AlHewitt
Well-known member
Confessions of Stupidity.
Like many of you I park my LT4 in storage during the winter. Last November I changed the antifreeze and not knowing the difference I installed Preston silicon base (the green stuff). The car sat un-driven until a month ago. I started it and noticed the green drips on the under side of the hood above where the serpentine belt runs. I think this is the thanks I got for being nice and changing the antifreeze! At any rate I monitor this site and from previous postings I knew to look at the water pump as the culprit. When visiting the Chev dealer he informed me about the green vs brown antifreeze and suggested that I drain and flush my system. He also concurs with this site that the Opti Spark is or will likely go TU soon from water contamination. I bit the bullet and bought a new pump, a flush kit and two gallons of the Dextron (orangish) stuff, a new Opti spark system, plugs and plug wires, about $800 and some change. The pump is off and I've cleaned the block where the old pump was removed, no small undertaking! I'm down to the removal of the harmonic balancer as this is necessary to install the Opti spark. The balancer has four bolts and they are removed. There is about 3/4" from the front of the balancer to the power steering cylinder and this is not a lot of clearance. If a puller can in fact be installed on the front of the balancer, is this 3/4" clearance enough to remove it? The balancer appears that it may be in two pieces, that is the pulley on the front and the actual balance to the rear. Or it may be one piece and come off as a complete unit.
Has some one done this before? I have the Opti spark installations instructions and it simply mentions remove the harmonic balance. I also have read a posting about doing this and a special puller was mentioned, where can I get this animal? Lastly I now have invested in several manuals to include the two red books from Chevrolet. I don't have them in hand yet, just spent my money. Any insights on this wonderful event? So, how does one remove the harmonic balancer?
Thanks
Al
Like many of you I park my LT4 in storage during the winter. Last November I changed the antifreeze and not knowing the difference I installed Preston silicon base (the green stuff). The car sat un-driven until a month ago. I started it and noticed the green drips on the under side of the hood above where the serpentine belt runs. I think this is the thanks I got for being nice and changing the antifreeze! At any rate I monitor this site and from previous postings I knew to look at the water pump as the culprit. When visiting the Chev dealer he informed me about the green vs brown antifreeze and suggested that I drain and flush my system. He also concurs with this site that the Opti Spark is or will likely go TU soon from water contamination. I bit the bullet and bought a new pump, a flush kit and two gallons of the Dextron (orangish) stuff, a new Opti spark system, plugs and plug wires, about $800 and some change. The pump is off and I've cleaned the block where the old pump was removed, no small undertaking! I'm down to the removal of the harmonic balancer as this is necessary to install the Opti spark. The balancer has four bolts and they are removed. There is about 3/4" from the front of the balancer to the power steering cylinder and this is not a lot of clearance. If a puller can in fact be installed on the front of the balancer, is this 3/4" clearance enough to remove it? The balancer appears that it may be in two pieces, that is the pulley on the front and the actual balance to the rear. Or it may be one piece and come off as a complete unit.
Has some one done this before? I have the Opti spark installations instructions and it simply mentions remove the harmonic balance. I also have read a posting about doing this and a special puller was mentioned, where can I get this animal? Lastly I now have invested in several manuals to include the two red books from Chevrolet. I don't have them in hand yet, just spent my money. Any insights on this wonderful event? So, how does one remove the harmonic balancer?
Thanks
Al