Removing Timing Drive Pulley, 93 Civic

Hi all:

I am on my way to replace the crank oil seal in my 93 Civic, but have
hit a snag. I can't get the timing belt drive pulley off. This pulley
sits behind the large crankshaft pulley. Does anyone have any tricks to
removing it? I've tried prying on the plate that sits behind it, but
that doesn't work. Should it be this hard?

Thanks.

 

before we go there - let's get to the real question: is the seal
leaking? and why do you want to replace it?

 

wrote in 75g2000cwc.googlegroups.com:

Have you removed the crank pulley bolt? That's #1. Then the timing belt has
to come off. Plus a few more things...

 

Yes, the seal is leaking. The crank pulley bolt is off. The timing belt
is also off. I am working off the steps in the Honda shop manual, and
it very simply states to remove the timing drive pulley. It make it
sound so simple! I have tried a pull tool, but can only get one lever
behind the sprocket.

Thanks for any guidance.

 

different oils cause different leak rates. my experience is that
castrol stops leakage almost completely. avoids all this unnecessary
pain and expense.

remove cam pulley bolt [use old belt to hold the pulley. pulley comes
off. *gentle* tap with hammer should loosen.

 

Thanks for the tip on the oil type. I'm not trying to replace the seal
on the cam shaft, I'm trying to get to the one on the crank. The timing
belt sprocket that sits behind the crank pulley (aka harmonic balancer)
is the one that I can't get off.

Thanks again.

 

not good - should just come off by hand. has the car been worked on
before? signs of other damage? rust? to get it off, use the puller if
you can get the hooks behind it. you'll probably need to replace the
belt guide by this stage. be careful not to damage the crank! use a
blank in the crank hole to prevent the puller driver doing anything
unintended.

regarding the seal, unless the oil's leaking real bad, i'd try the
"leave it alone" solution. i say this based on an experience i had a
couple of years ago. i used to work as a mechanic, so doing this kind
of job is not a problem, but you know how it is, busy with your day job,
come home, last thing you want to do is crawl under the car. long story
short, main seal at the flywheel end, oil running out like crazy, bought
the seals, scheduled to do the work. but the same time i was
determining the cause and seriousness of the leak ready to order parts,
i was under the car, so changed the oil with some castrol i had in the
garage. i'd been motorcraft "semi synthetic" 5w-30 based on some "bob
is the oil guy" reviews and it's very low price at woolmort. but since
i was under the car anyway, i figured the castrol was a good flush prior
to doing the seal work, then i'd start again clean and fresh with
another change after the work, just to be sure. two weeks later, the
parts have come, i'm clearing up the driveway ready for surgery, i get
under the car, and there's no oil running out of the seal any more! i
clean the bell housing again, [there's a little smear] and decide i'm
leaving it one more week. go back under again, just the tiniest hint of
leakage, but nothing that would ever drip like it was doing regularly
before. and so here we are 2 years later, not a single new drop on the
driveway!

bottom line, don't change the seal unless you really have to. the
"factory" way to change the seal is to strip. the "usual" way is to
hook it out. apart from the pita factor, sealing surfaces can be
damaged by hooks and the car will now never not leak a little. if it's
not leaking bad enough to contaminate the timing belt, there's no real
harm from a little leakage, and maybe it can be contained as above.

 

wrote in

You need a different puller then. You may want to go to your local auto
parts place and see what kind of pullers/slide-hammers they rent.

The timing belt pulley *ought* to just pull off, but if the weather was a
bit damp the least time it was changed, it can rust to the crankshaft nose.

 

What Jim and TeGGeR® said, plus the sprocket should really come off by hand.
Heck, it should slide off all by itself when you don't want it to! If this
area has been worked on before, perhaps someone got the key in there crooked
and jammed the sprocket on over the top, the sprocket is otherwise damaged
or your initial attempts have gotten it cocked on the crankshaft. Suspect
that something is damaged or at least not right, and try not to damage any
more. Despite Jim's probably good advice to use Castrol, I would want to
get the sprocket off now, to see what is what up with it.

Earle

Thanks for the tip on the oil type. I'm not trying to replace the seal
on the cam shaft, I'm trying to get to the one on the crank. The timing
belt sprocket that sits behind the crank pulley (aka harmonic balancer)
is the one that I can't get off.

Thanks again.

 

Hi everyone:

Thanks for all the information and the tips. After a whole lot of
wrestling with it, the sprocket is off. Needless to say, I will be
replacing the sprocket and the plates on either side of it, but I am
happy that it is off. It took a little bit of everything to get it off!

Thanks again for the suggestions and the advice.