I have a guy right now who is REAMING me because I used a three-toed puller to pull the crank pulley off when I did my opti. He said "NEVER, EVER, and i mean EVER use a puller like ramair did. when you do this you risk pulling the outer ring off of the hub, this will DESTROY your balancer. DO NOT DO IT. if you are having trouble getting it off, soak it with liquid wrench, soak it again, and try to pull it off with your hands. if this fails, get piece of wood, and angle it up to the inner portion of the hub, hit the wood (part of a broom handle will work) with a hammer on all sides untill it slides off. BUT NEVER USE A 3 JAW PULLER!!!"

Is his statement valid?

http://www.worldisround.com/photos/345/214.jpg

 

well the 3 toe puller isn't going to destroy the balencer but...you run the risk of breaking and chipping the edges of the balencer if ti doesn't want to come off!!!

my advice is use a 5 lb mini slegde hammer and a peice of wood.

bash the wood until the balencer moves, thentry and pull it off and wiggle it,shimmy ..whatever?

good luck

 

Yikes. I used a 2-jaw but stuck it in the center holes to pull mine off. A little awkward but it got the job done, and ever since, it pulls off fine with just a little persuasion. If the rubber seems to be in the right place on the balancer, I guess you're OK, but I wouldn't do it that way.

JR

 

Mine came off perfectly fine the first time. I don't see the harm in using it, and the edges of the balancer aren't marred or anything. Worked fine the first time, I'll do it again the second time.

 

I used one of the crank pullers that has three screws which screw into the balancer themselves (not the holes that bolt the balancer to the hub, but the smaller ones between). I found that I could push the electric fans up far enough to fit my impact gun on it with a swivel. If this doesn't work then just a ratchet should work. I've gone through this whole process at least 7 times in the last 3 weeks due to an incorrect hub for my motor. Good luck.

 

Taking it off wasn't the problem. I'm curious to know why it's harmful to use one?

 

What kind of puller did you actually use? Was it like an old harmonic balancer puller or a "claw" type puller with "arms" on it? Here is how you can get the pulley off, if it won't come off by hand or other light persuasion. You do not use it on the outside of the pulley.

 

Rob...

The link I posted is the type of puller I used.

 

My apologies . I breezed by the post too fast.

Using it on the outside invites trouble as your friend said. Probably no harm done if it came off without much cranking. Aside from the fact that you can separate the outer part from the inner, you risk warping or otherwise damaging the belt surface. Your puller looks like it could be reassembled like mine so you can use it on the inside.

I did not want to beat or pry on mine and after I got the puller on, it came of with only a couple twists.

 

There is no problem using a 3 jaw puller, you just have to do it the way shoebox was showing. If you try it the way Ramair95 did you risk the chance of separating the outer ring from the center part. You would probably have to pull pretty hard for that to happen but why take the chance?

 

Jeez...now I feel like a moron...

 

When I did my cam swap (1st time, btw) I didn't know that either, Joe. I was lucky enough to have someone kowledgeable there to get things back on track with I did it.

If there was no harm done, I wouldn't worry about it. Lesson learned, now you (me, others out there too) know not to pull it from the outside..