I read through all the Harmonic Balancer posts and I think I have that down. I was going to pay a mechanic to do it, but I think i can do it. The local parts store has the puller/installer for free rental.

My concern is how hard is it to get the crank seal out, and how do you do that. I did not find any information on replacing that such as procedure or tools. I am guessing it prys out???

Any help on that would be great.

I am getting ready to do water pump/thermostat, Harmonic balancer and pully, Injectors, Glows, a new cooling fan and pulling the radiator to have it boiled and cleaned. I have posted a lot of questions to get ready for this project. Thanks for the help.

I pull the timing cover off on the gas chevy V8s that ive done and drive the seal out from the back with a pry bar or something. Then drive the new seal in from the front. I havent done a 6.5 yet but i am sure its pretty much the same deal.

I have to do the water pump, and from what I can tell, I have to pull the cover behind it off to get the 6 water pump bolts out. Is this the cover you are talking about or is there another?

I just did it, you dont need to pull the timing cover off. see this post. Its a pain, but if you get a radiator pick you can pull it right out.

http://www.dieselplace.com/forum/showthread.php?t=380005

I just did it, you dont need to pull the timing cover off. see this post. Its a pain, but if you get a radiator pick you can pull it right out.

http://www.dieselplace.com/forum/showthread.php?t=380005

Thank you. That answered my question and scared me at the same time. I am a little nervous to try it. Mechanic wants about 400 parts and labor to do balancer, pulley and seal.

I need to pull radiator to clean it and do HO water pump at the same time.

No you dont have to pull it off, but i wouldnt waste my time screwing with it, id just yank the cover off, knock the seal out, drive in the new one and put it back on. I am guilty sometimes of spending hours trying to do things the "short" way when i could go the long way and actually save time. Ive found myself doing that several times. I wouldnt spent too much time trying to do it with the cover in place, if it doesnt work out, just pull the cover and save yourself some time. I usually do mine with the cover off simply because I usually have the engine out of the vehicle and on the stand and torn apart anyways.

If I had the radiator pick to begin with, and the right tool to get the new one in, I would try again. Not with my homemade tool though. Dont forget you need a torque wrench tha tgoes to 200lt lbs. I had trouble locating one. They all went to 150ft lbs. Plus you have to keep the flywheel from spinning. If I could do it all over again, I would pay about $250 to get it done. Check some mechanics in the services section on craigslist.

If I had the radiator pick to begin with, and the right tool to get the new one in, I would try again. Not with my homemade tool though. Dont forget you need a torque wrench tha tgoes to 200lt lbs. I had trouble locating one. They all went to 150ft lbs. Plus you have to keep the flywheel from spinning. If I could do it all over again, I would pay about $250 to get it done. Check some mechanics in the services section on craigslist.

The problem is, I have to do injectors, glows and HO water pump too, plus pull the radiator to have it boiled. I just hate to have a small piece of that project done by someone else since I am already in it, but I question if I am capable of this much work. My patience level with cars is 0.00. I asked him to calculate the cost today if he were to do all of it, except the radiator cleaning. I can do that. I will post what he says, it may be worth the money to not be a hatefull, grumpy, mean a**hole for a couple days. That was my wifes suggestion to me. She wants a mechanic to do it because she said I turn into another person when I work on cars. I just hate spending money.

He wants $170 labor plus parts, but his parts are about 30% higher in cost than what I can pick up on rock auto, so when you add that extra expense it comes out to more like $250 in additional costs.

Where do you get a radiator pick?