gamemylife

so i bought this car used and didnt notice that the harmonic balancer was down to the rubber. it was still working fine, they just had the belt over the rubber(no outside pulley piece)

i bought a brand new pulley and installed it by jamming the pulley with a pry bar and tightening the bolt as damn tight as i possibly could with a breaker bar. shredded 2 belts, took to the mechanic, he said that the pulley is out by 1/4 to 1/2 of an inch compared to other pulleys and thats why it is shredding belts.

he told me i got the wrong pulley(his redneck opinion). so i ordered a used pulley in good condition, it came in and i compared it to the brand new pulley and they are identical.

im going to take the bolt out again tomorrow and see if the pulley is flush with the end of the crankshaft. if its not, then obvioulsy i need to apply more pressure on the bolt to get it flush. if it is going to be flush, then wtf is going on.

ive read alot of threads here and not sure what my problem is. when i say i tightened it as tight as i could, i mean it. it was turning, until it stopped turning.

i guess ill update tomorrow when i take the bolt out and see if the pulley is flush. meanwhile, any ideas? thanks.

Gerf

The balancer will/should slide in and bottom out without tightening it, the crank end is not tapered.

I would put a new belt on and turn the engine over by hand to see where it runs on the tensioner and idler when the belt is properly installed on the pulleys. Hard to believe the belt would run with the crank pulley missing??
edit: you shouldn't make fun of rednecks unless you are one, I can do it cuz I are one.

gamemylife

i is one lol. so yea. i found my problem. the pulley is not flush with the crank and it is not going all the way in. i can pull it back off and try to clean everything, but you say it should fit right on. it was supposed to be oem pulley but i got it off one of these lexus websites recommended on this forum. i am holding the pulley with a 12" pry bar with my hand and the bolt wont budge any more to tighten it.

LeX2K

Could be shredded rubber behind the pulley preventing it from going onto the crank properly.

gamemylife

maybe i should try to jam the flywheel against the ground or something? any ideas? it was turning and went about half way on. the bolt now won't turn and applying a crapload of pressure with a 4 foot cheater bar

gamemylife

i guess ill be taking the pulley back off tomorrow and trying to clean everything up. is it a good idea to run some sandpaper on the inside of the pulley?

LeX2K

How are you able to put so much force on the crank bolt without the engine turning? The pulley should go onto the crank and sit properly with very little force, at most a few taps from a hammer.

Gerf

So, you changed the whole balancer or just the pulley?

Gerf

I will defer to my esteemed colleague.

gamemylife

i have a 12" prybar that i jammed the pulley with and im hodling it down with my hands while my son tries to turn the bolt. yea something is wrong if it should go on with not much force. ill need to take it back off and see whats stopping it from going in. i also now have a used oem pulley from a wrecked lexus and i can see if that one fits with no problem. then it would be the new pulley build quality that would be the problem if the used oem ones goes on easy. ill check for rubber/dirt/restrictions

gamemylife

the haronic balancer, the whole thing with the rubber and the pulley on top of the rubber. its one piece. so therefore "pulley"

gamemylife

you guys are very helpful and quick to respond and i didnt mean to offend anyone with the term redneck lmao but us rednecks dont get offended because we are not woke lol

gamemylife

the haronic balancer, the whole thing with the rubber and the pulley on top of the rubber. its one piece. so therefore "pulley"


i mean the harmonic balancer is basically just a pulley that slides on to the crankshaft... right?

Gerf

Did it slide in easy to begin with and then just stop? you might have pushed the key in the crank up at the back, have a close look in there and you will see the problem.

gamemylife

yes it slid on easy and then just stopped. what is a key?