Pick a socket that is slight larger than the bolt hole, but smaller than the inside of the pulley. Then put the puller on.
As for the broken tabs, do you intend to resuse the stock pulley? If you intend to trash it at this point, I'd get a drill and drill a hole through each of the 3 arms inside the pulley and use a traditional harmonic balancer puller that uses bolts through the balancer with nuts on the back to pull off the pulley.
There's a good possibility that you can still use the same puller you are now and get ahold of the inside edge of the pulley. If you've gotten the pulley off this far, it shouldn't take much to get it out the remainder of the way. Use the socket as I detailed above and you may be in the clear.
Last edited by PAGregSS; 02-19-2009 at 11:26 AM.
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02-19-2009, 12:09 PM
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Yeah, stop using LS1HowTo because we all know it's better to try it by not having any directions at all and half assing it.
In what I could get from your description, I'm guessing that you have the point of the puller bolt on a bolt of some sort that is stuck in the snout of the crank. If so, I'll also guess that you've pulled the pulley out to the point of contacting that bolt. Take the bolt out and insert a socket, with the end the wrench goes in, facing out. Pick a socket that is slight larger than the bolt hole, but smaller than the inside of the pulley. Then put the puller on.
As for the broken tabs, do you intend to resuse the stock pulley? If you intend to trash it at this point, I'd get a drill and drill a hole through each of the 3 arms inside the pulley and use a traditional harmonic balancer puller that uses bolts through the balancer with nuts on the back to pull off the pulley.
There's a good possibility that you can still use the same puller you are now and get ahold of the inside edge of the pulley. If you've gotten the pulley off this far, it shouldn't take much to get it out the remainder of the way. Use the socket as I detailed above and you may be in the clear.
In what I could get from your description, I'm guessing that you have the point of the puller bolt on a bolt of some sort that is stuck in the snout of the crank. If so, I'll also guess that you've pulled the pulley out to the point of contacting that bolt. Take the bolt out and insert a socket, with the end the wrench goes in, facing out. Pick a socket that is slight larger than the bolt hole, but smaller than the inside of the pulley. Then put the puller on.
As for the broken tabs, do you intend to resuse the stock pulley? If you intend to trash it at this point, I'd get a drill and drill a hole through each of the 3 arms inside the pulley and use a traditional harmonic balancer puller that uses bolts through the balancer with nuts on the back to pull off the pulley.
There's a good possibility that you can still use the same puller you are now and get ahold of the inside edge of the pulley. If you've gotten the pulley off this far, it shouldn't take much to get it out the remainder of the way. Use the socket as I detailed above and you may be in the clear.
02-19-2009, 01:23 PM
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a small propane torch works well. Heat up the balancer part only, try not to expose the flame directly onto it.
Heat gun may work well too like suggested already.
Heat gun may work well too like suggested already.
02-20-2009, 12:20 PM
#17
You WILL NEED this bolt to safely get the NEW one IN and you wont damage the threads on the crank and you wont need to put a torch near your car!!.... http://www.ws6project.com/user_stor/...oducts_id=1684
Im in the middle of a Heads and cam swap my self and I had the same problem but I was using the 3 jaws on the outside, and this bolt help me out alot for installing and removing. Goodluck!
Im in the middle of a Heads and cam swap my self and I had the same problem but I was using the 3 jaws on the outside, and this bolt help me out alot for installing and removing. Goodluck!
02-20-2009, 04:37 PM
#18
That's defintely better than trying to use the stock bolt to pull it on like some guys do 
, but I prefer the stud method. Something similar to this or make your own:
https://ls1tech.com/forums/showthrea...ferrerid=13535
, but I prefer the stud method. Something similar to this or make your own:https://ls1tech.com/forums/showthrea...ferrerid=13535
You WILL NEED this bolt to safely get the NEW one IN and you wont damage the threads on the crank and you wont need to put a torch near your car!!.... http://www.ws6project.com/user_stor/...oducts_id=1684
Im in the middle of a Heads and cam swap my self and I had the same problem but I was using the 3 jaws on the outside, and this bolt help me out alot for installing and removing. Goodluck!
Im in the middle of a Heads and cam swap my self and I had the same problem but I was using the 3 jaws on the outside, and this bolt help me out alot for installing and removing. Goodluck!
