Crank Pulley WON'T go back on?!?!

[LightningGa]

I have a 2000 Grand Am 3.4 that I had to remove the crank pulley on to locate and fix a small oil leak. Turns out the leak was from the oil pan gasket...that's all fixed.

Now onto the REAL problem.....I can not get the crank pulley back on for the life of me. I've tried heating the pulley up and lubing it up and it won't go on more than a 1/4 of an inch. I did not remove the keyway on the crank so that's in the same place it was.

Any ideas what could be causing this or anything else I could be missing or try??

[SappySE107]

You didn't use a puller to get the crank pulley off? I don't think it is supposed to slide off and on.

[LightningGa]

Yes I did use a crank puller to get it off.

How the hell do I get it to go back on....is there some special tool to put it back on?

[Weatheralls Auto]

The pully is a press on, how did you get it off? what are you trying to use to get it back on?

Heat is not a good idea.

[LightningGa]

I tried putting a piece of pipe on the inner piece of the pulley and banged on the pipe with a hammer and it hardly moved ....didn't want to continue to bang on it for fear of doing some other damage.

I heated it up because I figured the hole would expand a little which would make it slide on easier.

[3400beretta]

You put it on as far as you can by banging it with a hammer. Then you thread the center bolt in, and tighten it down. As it threads in, it pulls the pulley back into place. As long as the keyway is lined up, it will go on.

[SappySE107]

I would put a block of wood between the pulley and the hammer if you insist on beating it. I skip that and use the bolt to press it back on.

[Superdave]

I would put a block of wood between the pulley and the hammer if you insist on beating it. I skip that and use the bolt to press it back on.

Agreed



I usually use a 2x4 and a sledge, i also clean both surfaces really well and put a little grease on them.

[CNCguy]

Be sure the bolt is long enough to have plenty of thread engagement before putting a lot of load on it or you may strip the threads in the crank. I use a much longer bolt and a large stack of washers. Run the bolt in without washers at first until it hits bottom to determine how many washers to start with. Then add 1/4" of washers, tighten until the bolt gets to the bottom. Repeat until the pulley is seated.

[DefEddie]

WTF?
You use a harmonic balancer installer to put it on,not a block of wood and a hammer.
You can damage the crank,pulley etc.. by hitting with a hammer or using the bolt to pull it back on.
Go to Autozone and get the correct tool,it's in the loaner tool section.
And you use a steering wheel puller to remove,it shouldn't have come right off. (hence the three holes with threads on the balancer..)

[SappySE107]

Do steering wheels have 3 holes?

[Weatheralls Auto]

Def not steering wheel puller lol

[DefEddie]

Yes,most steering wheels have 3 holes,the pullers are also designed to be used with 2.

http://www.toolsdirect2you.co.uk/product.asp?numRecordPosition=1&P_ID=3915

http://www.autobarn.net/xxxw-cal388.html

The difference between a professional job and a hack job sometimes only comes down to the right tools.

[SappySE107]

Interesting, I must own all the vehicles that have no holes for the steering wheel to be pulled with such a tool. That is what I use for the crank pulley however. Never had a problem with the crank bolt stripping out the crank on reinstallation though. call it a hack job I suppose, but you couldn't look at it once its on and say "yup, thats a hack job".

[DefEddie]

Sorry,not judging anybody.
I've had to use a steering wheel puller for all the wheels i've ever pulled,and the service writer at my dealership would jump all over my ass if I tried to just run a balancer down with bolt.
He has sent a driver to a dealer over an hour away so I could do a job correctly.
It only take's one time,and your replacing an engine (we don't rebuild.)
Admittingly it is very easy to preach the use of the right tool when you own it,that stuff ain't cheap.