Crankshaft Pulley Issues - Troubleshooting - VWDiesel.net The IDI, TDI, and mTDI source.

• Crankshaft Pulley Issues by Terrin on 16 Nov, 2008 20:30
• Hello:
  
  I am trying to change my timing belt. Various sources (e.g. the almost seemingly useless in this case Chilton manual) suggest I should be able to remove the lower timing belt cover by removing the four bolts on the crankshaft pulley. I have removed those bolts. However, the crankshaft pulley still seems to be fixed in place by the big fat bolt in the middle. Does that have to come off to get the pulley off? If so, how do I get the bolt off, as the pulley turns when I try to turn the bolt?
  
  Any help would be greatly appreciated or I'm going to have to try to put this thing back together and bring it into the shop.  That is a big blow to the wallet and ego.
  
  
   :?  :?
• #1 by Smokey Eddy on 16 Nov, 2008 20:44
• Don't try and undo that big bolt. It has nothing to do with it. (and you'll never be able to with a wrench it's torqued to a billion foot pounds.)
  
  
  Give the crank pulley a decent wack with a hammer. It should just fall off. It has a cut away inside the pully that sits on a key on the output shaft so don't frantically look for the key that never fell out onto the floor
  
  
  give'r a good smack and she'll give up holding on for dear life.
• #2 by Smokey Eddy on 16 Nov, 2008 20:48
• I do apologize for my wrongs!
  It isn't like that at all.
  
  Its tapered so you gotta pry it off. stick something in there, tap with hammer.
  other side...
  other side...
  other side...
  you can even turn it so you dont have to try and pry it while laying under the car.
  Do you know what i mean?
  repeat until it goes *ping* and falls off.
  
  
  I was thinking of the intermediate shaft pulley. It's the one with the key.
  The crank pulley is just tapered.
• #3 by fatmobile on 16 Nov, 2008 22:31
• Crank pully isn't tapered either.
   I had one of these give me a hard time.
   Tap, turn,
   tap, turn
   repeat.
   A jawed puller might work faster.
• #4 by Vincent Waldon on 16 Nov, 2008 23:06
• Lots of penetrating oil will help... as will a bit of heat.
  
  (obviously the timing belt is toast if you use oil or heat  :wink: )
  
  When you get it off you'll see how it's not related to the big bolt in the center... but it sure looks like it is.
• #5 by Smokey Eddy on 17 Nov, 2008 01:06
• mine is tapered... i just checked... i'm positive it's tapered
  
  Maybe it's just covered in crap...
  
  ps. i think vince just likes to set fire to stuff  :wink:
• #6 by molgrips on 17 Nov, 2008 04:08
• Hit it!
  
  Seriously tho, when I did mine (94 1.9 AAZ) I was stumped as I though it was stuck on there somehow with something I didn't understand.  I tapped and jemmied and wriggled for ages, till I got angry, concluded that it must be just stuck, and whacked it from behind with a big hammer and a drift - worked a treat.  Just remember to catch it before it rolls off.
  
  I dunno why it was stuck, but on the back of the pulley there was an imprint on one side only of the teeth on the camshaft sprocket - but raised, not indended.  Wtf was that all about?  I was having some wobble from that pulley making the drive belt vibrate - but the timing belt sprocket is perfectly true and the crankshaft nose undamaged (I'm quite lucky with this apparently).  It was almost as if over the years the vibration had caused some kind of deformation of the metal on the pulley.. weird.
• #7 by Terrin on 17 Nov, 2008 05:42
• Thanks for all the replies! I mean it. I have been trying to solve this problem for weeks, and the books on the topic aren't very clear. Some make it seem like taking the four bolts off are enough, others make it seem like the big bolt has to come off to.
  
  So it seems, the big bolt stays on, and the pulley should fall off. The pulley seems to have a rubber ring, it isn't supposed to separate there, right?
  
  After I dig out the mallet, I will try this Monday night after work, and will report back.
• #8 by Vincent Waldon on 17 Nov, 2008 08:18
• You'll get it off... no worries.
  
  And when you put it back on, you'll use antiseize I'll bet.  ;-)
• #9 by molgrips on 17 Nov, 2008 08:28
• Quote

  So it seems, the big bolt stays on, and the pulley should fall off. The pulley seems to have a rubber ring, it isn't supposed to separate there, right?

  
  
  Correct.  Four allen bolts come out, big star head one stays in.  Drive belt pulley, power steering pulley and presumably AC if you have it are all held in with those four bolts.
  
  The rubber ring is a crude vibration damper that supposedly helps keeps things smooth at certain revs.
  
  While all that stuff's off, you may wish to consider checking to see if the timing sprocket is true.  It's a design flaw in some versions of the engine - the sprocket doesn't sit on the crankshaft nose very well, wobbles over time and eventually comes off, killing your engine.
• #10 by Smokey Eddy on 17 Nov, 2008 15:48
• Don't be afraid to give it hell either. you won't (shouldn't?) break anything so long as you aren't denting the pulley.
• #11 by Terrin on 21 Nov, 2008 12:20
• Thanks for all the advice! I used a claw hammer to pry it off. From the front it really looks like there is not a way to get that sucker off without taking the bolt off.
• #12 by Makebeleaf on 03 Nov, 2009 03:15
• Just got mine off. It was on tight but I used a 4lb. mallet on it. Just tapping around the perimeter of the pulley until it started to move...then came off.
  I think the weight behind the hammer works very good. Just don't bash it too hard!