I was in your same spot last year. Working alone and not wanting to bust a tooth off or bend the flex plate. I ended having success with a 1/2" breaker bar and a 3 ft pc of pipe over the breaker bar handle for leverage. I used a large open end wrench to stick one side of the wrench jaw into one of the slots of the harmonic balancer and then found a place to wedge the other end of the wrench to a spot on the front frame section.....tough to describe but rotate the balancer around until you find a solid spot to wedge the wrench against. Then it's pretty easy to break the balancer bolt loose. Good luck!

 

This worked great! Here's a picture of what I did for any future readers. I kind of regret putting the impact on it now as it may have done damage that I won't see for another 1000 miles, but hopefully all is good.

Time to reassemble, which I'll be doing the same way when I torque it down. The wrench I used was a huge 1-5/16" (I think). It's whatever the pitman nut size is since I just changed that as well.

 

You need a really good socket on an impact to break it free. Cheap sockets can't transfer the energy an impact can provide. I have however found a way to break stubborn bolts off that might work for you. The system I developed seems like it won't work but I have used it successfully several times to my amazement. Find a heavy 2x4 or 2x6 about 6 to 8 feet long. Place your favorite heavy duty ratchet or wrench you have snuggly on the offending nut. Take the "battering ram" and with all your force slam down on the ratchet with the end of board. All the torque and energy you have will really make something give. I've broke loose stuff that had over 400 ft lbs of torque on it.

 

LMAO!!! I have an image of a half drunk, pissed off at the world man going at his truck with a 2x4. I can only imagine what the neighbors think when they see this!!

 

Did mine in the fall. Propped up a breaker bar and gave the engine a little Crank. Quick, easy and problem solved.

 

Tip. Remove tranmission inspection cover. Lock a pair of large vice grips onto the flywheel so it comes in contact with the bellhousing. This will usually stop the engine from turning over in order to manhandually break HB bolt(s) lose having very limited access..

 

I would've preferred this method had i known about it

 

Word of warning... Do Not Use an IMPACT Wrench on a crankshaft! Very bad... Very bad for the crankshaft. Like in breaking it. Also never hammer a HB on a crankshaft.
Might as well hold the crank out in front of you and drop it on the floor.

 

A big fat +1. :thumb:

 

This is what I used, it worked but when I reinstalled the HB. I bent the bolts. other wise just tightening the bolt was the only PITA.

Just for future reference, when the next person looks up HB installs. I only used hand tools, no impacts. Oh you will need a 3" socket or something to drive the new crank shaft seal down with.

 

I made this tool, bolt it to the HB and get a long cheater bar. No impacts.


http://www.dieselplace.com/forum/at...ngines/21-6-5l-diesel-engine/93946d1258254260-water-pump-removal-65hbwrench.jpg

 

I made this tool, bolt it to the HB and get a long cheater bar. No impacts.


https://www.dieselplace.com/forum/a...ngines/21-6-5l-diesel-engine/93946d1258254260-water-pump-removal-65hbwrench.jpg

I also made one after viewing the one you made. I did a little longer handle but it is the way to go when you only have 2 hands. Vise grips on the flywheel also works but less effective. Take the time to make the tool. I used an old bed rail.

 

I don't think you hurt it for a couple of seconds. I was just warning you and anyone else who reads this thread. Reasons cranks break is from repeated impact, or one big one.(Like dropping it). Impacts line up the iron molecules in nice little rows. Over time cracks form between these rows. Then the crank breaks in two.
Yes I know a lot of people use impacts to remove the crank bolt and things are ok. But it is still not a good idea. Why take the chance? Just because you see it on U tube does not mean its right. I see a lot of stupid stuff there. LOL

 

Impacts line up the iron molecules in nice little rows. Over time cracks form between these rows. Then the crank breaks in two.

I did not know this about iron, this is really good to know!

Another tidbit for future readers, the front seal was stuck really good. To remove it I hammered/tapped some long deck screws into it (to get started, then screwed in), and used the HB puller in the same fashion to pull the seal out (washers around the screws). I also packed the backside of the seal with grease, and the mating surfaces of the HB and seal to prevent it from rubbing dry. The HB can also be gently tapped on with a rubber mallet to get started, and then use the puller in reverse by spinning the duck foot down onto the HB face until the crankshaft bolt/washer can grab and pull it the rest of the way.

So far the new harmonic balancer and pulley are installed and I can put everything back. I didn't realize how much torque 200ftlb was until I had to use my legs to make it click. There's virtually no room to do that by hand laying on the ground and against a wall.

 

So a question about the harmonic balancer. It looks like it's made out of complete metal, I'm guessing so the weight acts as a dampener of sorts to any harmonics. My old one had a slight wobble and that's what prompted me to replace it. The new one, however, has the exact same wobble to it. You almost have to watch it relative to the engine around it to really see it. The pulley, though, spins perfectly.

Did I get a bad balancer? The only thing I can think of as to why both the old and the new have the same type of wobble is 1) they're both bad in the same way, 2) the crankshaft is not true at the end anymore. Any ideas? Should I be worried? I'll upload a video later.

 

a wobble you can see? wow.

please take a video of this, and post it up here.

the crank balancer is two pieces of metal with a rubber spacer between them the outer rubber ring will oscillate with a dampening frequency to the pulsations of the ignition cycles... sortof...

 

it just visually wobbles or you've got a vibration?

And they look solid, but they normally are two pieces with a thin strip of rubber wedging them together [or it may be a metal center with plastic on the outside]. This is why you need to use a special puller instead of a 'regular' one with jaws along the outside of the balancer [if you use a regular one, you generally wind up just pulling off the outside portion, wrecking the balancer, not that I have ever done this].

 

FYI: the harmonic balancer is not the round circle thing infront of the engine, it's actually behind it and it's very hard to inspect.
You need to have the engine running to see if it wobbles.

 

The more I look at the video the more I notice the center of the balancer spinning near perfectly and the outside is what's wobbling. You can see it bounce relative to the timing tab next to it. I'm thinking it might be ok, but thoughts are appreciated.

 

The more I look at the video the more I notice the center of the balancer spinning near perfectly and the outside is what's wobbling. You can see it bounce relative to the timing tab next to it. I'm thinking it might be ok, but thoughts are appreciated.

https://youtu.be/r9s6Xz0-48w

Looks fine. Also looks like your crank seal is/was leaking.

 

That is just your crank bouncing around. Watch both pulleys in relation to the timing mark at about 6 second in, you will see them both moving together. I'm sure the HB also adds a little more movement, that is it's job.

 

Looks fine to me. Place your curser on the edge of the balancer in the film (once the cameraman stops moving the camera) and the balancer and pulley are spinning perfectly.

 

More HB info. A leaking crank seal or any other oil on the HB is bad news for the HB. Oil makes the rubber hard in it. The oil hardend rubber totally fks up the way the HB works to protect your crank. Even tho the rubber is not swelled or cracked. If the HB is oil soaked. Replace it along with the leaking seals.

 

Seems to me this could be another reason to use a fluidampr.

 

I have read through this post and certainly won't disagree with anything posted. I started my career in 1979 at a Cadillac dealership in Va. Beach. I couldn't even begin to say how many HB's I have had to pull off for different reasons, but I have always used an impact gun taking them off and putting them on. As far as I know there have never been any adverse side effects. I understand that most people have had bad experiences with dealerships, so have I. That is why I went into business for myself in 1999. I don't charge people for things that don't fix their problem, where as my dealership experience people got over charged and charged for operations that didn't fix the problem. Anyway after reading all this I don't dare put an impact gun on a crankshaft bolt, flywheel or harmonic end. Nice and simple holder that Gladulator made. Just one more homemade tool in my toolbox!

 

Oil soak hb... one of the many many reasons I run a fluidampr...

And the wear life on one lasts longer than the motor itself... so you don't need to replace it.

Among one of the other highly important reasons I switched to the fluidampr is gm's cast crank.

I have 3;

6.2 (cast crank)
6.5 (forged pen. crank) but a stock crank is cast.
6.6 LML (cast crank)