[Impreza_WRX_STi]

If you don't know me or my car. I have a 1993 Impreza L with EJ18. It has 169,000 miles on it. I have noticed that the harmonic balancer has become unbalanced. I know over time that the rubber dries up and cracks and rubber just fires off the pulley which it them becomes unbalanced, and we all know when any rotational mass that is off balance is bad. Well I was attempteing to take this off and replace with the Suby Sports pulley. The Pulley bolt will not come off. I first loosened it but then it got extremely tight again. So I get about 90 degrees of freeplay with the bolt but at the end of freeplay it gets extremely tight again. I am in the Marines, we have Auto hobby shops with large amounts of tools with ASE certified mechanics on hand to help. They told me the crankshaft was shot but that is because some of the mechanics are anti-import. I was using a breaker bar with a 22mm socket and it was bending at the torque I was putting on the pulley bolt. I am unsure as to which way the bolt has to be turned to come off, but It wouldn't budge anyway. So as of right now when the engine is running it is making a bad grinding noise where the crankshaft rotates. It is obviously tearing up the key. I am not driving it, but had to give it a test. After the test the pulley will not even tighten back up? WTF?

Any reply would be highly appreciated

Thanks

Maximus

 

[RS25.com]

I worked on a car similar to that recently (although probably not as bad) and what we did was:

1. Used an Impact Socket (thicker walls)
2. Put it on the end of a non-ratcheting breaker bar
3. Slipped a 3 foot steel pipe over the handle of the breaker bar
4. Gently laid the breaker bar down on a piece of 2x4 that was laying across the drivers side fender and radiator support while someone held it (me) to keep it from flying arounf
5. Cranked the engine over - just for half a second!!!

The bolt came right off!

Hope that helps.

 

[N/A]

Remove the radiator and take a 1in drive impact gun set on high with 120lbs feeding it. If that doesn't take the SOB off it wasn't meant to come apart.

I'm kind of confused about what you posted though. You're base charges you almost nothing to work on your car and yet they pay for ASE mechanics to hang out and give you advice? Damn no wonder I was paying 33% in taxes.

 

[Storm]

Those are the ASE mechanics who can't handle much more than handing out tools for chits! There's usually 1-2 decent mechs and a slew of nascrap fans who THINK they got it all under control.

The bolt may have been crossthreaded when it was installed. It could've been overtorqued and stretched. Do you know the history of the car? Maybe one of the autocrafts "mechanics" installed it last time around?

Did you try calling an Army soldier?
just kiddin!

Try James' method...it should take it off. If you happen to break the bolt, you can always remove the radiator and drill it out.

Good luck....really:sunny:

 

[Impreza_WRX_STi]

Thanks for replying. I am going to do some thinking and deal with it tonight.

Max

 

[Storm]

Marines are allowed to THINK?

Man, they ARE getting soft....must be all that "domestic peace" training :biggest:
:run:

Just kiddin...Semper Fi! :checkit:

Thanks for replying. I am going to do some thinking and deal with it tonight.

Max

 

[Impreza_WRX_STi]

S***, I'm out in 40 days!!!

 

[Storm]

Wow...you WERE thinking weren't you!

congrats on that!

S***, I'm out in 40 days!!!

 

[I_H8_1.8]

I did mine a while back, and it was a major PITA, but I got it. First, I put the transmission in 5th gear. Then, I took off the belts, found the socket I needed, put it on my breaker bar and put that on the nut. Next, I got a long piece of pipe and put it over my breaker bar. Then, I put all of my weight into the pipe and it finally broke loose after a few tries. If I remember right, it loosened like any regular bolt (lefty loosey). I think it says how to do it on scoobymods.com if I remember correctly. Hope that helps, at least a little!

 

[RS25.com]

It does spin the regular direction for removal - nothing fancy - just tight as hell. Personally my impact wrench would not remove it, hence the breaker bar and use of the starter motor.