harmonic balancer

[Randy87]

Hello everyone. Im new to the forum, GREAT PLACE. I'm the proud owner of a very new (to me) 1987 Supra. Mk3. 7mge engine. Looking for info about replacing the harmonic balancer. Answers will be greately appreciated. Thanks

[mrnickleye]

Do you mean you need to put another one on?

remove the coil wire(s)

remove the belts.

remove the fan and shroud.

Place the 19mm x 1/2"dr socket onto the 1/2"dr breaker bar

-secure the socket to crankshaft pulley bolt, and position bar to ground or frame (solid) so that you can "bump" the starter to break loose the bolt.

-from inside the car (nobody standing near front, just in case), attempt to start the car for one quick second...this will cause the crank to turn and break loose the bolt.

-remove the crank bolt (probably finger tight now)

carefully, from opposite sides, pry evenly on the crank pulley till it moves a bit. Then pull a tiny bit on one, then the other bar, walking the pulley off the crank.

be careful, and ready to finish pulling it off with your hands. It is heavy, and will drop to the ground if your not ready. (put a folded towel on ground underneath, just in case)

Reverse this to install new pully.

Tightening bolt is biggest trouble. I personally use a 3/8" impact gun with an impact swivel socket to get on the bolt. I only 'hit' it for a second.

Maybe you have a friend with one. Holding the crank tight to torque it with a torque wrench can be very challenging. Perhaps someone will give that up.

[IHateHacks]

Don't use the starter bump method because the problem comes when its time to put the crank pulley back on and TORQUE the 19mm crank bolt. Hitting it with an impact gun for a second is not good. Personally, I would never "torque" my crank bolt with an impact, but if I did, I would lay on that sucker for a couple minutes straight. You will never hit 195ft/lbs on the crank bolt with an impact gun. Most impact guns have a tough time getting lug nuts off that are usually torqued under 100ft/lbs.

And don't even get me started on what happens if that crank pulley bolt is not properly torqued. Can you say Crank Cancer? Ask ddmcse what I'm talking about, he'll tell you.

Do what I did, take the starter out and wedge a prybar in the flywheel teeth to get it off and on. You can easily torque the crank bolt with a torque wrench while holding the flywheel yourself, well I did. Getting it off will require 2 people, one on the flywheel and one on the crank bolt with a 3 ft breaker bar.

[Randy87]

GREAT... Thanks to ALL for the answers about the harmonic balancer. I just was not sure if it was "fixed" to the timming chain/belt or moving any other component inside of the engine. I've previously done it on a 4.3 L. Vortec engine (different horse, no doubt about it.)

[mrnickleye]

Well, each to his own. But......When I worked at the Toyota dealer for 4+ years, I have only removed 150+ crank bolts, and installed them, with the method I described. (with NO "comebacks")

And yes, a second was really 3-4 seconds on the impact gun.

[pinoy wannabe mechanic]

I hope that my answer is not too Late:

Forget the Starter killing method or the Flywheel stuff!!

There are 2 Holes in your crankshaft were you can use a Crankshaft Holder tool that you can buy from NAPA Auto Parts. Also, there are about 4 holes in the outer circle of tjhe crankshaft.This tool look a half circle with tail and several holes.
The crankshaft tool have 2 screws that you can insert in it. this will secure the it and use a breaker bar to unbolt them.
The breaker bar must be secured on the floor to stop the Crankshaft from moving. I must advise that you spray the bolt of the Harmonic Balancer with penetrating oil first and leave it for about 15 minutes to let the oil make it's way in.

I used 2 breaker bars, one to secure the holder and one for the bolt.

I know this coz i replaced my Cressida's timing belt and it was the only safe way to do it.


Just in case: Harmonic Balancer and Crankshaft are the same, Cressida and Supra engines are the same.

[Bill UK]

Paul NJ had a good idea Link (read all the post). Some of the other tools are similar to your suggestion pinoy wannabe mechanic. Looks like some of Paul’s photo are missing. Fortunately I copied the whole page into a .pdf format. These are the missing photo's below converted into jpg. By the way pinoy wannabe mechanic, welcome to the forum.

[Bill UK]

Just a quick note on impact guns; never use one on the diff drain plug or filler pug. The diff housing is ally the plug & filler plug are steel. Have a guess at which one will end up with stripped threads.

[mirage83]

A further note. When you replace the balancer, make sure you go with either an OEM or QUALITY aftermarket like an ATI unit. The cheap, shiny pieces of crap on Ebay and such look nice but they aren't what you want.

[professorbob]

Have a Honda accord automatic that required removal of the crank pulley to repair broken motor hanger. Lower belt cover must be off to install the three purpose built bolts used by HONDA. Pipe T and reducing nut. Turns out the the shoulder of the correct thread reducing nut shoulder will fit into the crank pull recess with a little grinding to remove the galvanizing. insert the reducer in the end of the 'T" and install a 2-3 foot bar in the side hole. Weld the reducer to the tee after pipe installing it and the handle into the tee. Jack the vehicle and place stand under the frame. Insert the DIY tool in to the crank pulley hex recess first. Allow the arm to rest on the floor. Using the correct deep well socket attached to an extension to clear the finder well insert it through your bully holder tee, then block up from the floor to support the extension in line with the crank center line. Have someone hold the extension attached to the pull bar in position. With a pipe extension over the handle just set it horizontal and place your foot on top and press down. The long radius will break the bolt loose with ease. Just make sure you know whether the bolt is left or right hand. Install in reverse order. Good luck