So yesterday I made the bonehead mistake of stripping the threads on my crank.. No problem.. Retap, reinstall, outlast. So that's taken care of..

Well, the alternator/power steering pump bracket is broken so I'm taking off everythign to replace it. Well? As I'm using the puller, it gets about 2 grooves over and it's doing it's thing and it starts getting easier. I think, "oh good, it's almost off," and I see that the puller is starting to get a little cockeyed.. no sweat.. back it off and see what's a matter. The lip on the pulley is ripping off! So now what am I to do? I guess i could get out my dremel and cut it off.. sounds like a pain to me.. I obviously can't get the puller back on there.... So now what? Anyone ever have something like this happen? I'm pissed.

Any help would be appreciated.. Thanks..

bearing seperator and a press maybe. short of that cutting it off and getting a new pulley would be a plan

Happened to me on my last rebuild. I had to cut it off.

You're not supposed to pull a PS pulley by the outer edge. That's why you're destroying it, is you're using the wrong tool.

A PS pulley puller is a little "claw" looking thing about an inch across that grabs the groove around the hub at the center of the pulley.

Finish destroying your pulley to get it off, and throw it away. GO get a new pulley and use a pulley installer to put it on. You can make your own installer with a piece of 3/8 all-thread, a large thick washer, and a nut. Grease the threads well, and grease the PS pump shaft; it wouldn't hurt to freeze the pump in the freezer and heat the pulley to about 200 degrees or so before you start.

i thought that's what he meant. no wonder it broke worng tool for the job.

incase you want to pull your replacement pulley off a junkyard car, you can rent a PS pump pulley puller from autozone for free.. you have to lay down a deposit, but you get the $ back when you return it.

I used the "claw" thing. And yes, I rented it from autozone.

My newest idea is to use the harmonic balancer puller. I drilled three holes in the pulley (since it's destroyed now) and am going to tap the holes (or put nuts on the other end) and use that puller to get it off. I think it's pretty ingenious.

Thanks for the help guys.

-Bruce

that could work.


but a good idea would be to get the correct tool and pratice on this one so if you have to pull one again, you know how.

yeah correct tool for the job. i have one puller made for gm cars and one sort of universal fit. both from snap on

Oops, I meant that I didn't have the claw thing, that I was using the actual power steering pulley puller, the one that "clamps" on the lip of the shaft of the pulley and presses the thing off. The problem is that that lip is ripping off.. I'm not sure autozone has a puller that's big enough to fit the power steering pulley.

Basically the right tool *is* destroying my pulley.. I'll be getting a new pulley from autozone. Thanks for your ideas.

-Bruce

I also used a Snap-On ps pulley remover. Right tool, wrong tool. You can still break that lip off. Either way the pulley was frozen onto the shaft. It sounds like the same thing happened to you.

Yeah, I tried the harmonic balancer puller and it got maybe another groove off but the pulley started bending as well so I finally cut most of the pulley off with a dremel and then cut a slit in the side of the hub until the last portion fell off.

Yeah, it sucked..

Thanks again guys,

-Bruce

I'm going through this right now... Advanced had 2 PS pulley pullers in stock but both were missing the key components in my town, soooo I bought the $29 POS one on the rack.. big mistake. Tore the lip right off, now it's broke and stuck. Thanks for the tips guys. Gunna re-attempt this next weekend, Gotta drive a little outta the way to borrow AutoZones.