01Z28M6

Can't search.

I'm removing my crank pulley with a 3 jaw puller. It has a cone center force that fits nicely against the dark hollow center shaft that the crank bolt goes into. Is it OK use this hollow shaft rather than install a bolt down into it and engage the threads or am I pressing against something other than the end of the crank?

Here's a picture of what I'm doing. Please notice where the center is making contact and understand there is no bolt in the hole. I've got minimum pressure on this hollow shaft at the moment and will wait until I have some feedback on whether this is okay to proceed. And thanks!

Here's what the puller center force looks like:

chuckyt1

iTrader: (33)

I put a socket between the puller and the crank... just in case...

01Z28M6

Thanks for finding this. So the part I'm pressing against is the crank snout and not something else that gets pushed into the timing cover. Something that will wreck a seal area? The tapered center force fits perfectly against the tapered hole like it's made for it. If you really think there's damage to be done I'll do like you recommend. Otherwise it really fits like a glove. LS1HOWTO.COM says to use the old (or longer) bolt but I'm worried about the force against those partially engaged threads.

How much pressure does it it usually take to pull the pulley free - am I going to need a cheater bar on my 8 inch long 3/8" drive ratchet?

I'm ignorant....

01Z28M6

OK I got it off. Just hand pressure on the ratchet with some little taps with a small hammer around the back of the pulley where I could get swing room. Not tough at all.

Those harborfreight pullers had me fussing with all the adjustments but I finally found a good combination.

92zcamaroperson

iTrader: (18)

mine was a pain to get off too. when i go for the reinstall i want to try the blow torch method and see if that works.

bayer-z28

iTrader: (14)

-=Modified=- and I had a time getting his pulley off too... they puller was a bit small, but one of the jaws kept falling out of place or the center would 'walk' around...

davered00ss

iTrader: (4)

I would have used the bolt just to guard against screwing up the first couple threads in the crank.

bczee

iTrader: (12)

I used a SnapOn puller, it use a rod that inserted in to the bolt hole and bottomed out... it worked great.. but also, it really didn't take that much pressure to get it free.

If I did have the SnapOn puller, I would have use a 3 jaw puller and used a washer and some grease on both sides of it to protech the threads..

92zcamaroperson

iTrader: (18)

i tried the washer idea and it just started it bend it all up. mine was on really tight. it was started to tear up the cheapo autozone puller i had. I went back and got the chrysler puller that they have because its heavier duty

FrankSS

iTrader: (18)

when i had to remove mine, i had a cheap puller from auto zone. i just put a socket extension in the bolt hole and it come out of the hole just enough after it bottomed out. so i just used that for my base and pulled the pulley right off w/o any trouble..

01Z28M6

If you look at the crank pulley bolt in my second picture you can see the darker area that is less than an inch from the end is where the threads engage inside the crankshaft snout. The puller center force exerted the pressure on the end of the snout which has a matching chamfer 2-3 inches from the beginning of the threaded section; Contact was nowhere near the threads in the crankshaft.

After seeing how it actually works I would never recommend pushing against a bolt threaded into the crankshaft, especially the stock length bolt where you must engage less threads as the pulley is worked off. The crankshaft snout appears to be hardened steel and well matched to the configuration of that puller with the tapered center of that particular size.

Zitty'sZ

iTrader: (29)

Yes you are correct but to compensate for that, all you have to do is grind the flat washer section off of your old bolt and you will have full thread engagement and the threads will be protected .

SStheBest

iTrader: (2)

cant help but notice that u have a little rust around those parts....

01Z28M6

Iron oxide is the flavor of the month - every month here in the rust belt.

aNuBiS

iTrader: (25)

I did the same