garrett376

just put it in 5th gear, handbrake on, and undo the bolt. worked every time (done it 6 times before on different cars)

Vandit

Has anyone done this? Is it a good or bad idea?

I'm removing the pulley (probably use the 10 bolt method and string trick to maintain orientation) in order to do the timing chain covers, however, if I can modify the A/C bracket to simplify future removal, then i'd like to do that modification while i'm there.

EDIT: I re-read the thread, looks like Jeff Curtis has done it successfully. So the area that needs to be cut is the area that overlaps directly behind the circumference of the crank pulley?

Jeff Curtis

Works like a champ.
Do eet!

axl911

I've done it before on my old 964. Need to take about 3/16 off on one edge for about 3 inches long. Very easy to do.

Vandit

I removed the 10 bolts and meticulously marked the orientation and used a ziptie to maintain the orientation of the pulley.

I still can't get the assembly off the crank tho.

Here's a pic. Suggestions?

Vandit

I'm thinking that center washer is larger than the hole in the pulley. Anyone else who used this method e counter this before?

ja78911sc

Vandit,

You need a crank pulley tool to hold the pulley so you can remove the crank pulley bolt.

I would reinstall the pulley bolts.

I have a good friend that made a crank pulley tool for my car. Would you like me to ask him if he is willing to rent the tool?

I can UPS the tool if you pay freight and then you can send it back after you are finished. Nebraska to Texas should be cheap.

You will need a 2.5" wrench to hold the tool.

Vandit

ja: Sounds good. I'll let you know.

This is so frustrating. From what I've gathered on here, this 10 bolt method worked for at least 3-4 people, so I don't understand why it isn't working for me.

I just tried the center bolt using 5th gear and had the wife (pissed I woke her up "early") holding the brake pedal and I still couldn't get it to budge w/ a breaker bar.

I think a trip to the hardware store for a compressor and impact gun is in order.

Vandit

Alright, just to update. Removing the 10 allen bolts method failed miserably. I was not able to remove the pulley this way. I reinstall the bolts (in the same order I removed them) using a bit of blue Loctite. Hopefully that's good.


I tried putting the car in 5th and having my wife hold the brake while I breaker bar'd the 22mm center bolt. It didn't work.

I went to Northern Tool and picked up a $200 Dewalt electric impact gun rated at 345ft/lbs. The gun was able to take off the bolt w/ a bit of effort.

I then went to O'Reily's Auto Parts and rented the EverTough #67007 harmonic balancer puller. Using only the long center bolt from the kit and no other pieces, I was able to remove the pulley. It wasn't a perfect effort. I'm thinking the thread on that long bolt isn't the same as what was on the crank pulley, because it wasn't spinning freely as I threaded it all the way in. Additionally, the length of unthreaded portion of that long bolt isn't sufficient to bottom out against the inside of the crank to create the pulling force. What I ended up doing was dropping a couple of 10mm nuts from my valve cover job into the hole (making sure they lay flat in the hole) and that created enough backspacing to pop out the pulley.

Overall, buy that damn bolt that Porsche sells (LINK) or something equivalent. I really should have just picked it up w/ my last 3 $ bill order from Pelican for the rest of these parts that i'm on a mission to refresh. It would have made my life easier today.

Jeff Curtis

Impact Gun + Compressor = complete hexagonal domination!!

You can grind the tabs off without removing the pulley if you're careful.

Also, in most cases, if your pulley has never, or was removed/replaced a long time ago, chances are it will center up just perfectly when you reinstall due to slight corrosion/oxidation "naturally" putting it back in place - yes I know, a bit "ghetto" but hey, "ghetto" certainly has it's place in life!

Alan G.

Big time. I just redid the camshaft gaskets with the motor in the car. I had just put the thing back together, and didn't want to do it yet again, but it would have been faster to drop it again.

I ran into the same problem with the crank bolt, because I didn't have enough bumper clearance to get my impact wrench square. I really didn't want to pull the bumper. Next time the A/C Bracket is out, its getting ground down. I was able to get enough room to do the job without pulling the crank pully. Really only 1 of the bolts (on the right) was blocked by the bracket. I had to back that stud out to pull the timing chain cover out, it was a slow PIA, but it can be done.

Good Luck YMMV,

Alan

Vandit

Any advice on the reinstallation? Should I try to torque it w/ my torque wrench while in 5th gear and holding the brake, or should I use the impact?

I have that close-up pic of the bolt prior to removal, so I can try to get its final orientation to match where it was previously. Would that put the torque value close to where it was?

Vandit

I put the pulley back on last night, again using the impact gun. I got the bolt head's orientation back to roughly where it was when I removed it, maybe went 1/8 turn further. It was weird, because the impact's rotation kinda paused for a bit then seemed to slightly pick up pace as I approached the final bolt position.

I hope that roughly puts it back where it needs to be.

C4inLA

Hi Folks,

Getting ready to tackle the bracket issue on a C4... Do my reading in porsche Service Manuals, it say to be sure an have NO grease on tapered shaft to receive pulley as well as inner race of pulley and threads or face of bolts contacting pulley. Essentially, no lubes for this exercise.

Vandit,

Any new information on crank pulley before I Dive in ?

Was wondering if anybody tried loosening the AC bracket and changing orientation to trim the bracket to avoid pulley removal? Wish me luck.....

M.

YaHoo!

I replaced the gasket without removing the pulley by rotating the bracket as you describe above. Think I posted about it in 2013. As I recall there was just one bolt that there was little room for access but if you pull the bracket as far away from the engine as possible and rotate a little, one can access the bolt. Good luck!