Harmonic Balancer removal

[AqaumarineVR]

I have a problem trying to get the balancer off my VR(buick V6).The balancer has been removed at some stage in the past,im guessing for a Crank sensor,which i am trying to do.The threads into which you screw the puller onto have been stripped(the 1/4" threads).i managed to screw a couple of long wood screws in and got it about an inch forward with the puller.i did try re-tapping the thread but the tap wasn't nowhere near long enough so it's got me fu^&#d how i can get the balancer off.there no real place to lever it around.Any ideas????

[Brett_jjj]

If you are replacing the balancer,get a 3 leg type harmonic balancer puller to remove it.It can stuff the balancer where the metal and rubber join when removing the balancer using the 3 leg type puller,but if you cant get the bolts in there for the 3 bolt type puller,then you dont have much choice really,they are almost impossible to remove just by trying to lever it off.

[Muscular Jesus]

Sorry I can't help with an answer because I'm still stuck trying to get the bloody big balancer nut off. It's driving me insane! What method did you use? Rattle gun won't budge it, neither will heating it with a blowtorch beforehand. I'm going to try the breaker bar against the chassis then crank it over method tommorrow because I'm not sure what else to do. Let us know how you go.

[Brett_jjj]

Winding over the engine with the breaker bar against the chassis or the ground works excellent to loosen that big bolt.Ive done it a few times like that now.

[Jacko84]

^^^^^^^^^^^^+1

[Muscular Jesus]

Thanks man I'll definitely give it a go tommorrow. Also have to say hats off to you mate for all your advice in past threads, seen your name pop up a bit, and weekend warriors like myself definitely appreciate all the help we can get. Cheers!

[Brett_jjj]

Thanks mate.

[Muscular Jesus]

Thought I'd post an update for anyone interested, so here goes....

Well I took the advice given above to get the balancer bolt off (thanks brett_jjj and jacko). A couple of cranks with the breaker bar against the chassis and off it came. Happy days, or so I thought... Trundled off to repco and grabbed a harmonic balancer puller kit. $30 later and back home I went confident I had done the hard work. Boy was I wrong! I knew from reading other threads that the bolts in the puller kit won't fit so I grabbed a handful from the hardware store and found the right size. Well do think I could get that balancer to move even a millimetre. No hope. Eventually the thread in the middle of the puller kit started stripping because there was so much tension on it! So I admitted defeat, put the fan back in and drive belt on. All I wanted to do was change the crank sensor!! Now i'll just wait till my local mechanic is back from holidays.

Questions: I know it's a moot point now, but did I buy a dud puller kit? The thread in the middle of the puller kit was extremely shallow. i.e. nothing for the main puller bolt to grab onto. The puller kit seems simple enough to use, pretty sure I used it properly! Is it just the harmonic balancer is on tight as a mofo? I could almost guarantee mines never come off in 200,000 kays.

Well thats my story hope it maybe helps someone lol

[Krisp]

those pullers are absolute crap . the one i have works a breeze two legged type and grabs behind the outa shell but its a big bastard weighing about 4 kgs

[jetboy]

Winding over the engine with the breaker bar against the chassis or the ground works excellent to loosen that big bolt.Ive done it a few times like that now.

^^^^^^^ only way to do it if you ask me

[Brett_jjj]

those pullers are absolute crap . the one i have works a breeze two legged type and grabs behind the outa shell but its a big bastard weighing about 4 kgs

The leg type pullers can move or even seperate the metal part from the rubber part of the balancer and stuff it,Ive seen it happen a couple of times now,and at $200 or more for a new balancer,its not worth risking it.

[Brett_jjj]

Thought I'd post an update for anyone interested, so here goes....

Well I took the advice given above to get the balancer bolt off (thanks brett_jjj and jacko). A couple of cranks with the breaker bar against the chassis and off it came. Happy days, or so I thought... Trundled off to repco and grabbed a harmonic balancer puller kit. $30 later and back home I went confident I had done the hard work. Boy was I wrong! I knew from reading other threads that the bolts in the puller kit won't fit so I grabbed a handful from the hardware store and found the right size. Well do think I could get that balancer to move even a millimetre. No hope. Eventually the thread in the middle of the puller kit started stripping because there was so much tension on it! So I admitted defeat, put the fan back in and drive belt on. All I wanted to do was change the crank sensor!! Now i'll just wait till my local mechanic is back from holidays.

Questions: I know it's a moot point now, but did I buy a dud puller kit? The thread in the middle of the puller kit was extremely shallow. i.e. nothing for the main puller bolt to grab onto. The puller kit seems simple enough to use, pretty sure I used it properly! Is it just the harmonic balancer is on tight as a mofo? I could almost guarantee mines never come off in 200,000 kays.

Well thats my story hope it maybe helps someone lol

It sounds like either the puller was faulty, or maybe you have done something wrong when trying to remove it.Ive removed a fair few of them and have never had trouble like that,even on old engines with lots of k's up.The kit I bought was from supercheap,so its not exactly a quality kit either.Id take the kit back if the thread has stripped.

[djvass]

Should never have been that hard to take off nor should the kit have stripped. Gets very frustrating when you want to give it a go but if you dont have the right tools you are rearly fighting a loosing battle. Hope all goes when your mechanic gets to it. But hats off for trying.

[Brett_jjj]

Also some general puller kits are made to remove steering wheels etc and cant handle the force needed to remove a balancer.Make sure the kit is specifically for harmonic balancer removal.

[maldotcom2]

The 3-bolt puller from supercheap works fine. I've used it nearly 10 times.

[Brett_jjj]

The 3-bolt puller from supercheap works fine. I've used it nearly 10 times.

Yeah,thats where I got mine too,it was only cheap,but its done quite a few balancers now and Ive had no trouble with it at all,it works excellent.

[Muscular Jesus]

Thanks for all the replies guys. Yeah it definitely said Harmonic Balancer Puller Kit on the packet when I bought it.

Either way it was a good learning experience and the info on this site has been awesome and helped me heaps.

[fonzo]

I had this problem., go to supercheap. but the stanley 150mm gear puller. get a short 1/2 inch extenion bar and slide it into the thread where your harmonic balancer bolt goes. then turn away and off mine popped!