guess harmonic balancers don't last that long.

L.W. (ßill) Hughes III did pass the time by typing:

Could be. Can't tell for sure, the rubber is pooched out so it's hard to get a straight-edge across it. I suspect it has moved just enough to cause squeeks but not enough to eat the belt edge. Thing is it only squeeks in high humidity.

Any way, with those cracks and splits it can't be far from going. Never replaced one of these before. Hope it can be done without having to remove the radiator and move the AC coil. Maby just lift the radiator up an inch or so.

My luck, it's going to be a real pain. Looks like I'll have to drop the swaybar (no biggie) and possibly remove the fan

Found the part at NAPA for 46$ and a chrylerpartsdirect for $55 (normally $68) Wonder if the dealership part is worth the extra 9$?

Actually, wonder how much they would charge to do it for me considering I don't have a puller. Could borrow one from Autozone though. Oh well, got to replace the rear brake shoes first, that's #1 on the list today.

On the XJ/MJ I was able to swap it out from the top. I used a $8-10 universal puller from Harbor Freight but it's tight enough on those models that you're probably going to loose a little skin of your knuckles as they get friendly with the radiator when you work with the puller. One big problem: you will probably need some sort of a bar to bolt onto the damper so that you can jam that against the frame while you loosen/torque the bolt that holds it onto the crank. I couldn't get the thing to hold well enough with the transmission in gear to break it free. One of my manuals says you can jam a screw drive or pry bar against 2 bolts in the puller holes - on the three I remember doing, that just twisted the bolts up and was totally a waste of time.

Will Honea did pass the time by typing:

just got back from Steve's Tools (our local version of HF) measured the puller and it's center bolt/screw. It is about 1" longer than the distance between the balancer and the radiator. ZJs don't have squat for room in there. Almost wish I had the old Chevy back. Does that long center screw slide down into the crank? If so it might just fit.

Yea.. and with an auto trany like mine it won't hold it anyway. :/ My plan was to use an air wrench on it. Usually that will break things loose. Speaking of breaking loose.. is that a left or right handed thread? Amazing how easier it is if your turning it the proper way. :]

Hmm.. This is looking more and more like a dealership job. Gonna find out how much that costs Monday. Might not be worth my time and effort if it's gonna be a real pain. (then again that means it will also be expensive) :/ We will see where my pain threshold is.

Hey Doug,

FWIW mine came off rather easy but that is probably because the engine was out of the XJ. Had I been tight for space working in a snowstorm you can bet your ass it would have been seized on.

I'm not so sure I'd sweat that HB right now - I've seen a lot worse! You've discovered wear, keep an eye on it - you may not need to change until your convenience... like when you have to do a water pump, rad, t-chain etc.

-Brian

: > just got back from Steve's Tools (our local version of HF) measured : > the puller and it's center bolt/screw. It is about 1" longer than : > the distance between the balancer and the radiator. ZJs don't have : > squat for room in there. Almost wish I had the old Chevy back. : > Does that long center screw slide down into the crank? If so it might : > just fit. : >

: > Yea.. and with an auto trany like mine it won't hold it anyway. :/ : > My plan was to use an air wrench on it. Usually that will break things : > loose. Speaking of breaking loose.. is that a left or right handed thread? : > Amazing how easier it is if your turning it the proper way. :] : >

: > Hmm.. This is looking more and more like a dealership job. Gonna find : > out how much that costs Monday. Might not be worth my time and effort : > if it's gonna be a real pain. (then again that means it will also be : > expensive) :/ We will see where my pain threshold is. : >

: > -- : > DougW : > Jeep 1, Wallet 0

Steve G did pass the time by typing:

And from what I've read, the proper installer as well. Several sites out there caution against using a mallet because of possible damage to the thrust bearing. Simple tool, I can borrow it from AutoZone with the puller. (they have both)

We call them a "Cheater bar."

Will keep that trick in mind. Plan to give it a try with just my short bar and maby the mallet, then air ratchet. There isn't any rust on the bolt or surfaces, it might (knock on wood) come out with minimal fuss.

Cherokee-LTD did pass the time by typing:

Heh. That's usually the way things work. The service book says it can be gotten from the top after removing the belt and fan shroud. I dunno, it's quite tight to the fan. Time will tell.

Either way it will be added to the website.

It will be fixed next weekend. Just a habit of mine not to let things go too long. The longer you put off fixing something the more likely it will bite you in the arse.

I don't know where you measured - the bolt comes out and don't forget to take that big flat washer that's under the bolt out BEFORE you try the puller! Once the bolt is out, there is a centering hole in the end of the crank that the puller sits into. Mine is fairly long and the 88 MJ is set up so that the puller screw rides just uder the radiator. That means you are turning the puller with your knuckles right next to the radiator - and that sucker can bite.

I drilled a couple of holes in a 3 foot piece of 5/16 bar stock I had laying around and bolted that to 2 of the smaller (about 1/4 inch, but metric 6-8 mm?) holes in the middle part of the damper. That rotated over against the frame and held things nice and solid while I used a big breaker bar and socket on the bolt. Same for touquing it back. If you do use the puiller, be careful with the bolts that you use to attach it to the damper. Mine were drilled all the way thru and if the bolts are too long you can punch them into the timing cover. That's a standard RH bolt, BTW. Also, it's a lot simpler to see what you need to do if you parctice the setup on the new one to get an idea of where all the holes are. DON'T FORGET THAT WASHER - someone here worked for a considerable time before he got around to taking that sucker out and was amazed how easy it was after that .

Given a choice, I would have pulled the radiator and used an impact wrench but every one I did had a/c so I would have had a skid plate and the condensor to pull in addition to the radiator - easiler to take a little time and make the holding tool.

I will second that, some of those can be a real bugger to get off. I have seen and heard of lots of broken pullers over the years.

To get the main bolt, you can use a long wrench braced against the frame and the starter motor.

Basically if the pulley isn't wobbling and if the timing mark is still correct, then I would leave it until I 'had' to take it off or something else off.

Mike

Cherokee-LTD wrote: