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harmonic balancer retainer bolt removal

i have a 92 buick skylark i just bought for dirt cheap because it is not running right and i noticed that the oil pressure gauge is going all the way up when just sitting at idle and runs very rough and stalls out sometimes. there is a ticking noise at front of engine by belts so i looked it up and found that the oil pump is most likely shot.the starter is off, the oil pan is off, the surpintine belt is off and am having a hell of a time getting the bolt out of balancer the engine keeps turning and then when i was able to jam it still for a second the thing will not budge. is there someone who can help me with this problem i really like this car and want it top notch there is no rust and well it a nice car. thanks in advance nitemare75 this message is also in auto general so i hope i don't get in trouble it said not to post more than once but i didn't see the gm place at first this is my first time doing this. nitemare75

Reply to
nitemare75
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When I removed the harmonic balancer from my daughter's '92 Grand Am the use of a Proto 24", half-inch drive breaker bar was the only thing that worked for me. That bolt is really tight.

Reply to
Silver Surfer

Normal right hand thread. Use an air impact running over 100 psi. 120 psi is better. Or borrow a 3/4" air impact. It will come off but it takes some doing.

Reply to
=?x-user-defined?Q?=AB?= Paul

hey silversurfer, will a 18inch1/2 drive work or is the 24inch better? also how do i keep the motor from turning while attempting to remove bolt?

Reply to
nitemare75

If you have the muscle the 18" breaker bar will do the job. However, a nice little cheater made from a piece of pipe you might have lying around will make it much easier to twist. Just don't tell Craftsman that you abused their tools like that.

My memory is letting me down on the exact method used to keep the crankshaft from turning, but it seems to me that I took the starter out and used a couple of loops of something like a coat hanger through an existing hole in the flywheel and the opening for the starter in the block to "tie" the two together. Worked OK even if it was a pure shadetree technique. Sometimes you have to do what you have to do when there is no one to help, or you don't have the professional tools and facilities for the job.

Caution: be ready to catch yourself in case the tool or the blocking method should fail while you are twisting.

Reply to
Silver Surfer

Reply to
Donutman

Wow! Now that's what I call being creative. Live better electrically?

Reply to
Silver Surfer

Buy an electric impact gun.

Ted

Reply to
Ted Mittelstaedt

I have also heard of people undoing similar dangerous stuff to rotate the engine forward on some FWD vehicles.

Reply to
Steve Mackie

thank's for the help guys. i took a large 1/2 inch ratchet and jammed it agianst the lower a-arm and kicked the starter a few times and that did it. now i have to find the puller to get balancer off. there seems to be a specific one for only the 3.3 and 3.8 v/6's. thanks again.

Reply to
nitemare75

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