'95- Onward to the Opti

[compyelc4]

Is it really necessary to jack engine to get the crank pulley/balancer off. It looks like I can get to the 3 bolts holding it on. Why a puller? It does not look like the pulley is splined to the shaft, just bolted.

Will placing the belt back on the pulley, under normal tension, allow me to crank those bolts off without turning the pulley?

How do I do this final stage before peeking at my corroded new Opti?

Thanks to all.

 

[EricVonHa]

No, it's not necessary to jack the engine up at all. You do, however, have to remove the serpentine belt, air intake hose, the radiator hoses (2) and the (2) heater hoses along with the water pump. Drain the radiator well and be prepared for some misc leakage once you remove the pump. Once the pump is outta the way, removing the opti is quite simple. Three screws and it's out.

The balancer itself is held on by (3) screws to the balancer hub (or snout). Removing those three screws is fairly easy and then you may have to use some elbow grease to get the balancer off if this is its first removal. They are known to stick to the crank hub!

 

[Vettelt193]

I had problems getting the pulley off of the balancer. I couldn't find anyone in town that had a correct puller, so i wound up having my vette towed in to the mechanic to have them finish the job. The thing was rusted together on mine. (this was on my '93, with 100k+ on it at the time)

 

[compyelc4]

Ericvonha,

Thank you for that info. I was sweatin'. I've jacked up engines before but for some reason I was dreading jacking up the vette.

All of what you mentioned has been done. Right now I'm staring at the Opti-crap, ready to pull that pulley. How do you keep the pulley still enough to unwratchet those three bolts? I have not tried it yet, but I think I'll have to put the belt back on to give me some leverage.

 

[EricVonHa]

To keep the crank still? Put the car in gear or in "Park". Make sure the car is solidly parked with no where to go and you should be fine.

 

[wx briefer]

After removing the 3 retaining bolts for the hub, I simply tapped the balancer from behind while underneath the car using a long brass drift. Be sure to tap on the inside of the balancer as close as you can get. After every couple of taps, rotate the engind 120 degrees or so. You will probably have it off after one rotation. As far as holding position with engine, I had the rear wheels off the ground to rotate the crank and would then leave in 6th gear and apply parking brake.

The harmonic balancer's bolts are off-spaced just a little but enough to ensure the 3 holes only line up one way to assure balancer is oriented correctly. Of course, there is a painted mark on the hub that corresponds to a mark on the balancer, too, atleast it is on the lT4.

 

[compyelc4]

Thanks wxbriefer,

Off she came tonight. Mine just pulled off. I used a breaker bar on the sender bolt to apply opposite force to keep the thing from rotating while I loostened the 3 bolts.

 

[BlackNBlue95]

To keep the crank still? Put the car in gear or in "Park". Make sure the car is solidly parked with no where to go and you should be fine.

That only works for Stick Cars.. because the torque conveter will still alow the crank to turn when in park if you don't believe me.. think about this.. the engine still idles when you have the gear select in park...
-Rick