legacycentral bbs

Just like the title says. The Crank Pulley is in two pieces. A outer ring now laying on the ground, and a inner piece still firmly bolted onto the crank. I discovered my pulley had a wobble and ordered a cheap alu pulley to replace it with, for now at least. 30$ was the most I could afford for a pulley. They arrived today and I went to work. When I got the belt and stuff off, with a little wiggling I was able to get the outer ring to come off. I tugged on the inner portion of the pulley and it felt plenty firm.

I have read about 10 posts regarding people having the nut come loose and the pulley spinning free. However I can't find anything about the crank pulley just falling apart. o.o

SO, I have a few questions...

1. I have a Automatic. I saw a post saying I can open up a service port and shove something against the flexplate to lock the engine up. Will this be sufficient to get the nut off AND torque it back on to 110 ftlbs?

2. My pulleys came as a set. I like them, they're pretty and blue so I'd like to get all three on. How do I get the alternator pulley locked up so I can get the nut off?

3. lastly, where can I get a 'chain wrench' or strap wrench or whatever its called. I know I've seen them before but now when I need one no one seems to carry them.

Suigintou wrote:
SO, I have a few questions...

1. Yep, it should give you plenty of leverage to get to that torque, I've never had a problem using that method.

2. Alternator pulley is best removed with an impact wrench.

3. I have a couple chain whip wrenches from Craftsman. Not sure if they make them anymore, but I got them at the Sears near all the pipe fitting tools I believe.

Actually, the easiest way to get the crank bolt off is to use the starter.

Put a breaker bar with socket on the crank bolt, then brace the bar against the side of the engine bay by the battery (might need a small length of pipe). Unhook your plug wires from the coil and blip the starter so the engine turns over - this should break your crank bolt free. I prefer to use a 6-point socket so I lessen the chances of fubar'ing the bolt.

Thanks for the help guys. I didn't really have any trouble until I got the the crank pulley bolt out. That pulley was held tight by sheer pressure to that key and I had to end up getting a long bar, wedged against the alternator, and bounce the car back and forth with the force I was putting on the bar. It did finally slide off.

Heres the link to the Ebay pulleys I used: Here

The PS pulley and Crank Pulley went on and aligned up perfectly despite being meant for a WRX. The Alternator pulley unfortunately did not do so well, it had a metal lip on the bottom that stuck out too far. Maybe I can find a wrx alternator for cheap. A few more watts never hurt.

Once we had em on there, me and dad started thinking "Well, with these racing pulleys on there....why don't we take off that stock muffler and see how she breathes."

Rather then mess with the rusted on bolts way back past the rear wheel, we sawed the muffler off just before where it bends around the trunk. Fired it up and...

WHrroooommm. Is THAT my car? Sounds so perfect and has such a deep note. I'll put a straight pipe on it out the back later. More importantly, the performance is really a LOT better. Revs much faster and gets up to speed with less throttle. My power steering suddenly works again and my lights are bright. Its like a new car again. i'm really happy.

So thanks again.

you should snap a pic of your old pulley, ie never even seen or heard of that...